ON ONE side the power and the glory. On the other utter humiliation. Rarely can a Wimbledon semi-final have illustrated those two contrasting emotions so starkly as Venus Williams' 6-1, 6-0 demolition of Russia's Dinara Safina. It lasted 51 minutes, the second shortest women's semi-final in the open era.
And when the horror show was over for the 23-year-old Russian and Venus was through to her eighth Wimbledon singles final, the fourth against sister Serena, there was one obvious, if bewildering, question hanging in the air over SW19.
How can the
world No 1 be so devastatingly eclipsed in a grand slam semi-final by the number three seed?
Two reasons. First, Venus has taken power and precision to a new level this Wimbledon, aided by the hot weather, the fast courts and a desire to lift the Venus Rosewater dish for the sixth time.
Second, the world rankings matter not a jot. They reward quantity over quality which allows Safina to trawl the world amassing a sackful of ranking points while the Williamses focus on grand slams.
At the last count they have 17 of those to their name with another to come, while Safina has none, having lost in three finals. Not that Venus was about to pile any more humiliation on the Russian.
"I respect Dinara Safina. I think women's tennis is fantastic," was all Venus would say to questions about the ranking system. "The score showed my level of play. I was dictating on every point and there was a lot of pressure on her. I am really pleased with my form playing against the number one. My experience on grass helped me a lot."
Safina pointed out that she had been in the final of the other two grand slams this year, the French and Australian Opens.
Safina said of her opponent: "She's too good on grass. It's not my favourite surface and it is her favourite.
"It was disappointing but I have to accept it. She gave me a pretty good lesson but it would be different on clay."
