Williams downs Safina to advance to final

NEW YORK – Serena Williams wound up and smacked a shot directly at Dinara Safina early in the second set of their U.S. Open semifinal.

The ball hit Safina near her shoulder, ending the point, and she quickly turned her back to the net, muttering as she walked away, ignoring Williams’ attempts to apologize.

Not much later Friday, Williams tried again to say, “Sorry,” except this time both players were standing at the net after the American wrapped up a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Now Williams can take aim at a third championship at Flushing Meadows and ninth Grand Slam title overall.

Hard to believe her very first major title came in 1999 at the U.S. Open.

“I just am excited to obviously still be here,” Williams said, “and, 10 years later, still putting up a major fight.”

It’s her first U.S. Open final since 2002, when she beat older sister Venus. This time, they met in the quarterfinals, and Venus offered advice about facing Safina, then sat in the stands, cheering. The siblings’ parents, who also serve as their coaches, were there, too, after skipping the all-Williams match.

Next up for Williams: Jelena Jankovic.

“Overall, she’s, I think, the strongest player on the tour, together with her sister,” said the second-seeded Jankovic. “Nobody has the power that they have. We cannot compare.”

Jankovic eliminated Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4. It will be Williams’ 12th Grand Slam final, and Jankovic’s first, and in addition to the silver trophy at stake, the winner will rise to No. 1 in the rankings next week.

The final is scheduled for tonight, but forecasts calling for rain much of the day prompted tournament organizers to announce contingency plans that could include postponing the match until Sunday.

“I’m ready to play tomorrow. Hopefully, we can,” Williams said. “If not, I’ll be ready for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday – doesn’t matter.”

She got off to a shaky start against Safina, the younger sister of 2000 U.S. Open men’s champion Marat Safin. Broken in her first service game, Williams fell behind 2-0, but she won seven of the next eight games, eventually doing a much better job than Safina of dealing with wind that gusted at more than 20 mph.

Jankovic, meanwhile, lost eight of the first nine points and fell behind 2-0 and 4-2. But as Dementieva became more tentative and more erratic, Jankovic reeled off five consecutive games to claim the first set and a 1-0 edge in the second.

Jankovic also trailed by a break at 3-2 in the second set, before coming back again.