Dementieva claims a nervy victory

Fifth seed Elena Dementieva survived a second-set collapse to advance to her first Wimbledon semi-final.

Dementieva led 6-1 5-1 against fellow Russian Nadia Petrova on Centre Court, but twice failed to serve out for the match and then squandered two match points in the tie-break.

But the 26-year-old from Moscow somehow regained her composure to secure a 6-1 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 victory in two hours and 32 minutes and will now face defending champion Venus Williams for a place in Saturday's final.

Dementieva, the highest remaining seed in the championships following the early exits of Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, had won five games in a row to take the opening set in 36 minutes.

The first three games had been tight affairs with each player saving five break points, but Petrova went to pieces after losing serve in the fourth game.

The 21st seed was controversially called for a foot fault on the centre service line and clearly let it ruin her concentration, serving another double fault in the game to gift her opponent the upper hand.

Even if Petrova was still upset at that incident, there was no excuse for the raft of unforced errors she continued to make.
The 26-year-old, who had not dropped a set on her way to the last eight, lost her serve twice early in the second set and looked set for defeat at 5-1 down.

She at least then held serve to force Dementieva to serve for the match, and was rewarded when the former French and US Open finalist choked from 30-0 up, a double fault gifting Petrova her first break of the match.

After Petrova held serve Dementieva had another chance to serve for the match, but it was no surprise that she threw in another double fault at 30-30 and then lost the following rally to make it 5-5.

Surprisingly both players held serve to force a tie-break and it was Petrova who won it 8-6 after saving two match points, levelling the match at one set all.

Dementieva lost to Dinara Safina from a set and 5-2 up in the French Open recently but looked set to erase that disappointment as she raced into a 4-0 lead in the decider.

Petrova broke back to reduce the deficit to 4-2 but this time Dementieva held her nerve to serve out for a rollercoaster victory.