June 30, 2005 Sharapova's Reign at Wimbledon Ends WIMBLEDON, England - The rain at Wimbledon stopped long enough on Thursday to see a different kind of reign come to an end. Defending champion Maria Sharapova was denied a second straight championship match appearance at the All England Club with a 76(2) 61 loss to No.14 seed Venus Williams. It was the first loss for the world No.2 in her last 23 grass court matches, which included back-to-back titles at Birmingham the last two years and also her run to a title at Wimbledon last year. Meanwhile, Williams returns to a Grand Slam final for the first time since the Wimbledon finale in 2003. She will take on either world No.1 Lindsay Davenport or No.3 Amelie Mauresmo. Davenport was leading 5-3 on Mauresmo's serve in the third set when rain forced them off the court and eventually cancelled the remainder of the day's action. After rain showers delayed the start of the semifinals, both matches went on court within minutes of one another as Davenport and Mauresmo went on Court 1 and Sharapova and Williams followed minutes later on Centre Court. After trading breaks early in the first, Williams was able to grab another break at 3-2 and eventually hold for 5-2. The two-time Wimbledon champion then held two set points at 5-3, but Sharapova denied the American on each opportunity to close out the opening set, breaking back and then holding serve for 5-5. The set eventually progressed into a tie-break where Sharapova's powerful groundstrokes failed her at times as Williams took the lead by capturing the first set. Williams then started the second set off strong, grabbing a break in the first game of the second set - matching Sharapova's groundstrokes and forcing the Russian teen into unforced errors at times. Down 5-1, Sharapova saved one match point and held two game points to stay in the match before Williams finally closed things out as Sharapova's backhand went long to finish the match. Williams, who captured Wimbledon titles in 2000 and 2001, improves to 5-0 in semifinal matches at the All England Club, reaching her fifth final in the last six years. She defeated Davenport for the title in 2000 and Justine Henin-Hardenne in 2001 before falling to sister Serena Williams in both the 2002 and 2003 Wimbledon finals. In the other semifinal, Davenport and Mauresmo kept the first set close before the American was able to move ahead and serve for the first set at 6-5. But Mauresmo was able to grab the break back to force a tie-break where she built an early lead and then held on to take the first set. Mauresmo continued to put pressure on the world No.1 in the second set with another break, but wasn't able to hold on as Davenport evened the set. The two players then traded breaks back and forth to force a second set tie-break where Davenport was able to force a decisive third set. Davenport, the 1999 champion at Wimbledon, was able to secure a break in the third set to lead 5-3, just one game away from reaching her third final at the All England Club. The two had just played the first point of the ninth game of the set when rain forced them off the court. When play resumes on Friday, Mauresmo will be serving at 5-3, 15-love in the third set. --

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