Venus Wins Nailbiter To Reach Final

Venus Williams saved 5 match points in her defeat of Patty Schnyder 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 yesterday at the Bank of the West classic where she made her profesional debut 11 years ago, at the age of 14. Today she will play her 500th career match on the WTA Tour, in a final against Kim Clijsters, whom she beat three years ago to win this title.

The match against Schnyder was thrilling. The Swiss player is a crafty, left-handed veteran and Venus at times seemed a step slow and a bit erratic. By the end of the hour-long second set Venus had amassed over 45 unforced errors for the match. However, Venus had never lost to Schnyder and in the third set she finally started consistently coming to net and playing the attacking style of "Big Babe Tennis" which won her her third Wimbledon title three weeks ago.