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Dokic does it Aussie teen downs Serna to reach semifinals
Posted: Tuesday July 04, 2000 12:00 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Australia's Jelena Dokic returned to the scene of her greatest triumph to pulverize Spain's Magui Serna 6-3 6-2 at Wimbledon and reach her first ever semifinal on Tuesday. In the last four she will meet either defending champion Lindsay Davenport or sixth seed Monica Seles for a place in Saturday's final. They are due to play later on Tuesday. The 17-year-old Dokic blasted her way into the semis with incredible power from the baseline and unnerring accuracy on Court One. Last year on that court, as a qualifier, she recorded one of the biggest upsets in women's tennis by beating world number one Martina Hingis in the first round. Then she reached the quarterfinals before losing to another qualifier, Alexandra Stevenson of the U.S.. This year the world number 30 made no mistake in booking her semifinal spot. The only other time Dokic and Serna had met was in Cairo in 1999. It was only Dokic's third Tour event and Serna was seeded sixth, but the young Australian pays no attention to reputations and wallopped the Spaniard 6-1, 6-0. The scoreline on Tuesday was not so one-sided but, right from the start, the outcome was never in doubt. Combining beautifully weighted drop shots with thunderous groundstrokes, Dokic broke the left-handed Spaniard in the third game. She doggedly held her own serve a game later and then broke again in the seventh game for a 5-2 lead thanks to a mercurial drop shot from the baseline that left her opponent stranded. She missed three set points the following game and was broken, but immediately broke back to seal the set on her fifth set point. Serna had never progressed beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament before and was flying high having beaten French Open champion and third seed Mary Pierce in the second round. There was little she could do in the face of such relentless power, however. Displaying all-court awareness beyond her years, Dokic dominated from the baseline and came into the net for drive volleys on any ball less than a perfect length. She broke the 49th-ranked Serna for a 2-0 lead in the second set and the Spaniard began to get desperate. Coming into the net on less-than-perfect approach shots, she was caught out by Dokic's passes on several occasions and left sprawling on the grass after a fruitless dive. Serna did break back, but was herself immediately broken and Dokic eased into a 4-1 lead. Three games later it was all over.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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