(1) Mauresmo bt (4) Sharapova 6-3 3-6 6-2

(3) Henin-Hardenne bt (2) Clijsters 6-4 7-6

I didn't get to see the Belgian match, but I did manage to watch the second semi. I'm so pleased for Amelie; she was noth elated and relieved when that Sharapova forehand sailed past the baseline. I'm sure she was nervous after her second set collapse, but credit to her for picking herself back up and comfortably taking the third. She was a little passive at times, but overall it was a good performance.

I believe Maria was the bookies favourite, but I do think that the smart money was Amelie - she has the perfect game to throw Maria off her timing and she managed to do that.

I'll watch the other semi and post my views later, but hopefully we'll get another great Wimbledon final this year!

Yes I enjoyed Amelies win - see my thread just started. Great to see skill, class, intelligence and guile beat one dimension ugly brute force. :D

I saw Clijsters v Henin and I have to say ti was a decent quality match LDF, worth a look for sure. Porblem was that it was close fought, then Kim had advantages then blew them all too quickly. I think the superior player won on the day, but three sets would have been nice.

Not a bad semi finals day at all, in fact it has produced the best result possible and I cannot wait until the final. The style of tennsi will be a breath fo fresh air after years fo slugfests I cannto wait. :ok: :ok: :ok:

I know :D

I wouldn't have minded Maria v Justine, because their styles are so contrasting and both are so mentally strong. But I'm glad we'll have a final between two ladies who have the ability to vary the pace, placement and spins of their shots. Hopefully they'll both deliver!

Hi LDF :D

I'll start with the Begian semi-final. All i can say is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........frightfully dull performance again from the belgian pair. Justine's class just shone through at key times. Her baseline defence, particulary with her backhand slice was so deep and forced Clijsters into uncomfortable shots, especially on the forehand where kim with her grip cant really get under the ball. Justine's serve was also the better of the two, great pace and placement compared to Kim's ineffectual deliveries that rarely hit the heights in terms of pace. I didnt think kim played that badly, but she looks generally reticent about taking risks and taking the game to Henin-Hardenne. Too much of a reprieve was given to the French Open champion by kim not going to the net behind some huge forehands to finish off the points. Lacks the real offensive killer blows against Justine i feel Kim, and it showed today. Still great consistent performance by Justine and she's through to her 2nd Wimbledon final.

Mauresmo vs Sharapova was just enterprising stuff from both women. It was so up and down, but in an exiting way. Mauresmo started out the match so purposefully, just serving so well( i think her first serve percentage was at 71%) and was just moving so freely and hitting and vollyeing with depth and precision. Sharapova for a set and a half just looked totally out-classed, as mauresmo just seemed to be in the zone. Slowly but surely though amelie began to tighten and let a 3-1 0-40 lead slip and then sharapova bounded back with some excellent returns and just pure clutch tennis particulary with her forehand that was hardly holding up for her during the match. mauresmo first service percentage rapidly diminished and Sharapova really did do a good job of crawling it back to a set all. The third set was make or break for both women, but the suprising event was the somewhat capitulation of sharapova. Went down two breaks and just looked to be having a nightmare. mauresmo's deep slices and penetrating serves were working again and sharapova's groundstrokes off both sides just werent firing. Sharapova fought briefly to get back to 4-2, but the steely Frenchwoman held her nerve through some intense pressure from the Russian and she finally closed it out 6-2. Her reaction to victory was so fitting to how the match was, exciting and suspenseful.

I'm so glad mauresmo delivered here, against Serena and lindsay in previous years she didnt have the courage, but she finally did it, just digging deep and believing in herself. She'll go into the final now with nothing to lose and will hopefully just swing freely and remain positive. After all she is the Aussie Open champion, and does not come into the final the underdog IMO. Battleground equal IMO for Saturday.

Still Momo! :D :yahoo: :clap: :party:

No thoughts people? roflmao

didn't see any of the games today...

damn thunderstorm knocked out our satellite and can't get it back until storm's finished...

:cry:

*comes to thread after request from dl*

Oh yeah roflmao

What did you think of the Belgian semi LDF?

Well, I've only seen the first set - it wasn't that bad actually! Though Kim seemed very reluctant to move into the net on short balls, a complete contrast to Justine. And of course, Kim's forehand was misfiring off Justine's slice...

How did Kim miss that forehand at 6-5 (15-40) in the second set?! :blink:

I said Maria's odds were wacky right from the start in fairness - I didn't consider her the favourite in today's match and so it proved :(

roflmao I know dl, not much talk about it form the tennis fans is there? Well I said my piece on antoher thread. Your analysis is very good. You and LDF shoudl eb on the BBC commentary team :D

no maria - :(

Best of luck Momo in the final - you would make a very popular champion! :D

ALLEZ!!!!!!!

:yahoo: :party: :party: :yahoo: :yahoo:

Go win it JuJu, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE GET YOUR CAREER GRAND SLAM! :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray:

Not bad eh? 3 Grand Slams played and 3 Grand Slam finals! :yahoo: :yahoo:

I dont want justine to win as she'll surpass Venus in Grand slams :yikes: roflmao

I'm getting pretty desperate! roflmao

What a day! I was so very lucky to get tickets for the womens semi final and they certainly didn't disappoint.

Clijsters v Henin

I think you're being a bit unfair here DL. Yes it wasn't as dramatic as the other semi final but it was played consistently at a higher level. I think the only problem with it is that you always sensed that whatever Kim did - Justine would raise her game and stop her in her tracks. The Guardian today likened her to a cobra uncoiling and ready to strike - Kim knows she's coming but can't get out of the way! Seeing Justine live you really notice the way that suddenly mid-rally she gets very aggressive, opens her shoulders & unleashes her full force - just stunning. Overall a highly entertaining match with some lovely shots - particularly at the net from Justine.

Mauresmo v Sharapova

Wow what a match - Lovely tennis from Mauresmo early on perfectly designed to counter Maria's game, lots of spins & slice mixing the pace and bringing Maria to the net (where she looked seriously inept - she needs to sort that out). The inevitable nerves from Mauresmo let Maria back into the match and she took advantage staying back and hitting the lines with her fierce groundstrokes. I've always liked Amelie and never warmed to Sharapova but I must admit I was willing her on here - her game clearly wasn't on but she never gave up and fought to the end - in the 3rd set Amelie stayed solid but it was Sharapova who was going out to win the points - if she could have kept her errors under control it could have been a different story. As for the shriek? Well it didn't bother me and I really don't think she puts it on. When she was in full flight in the 2nd set the crowd giggled during some of the longer points as she got louder & louder! They giggled a lot more when she suddenly didn't do it for one point in the middle of a rally!

As for the final - well based on those performances it's hard to look past Henin-Hardenne. Amelie did play very well at times but mixing things up isn't going to be anywhere near as effective against Justine. Should be a great match though if nerves are kept under control!

I'm glad somebody allows common sense o prevail on this board regarding the noises Maria makes! :D

Yeah looking back on it, the final wasnt that bad. I suppose it didnt appeal to me more because the result seemed to be more inevitable than the other semi. Maybe my zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz expression was a little exagerated roflmao

The only reason i dont like Sharapova's sound is that the actual sound has varied in recent years. From 03 to 06, the sound has changed roflmao

well that's probably because her body dimensions have changed - sounds change too!

It really when into high pitched screaming territory yesterday!