Wimbledon Championship 'Serena is like Roddick'

Afp, London

Beaten Wimbledon semifinalist Elena Dementieva on Thursday compared the brutal serving power of Serena Williams to facing Andy Roddick, the fastest server in the men's game.

The Russian fourth seed lost an epic semi-final, the longest in the history of the women's tournament, 6-7, 7-5, 8-6 to the two-time champion and wasted a match point in the 10th game of the decider.

"It's not easy to fight against her. She's a great champion and she served so well that I wasn't sure if I was facing Serena Williams or Andy Roddick out there," said Dementieva, who lost to Venus Williams at the same stage in 2008.

"Her first serve percentage was huge, she was serving around 120mph."

Olympic champion Dementieva, whose best Grand Slam performances remain runners-up spots at the 2004 French and US Opens, said she regretted her choice of shot on match point when she led 5-4 in the final set.

With Williams approaching the net, the Russian went cross-court, rather than down the line, and the American gleefully accepted her opportunity with a simple saving backhand.

"That's my only regret. I should have taken more of a risk by going down the line," said the 27-year-old.

"A passing shot is my favourite shot to make. Maybe it was all too quick. I didn't see that she was moving to cover the cross-court. I should have gone down the line or even used a lob."

Serena, who will now face sister Venus in Saturday's final for the fourth time at Wimbledon and the eighth occasion in Grand Slams, admitted her serve was key to her escaping to victory.

She fired down 20 aces in the match, a statistic which made up for a host of unforced errors on her forehand.

"I owe it all to my serve. I was hitting aces on key points and to serve so well is very exciting," said the 2002 and 2003 champion.

"It was one of my most dramatic victories. I was down for pretty much the whole match so to come through was a great feeling.

"The only problem was my forehand didn't show up. I think she went to Hawaii."

Williams also praised Dementieva whose service game has radically improved in recent seasons.

"She didn't give me an inch. She played at 100 per cent," said the American.

"I have never seen her serve so well in my life. She was serving at 90mph, the low 100s, and to keep it up consistently is not easy."