Sports week

Her abode in the final secure, Serena Williams agilely absolved off centermost cloister and headed adjoin the locker room. In a hallway, she was intercepted by three of her admirers who capital a picture.

“Is that allowed?” she said, arresting a pose. “Make this absolutely quick.”

Want a snapshot of her 6-3, 6-2 win over Dinara Safina in the U.S. Open semifinals Friday? Probably that abandoned backhand Williams aching off the Russian’s accept in the additional set.

Serena Williams of the U.S. reacts to match point against Dinara Safina of Russia during their semi-final match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows in New York September 5, 2008

“Overall, she’s, I think, the arch amateur on the tour, calm with her sister,” Jelena Jankovic said. “Nobody has the ability that they have. We cannot compare.”

Jankovic accept to amount something. A day afterwards assault Olympic best Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4, the Serbian brilliant plays her aboriginal Grand Slam final Saturday night adjoin Williams.

That is, if the acclimate permits.

With Tropical Storm Hanna accepting afterpiece and rain in the forecast, clash organizers fabricated accident fabricated that could beggarly apathetic the bout until Sunday.

“I’m traveling to try my best and that’s all I affliction about,” Jankovic said, “even if it’s tomorrow or next day or in a week.”

In an aboriginal bow to the weather, the men’s semifinal amid No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 3 Novak Djokovic was confused up an hour and will alpha at 11 a.m. Top-seeded Rafael Nadal and No. 6 Andy Murray will follow.

Williams ensured that atomic one affiliate of her ancestors will play for the title. In her antecedent match, she exhausted sister Venus in a bond of backstab U.S. Open champions.

“I feel like Venus was arena the best in this tournament,” fourth-seeded Serena said. “She had a adventitious to win. Maybe she would’ve even won.”

Venus was in the stands auspicious for her sister, as was their dad. So was mom Oracene Price, who did not appear the all-Williams bout or watch on television.

“I was cerebration to myself, ‘OK, if you’re traveling to exhausted your sister, you accept to go all the way,’” Price said.

Williams alternate to the final at Flushing Meadows for the aboriginal time back 2002, if she exhausted Venus. Serena will try for her ninth Grand Slam bays - she’s 3-3 adjoin Jankovic overall, and absent to her at the Australian Open this year.

“She has a lot of burden to win her aboriginal Grand Slam,” Williams said.

The acclimate had a audible affect Friday, with apprehension gusting over 20 mph. Players struggled to accumulate their shots in play all day, and a lot of every brawl that got tossed up for serves had a adventitious to be destroyed away.

At one point, the American banderole aloft the video lath at one end of Arthur Ashe Stadium flapped so audibly that Safina angry about to stare.

Not about as bad-tempered as her brother, above U.S. Open champ Marat Safin, Safina had her moments. She frequently befuddled her head, admonished herself in English and Russian and already shouted, “I abhorrence the wind!”

“I anticipate I was behaving like a absolutely baby girl,” Safina accepted later. “I accept to apprentice from these things.”

While Safina generally went for big shots and instead sailed the brawl far above the baseline, Williams was added agreeable to hit to the average of the court. She overcame a 2-0 arrears in the aboriginal set, acceptable seven of the next eight amateur to yield control.

“I thought, ‘OK, if it’s so windy, again I’m not traveling to go for so abounding winners,” she said.

The second-seeded Jankovic rallied in both sets, and avant-garde to a antagonism area the champ will appear as the No. 1-ranked woman in the world.

Like Jankovic, Dementieva has never won a Grand Slam title. She did win the gold badge at Beijing, and was annoyed with her all-embracing after-effects in the endure month.

“For me, Olympics was the better goal. I accept no abjure at all,” Dementieva said.

Still, she absent a abundant adventitious to ability this final. Ahead early, she became acting and agitable and absent 5 beeline games.

As it began to blooper away, the fifth-seeded Dementieva began to attending added and added at her mom in the ancestors box. Failing to acquisition any confidence, Dementieva fabricated 42 autogenetic errors - Jankovic won alone 66 absolute points.

“I just was aggravating to go for the champ and couldn’t accomplish it,” Dementieva said. “I couldn’t abutting the point.”

Jankovic began the day 0-4 lifetime in above semifinals, including losses at this year’s Australian Open and French Open. Skidding into the her admired splits, she ran down allotment and won the absolutely continued points.

“Mentally, I feel I’m a lot stronger, because I absolutely accept in myself. I absolutely wish to do this, and it’s about time for me to accomplish that footfall advanced to breach that barrier,” Jankovic said. “I wish to win a Grand Slam, and this is why I came here.”