Sporting Life - Wimbledon 2008

1847 We're going to halt our commentary with all the major action now finished. You can check out the result of that doubles match in our results section later. Another result to look out for will be the mixed doubble quarter-final between Andy Ram and Nathalie Dechy and Bob Bryan and Samantha Stosur. The winners of that one will play Jamie Murray and Liezel Huber in the semis. Be sure to join us again tomorrow when the men's semi-finals - Federer v Safin and Schuettler v Nadal - will take top billing.

1845 Doubles news now. I mentioned the Bryan brothers earlier - they were match point down before the rain delay. Well, they saved that but Bjorkman and Ullyett clinched a four-set victory soon after. They are into Saturday's final. The other semi is about to start. It's Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes, the ninth seeds, against Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, seeded two.

1843 Things got sorted pretty quickly after the rain ceased. So it's Serena v Venus in the ladies' final and Schuettler v Nadal in the men's semis. Schuettler just admitted he had other plans for the second week of Wimbledon, plans that didn't involve tennis! Instead he'll be back tomorrow to face the second seed. Great story.

1840 What a disappointing finish. Zheng comes up with a double fault to hand Serena the match. The American claims a 6-2 7-6 (7/5) victory and will play sister Venus in Saturday's title decider.

1839 A service winner takes Serena to match point. Zheng fails with a Hawk-eye challenge.

1838 Serena goes long with a forehand and it's back to 5-5!

1837 Again Zheng holds her service points to cut the gap to 5-4. Serena now has two serves to book her final spot though.

1836 Bang. Another ace - 122mph - and it's 5-2. Zheng is in a hole now.

1835 Another ace from Williams makes it 4-2 at the change of ends. Her serve has been great today.

1834 A crucial couple of points are won on serve by Zheng. She isn't going away here.

1833 A good start for Serena - she grabs a mini-break straight away and moves into a 3-0 lead, winning the third of those points with an ace out wide.

1832 Serena sees that game out after that scare. It's 6-6 in the second set, so into a tie-break they go. Zheng must win this to stay alive in the tournament.

1830 Five hours and 12 minutes was the final time on that men's match. Schuettler goes through to play Rafael Nadal tomorrow. Best of luck Rainer!

1828 Set point to Zheng at 30-40! But Serena survives with an unforced error from the underdog.

1827 A third chance for Schuettler to close this out. And this time he does so. A big first serve can't be returned by Clement and this epic is over - 6-3 5-7 7-6 6-7 8-6 is the final scoreline.

1826 Two match points for Schuettler at 40-15 - but both are wasted. Clement is hanging in there again.

1825 Zheng holds after a lengthy battle and leads 6-5. Serena must hold to force the tie-break.

1823 Serena attacks the net to force another error but again Zheng stands firm to save the break point. The Chinese player is really toughing this out.

1822 Schuettler breaks Clement and will serve for the match for a second time at 7-6.

1821 Serena forces Zheng to go long on her forehand but a superb rally from Zheng from the baseline saves the break point.

1820 They are about to start on Court One too. Clement serving at 6-6, 40-40.

1819 Serena wins that first point upon the resumption to force deuce.

1818 On Centre, it's Zheng to serve at 5-5, 40-30. A big point to start with.

1815 Players are now warming up on the showcourts and there are blue skies above!

1808 Federer-Safin is tomorrow, of course. Of more immediate concern are today's matches and they should resume shortly. The net is back up on Centre. We are awaiting the players.

1805 David Harlley, from Ghana/Canada - well which is it, David? - says Federer may not have things all his own way against Safin. "Everyone seems to think Federer in the final is a foregone conclusion. Sure his record against Safin is pretty good, but Safin has beaten him before, and he's the kind of player that on his day can beat pretty much anyone. We haven't had an underdog win the men's since Goran Ivanisevic. We might be due. Having said that i am hoping to see a Federer-Nadal finale." You are spot on about Safin. He can beat anyone if he plays to his best. It's just he's rarely done so. He beat Federer in the Australian Open semis in 2005 and that was a true classic. I'd love to think that will happen tomorrow, but I just don't see it.

1757 The rain has stopped now and the covers are coming down. Great news.

1747 The rain is still coming down, I'm sad to report. For those of you just logging on, let me tell you that Venus Williams beat Elena Dementieva 6-1 7-6 earlier. Serena is on course to face her sister. She led Zheng Jie 6-2 5-5 when the rain arrived. The men's quarter-final between Rainer Schuettler and Arnaud Clement is locked at two sets all and 6-6 in the final set. They will be keen to finish ASAP. Rafael Nadal awaits the winner tomorrow. The schedulers will also want play to resume - if those two don't finish, there will have to be a Saturday semi-final. I'd said earlier Nadal would have been laughing at those two slugging it out. Perhaps not now. He could be looking at back-to-back matches this weekend. That would be advantage Federer. Time to back the Swiss? Perhaps.

1736 By the way, the covers are still firmly on in SW19. Let the debate continue!

1734 Colin Blackett makes a salient point. "You can't use fatigue as an excuse for Murray getting hammered by Nadal. This is the whole point of a grand slam event, to win one is a major achievement, as the winner is the one with the best overall game combined with supreme fitness and mental strength. All champions have difficult five-setters at some point, Murray therefore still needs to work on his fitness, but I think Nadal still would have beaten him anyway. Nadal is a great example to all young people, his talent, dedication, enthusiasm, motivation and focus is what all young people should look up to, and a nice guy too.... If you win through the early rounds in straight sets, it means you are talented enough not to have to slug five sets out to win, hence Federer v Nadal." Certainly fitness is a massive part of winning a Grand Slam, as is getting things done quickly and saving energy when you can. Look what happened to Novak Djokovic here last year? He played more than nine hours in two days and was absolutely gone when he had to face Nadal the next day.

1730 I may be backing Federer, but Sean Reece disagrees with my verdict. "My view on the matter is that Nadal would be the man to beat in this tournament. I won't go into why I think this is his year, just to say that he is in incredible form. His game is way ahead of where it was at last year's wimbledon. Federer watch out." He certainly has improved this year, Sean, and not just on the grass. He was phenomenal at the French Open, too. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see Nadal win on Sunday, it should be very close. One issue it might be worth raising with regard to the season as a whole is that each of the last two years after Wimbledon Nadal hasn't done a great deal. He's always disappointed at the US Open (yet to reach even a semi-final) and always looks shattered by the time the Masters Cup arrives. If he wants Federer's top ranking, that's something he needs to change. That could also work to Andy Murray's advantage if he feels he has a real chance at the US Open in August.

1725 A reminder of the email address to air your views on all things Wimbledon: andy.schooler@bskyb.com

1718 Oh dear. Here's an email I was dreading. Eoghan Linehan says: "Well Andy, now that we've a little rain delay let's get your predictions. If Nadal and Fed cruise through to the final as predicted, who's your money on? I reckon Nadal in four sets. Let's get your prediction in print! As for the ladies, Venus in two sets against whoever wins today!" It really is tough to call isn't it? But if you want an answer, I'm sticking with Federer. Just. Both him and Nadal looked magnificent yesterday, but I stick by my opinion that Nadal's serve is more vulnerable. Andy Murray didn't prove it for me last night, but Federer should have more success. It could be another classic - just like last year - but I go Federer in five just to show Nadal who's boss on the grass. As for Venus-Serena - and that's a little direspectful to Zheng who is still in there fighting - I go with Serena having seen her over the past couple of rounds. Her determination is second to none in my book and in a tight match that could prove decisive. Just so you know, the sisters have played just once since 2005 and it went to a final-set tie-break in Bangalore this season. Serena 8-6 in the third!

1713 The All England Club announcer says the rain is expected to continue for another 20 minutes before a drier spell arrives. So there you go.

1705 Geoff Dennis has used the rain delay to email in again. With Schuettler and Clement still embroiled in that epic, he says: "If Nadal goes through to the final I think it will have less to do with his talent and more to do with exploiting the tiredness of his opponent (Murray had played an epic against Gasquet and the winner of Clement/Schuettler would have played a titanic match)." Good point but I'm not sure I agree. I think he'd have been way too good for Schuettler or Clement any way. As for Murray, the Briton said he that fatigue wasn't a factor after yesterday's clash. Anyone else got a viewpoint on that or the other men's semi, Federer-Safin? And how about some reaction to these ladies' semis? Email me: andy.schooler@bskyb.com

1702 The rain will not have been welcomed by Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett. They stood at match point in the third set against the Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, when play was halted on Court Two. That's for a place in the final of the men's doubles.

1700 This is certainly the heaviest rain we've had this year - it's lashing down. Apparently this is going to be around for at least 20 minutes.

1658 Soon after, Court One is covered. Clement managed to get back to deuce before play was suspended. It couldn't tighter in that one. Two sets all, 6-6 and deuce.

1657 The rain arrives again and it's really throwing it down on Centre. Off they go. With Zheng 40-30 ahead, serving at 5-5.

1656 What will happen next on Court One? Now Clement is 15-40 down on serve. No-one can hold at the moment.

1654 Serena holds to 30, although Zheng just missed with a backhand pass which would have levelled the game at deuce. Instead it's 5-5 now. Serena took the first set remember.

1652 Unbeliveable! Clement breaks back courtesy of a superb backhand return. 6-6 and the clock has just ticked past five hours.

1650 Zheng cracks a backhand winner to move 5-4 ahead against Serena in the second set. Williams faces a big service game now.

1649 Schuettler breaks! Clement completely miscued a forehand and the German will serve for the match at 6-5.

1648 Clement nets to hand Schuettler a break point. This is massive now as these two battle for a place in the semis.

1647 Normal service is resumed for Serena. A love hold levels the second set at 4-4. Zheng will now serve with the new balls.

1646 Clement is forced into another long forehand and Schuettler levels at 5-5. Match point has gone and on they go. But for how much longer? Those clouds look menacing.

1645 Schuettler has missed game point back on Court One and it's deuce again before Clement goes long.

1644 A chance to break back for Serena at 15-40 and Zheng nets. 'Come on' shouts Serena. She gets the set back on serve at 3-4.

1643 But Schuettler is nerveless as he saves it with a big forehand down the line winner.

1642 Match point now to Clement on Court One.

1640 Well, well. We have a bit of a turnaround now on Centre. Zheng breaks for the first time in the match with a series of fine groundstrokes. Two points in a row from 30-30 see her move into a 4-2 lead. Could we be heading into a decider?

1639 The German - a former Australian Open finalist - responds to lead 40-30 but is then pegged back to deuce. Big points these.

1637 Schuettler double faults to fall 15-30 down serving to stay alive.

1636 Zheng holds. She's getting into this match now and every now and again coming up with some fine winners. She leads 3-2 in the second set.

1635 More dark clouds are gathering over SW19 I'm afraid to say. Serena has come from 40-15 down to force deuce. A break here would be big.

1633 An easy hold for Clement sees him move 5-4 up on Schuettler in that deciding set. This is where the advantage of serving first really kicks in. Any slip-ups from the German now and it's curtains.

1630 This is superb serving from Serena. A hold to 15. She has lost just four points on her own delivery so far.

1628 Some good rallying from Zheng sees her move 2-1 ahead with another decent hold. She may be losing this match but I don't think there's any doubt she'll be back in the world's top 50 and probably higher very soon.

1625 Serena races through her service game to level at 1-1. It looks like it will be hard to break her today.

1624 Over on Court One, it's now 3-3 between Clement and Schuettler. The Frenchman has the advantage of serving first in this decider.

1623 A confident start to the second set from Zheng. She looks solid on serve and holds to 15. Dementieva was better in the second set against Venus and really made her fight. Can Zheng do the same here?

1619 Big serving, including an ace, sees Serena romp through that game to love. She takes the first set 6-2 and is on course for a final showdown with sister Venus.

1618 Serena steps up to serve for the first set against Zheng at 5-2.

1616 Schuettler is back under way and takes the first point to level at 2-2 in the final set against Clement.

1613 Dave Brown isn't convinced Andy Murray has what it takes to succeed here given the current standard of players. "Let's all be honest about this, Nadal is a different class, way ahead of his game. He thinks about it more and has more shots. It will be a long time before we win the men's singles again." Not a very positive outlook, but perhaps realistic. Murray did look a long way short of Nadal's standard yesterday. One thing I would say though is that if look back through the history books at the top claycourt players - and the dirt if Nadal's bread and butter - a lot have suffered from burn out. The likes of Juan Carlos Ferrero, Thomas Muster, Sergi Bruguera have all had reigns on the clay but none could take it on as they aged. Nadal is slightly different in that he is so young and is more confident on the other surfaces, but I'd still expect his level to drop as the years go by. Anyone agree?

1612 The players are knocking up ahead of the restart I'm pleased to tell you.

1610 I like Geoff Dennis's style. He says: "I'm thinking of starting a betting ring...to guess at what point during the Federer/Safin match Safin will first smash a racket....I reckon the fifth game." Yep, Safin could well be getting frustrated tomorrow. Having said that he stayed pretty calm yesterday against Lopez. His racquet-smashing has certainly eased with age, although I suspect he's still near the top of the ATP league on that score! ANyone got the smashing stats to hand?

1608 Thanks for the feedback. Bernardino Doregos was impresed by Venus today. "I think she was outstanding in today's match, though in the second set Dementieva put up a fight. My money is on Venus to win 2-1." I'm assuming you think she'll be playing her sister come Saturday, Bernardino! If it is an all-Williams final, it's going to be tough to call. Serena won both of their previous Wimbledon finals though in 2002 and 2003.

1606 Indeed green grass is now visible again on Court One. It looks like that was just a short, sharp shower.

1604 The rain looks to have stopped now and the court staff are back out on Court One, The covers could be off soon.

1600 As the rain continues to fall - there are some brighter skies around mind - Rafael Nadal must be lapping it up. Not literally. Clement and Schuettler are going to go five hours and he's had a day off. Nadal to win in straight sets tomorrow was the bet this morning. Now it's surely nailed on.

1558 The address is andy.schooler@bskyb.com! Tell us what you thought of Andy Murray's defeat if you'll still thinking about that, or how about tomorrow's men's singles semis? Federer v Safin could be good but you fear for the Russian if Federer plays like he did yesterday. It's you discussion so tell us your opinions.

1555 The rain - and it's quite heavy at the moment - gives you a chance to email in more views. What did you think of Venus' victory? And who are you backing to win the ladies' title? Let me know: andy.schooler@bskyb.com

1552 Talking of long matches - and Schuettler and Clement is long - the longest in terms of time in Wimbledon history came two years ago when a men's doubles match between Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor and Simon Aspelin and Todd Perry lasted six hours and nine minutes. And the longest in Grand Slam history came at the French Open of 2004 when Fabrice Santoro won in six hours and 33 minutes. Who was his opponent on that occasion? - one Arnaud Clement!

1548 The umbrellas are going up now on Court One and play is suspended there too. Schuettler was 40-0 up and within a point of making it 2-2 when they came off.

1547 Schuettler breaks back! Perhaps we are heading for a seventh hour! 1-2 in that epic.

1545 I take that back. The covers have yet to go on Court One - it's just Centre at the moment. Clement is serving at 2-0.

1544 Serena was 5-2 up on Zheng when play was halted. Clement was leading Schuettler 2-0 in their final set.

1542 Bad news. Here come the predicted showers. Play is suspended.

1541 Michael Meyer is back on. He and his colleagues are tipping Schuettler-Clement to go past seven hours! That would be some record. Clement has other ideas. He's just broken for a 2-0 lead in the decider.

1540 Dogged stuff from Zheng. She manages to hold serve and reduce the deficit to 5-2. Merely delaying the inevitable though I suspect.

1538 Another powerful forehand forces an error from the Chinese though to bring up another set point but again Zheng stands firm, finding the corner of the back court.

1537 Zheng falls down 0-40 to face three set points but she digs in to save all three.

1534 Serena holds to 15 with two aces in the game. It's 5-1 and the American is dominating. Her power is proving too much for the 5ft 5in Zheng.

1532 Schuettler pushes a sliced backhand long and it's two sets all! They've already been going four hours and seven minutes and there's still a set to play. Given the last two sets have gone to tie-breaks, this one who easily go past five hours,, especially given the length of some of the rallies.

1531 Serena breaks for a 4-1 lead on Centre. She looks well in control. Clement has another set point at 8-7 - but it's Schuettler to serve this time.

1530 But Schuettler saves again. He passes Clement at the net with a backhand winner. 7-7.

1529 Schuettler hits the top of the tape and Clement has another set point on his serve.

1528 Schuettler levels at 6-6. Meanwhile Serena has just moved 3-1 up on Centre.

1527 A smash brings up two set points but Clement then misses with a drop volley.

1526 Clement has grabbed a mini-break to lead 5-4 in the breaker - he now has two points on serve to level the match.

1522 Zheng is on the board with a hold to 30. For those of you who know little about Zheng, here's the lowdown. She beat top seed Ana Ivanovic last week having needed a wildcard to get into the tournament. That's because she had a serious ankle injury last year which saw her ranking slip from a high of 27 to outside the top 100 - she's now at 133. She's sporting ankle support on her left leg again today. Many felt Briton Elena Baltacha should have done better against her in round two - Baltacha actually gave her a good test in the second set of their match - but that defeat has now gained some perspective.

1521 Clement holds and it's another tie-break on Court One. Clement has to win this one to stay alive.

1520 A comfortable opening service game for Serena pushes her into a 2-0 lead.

1519 Mixed news for Britain from the girls' singles. Laura Robson is into the last four after a 7-5 6-4 win over Bojana Jovanovski. But Naomi Broady is out, going down 6-7 6-3 6-4 to third seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn. Robson will play Slovak Romana Tabakova in tomorrow's semi-finals.

1517 A backhand winner from Serena at 30-40 gives her the ideal start in the second semi. The winner plays Venus remember. Over on Court One, Clement is now serving to stay in the tournament against Schuettler at 5-6 in the fourth set.

1514 Zheng gets things under way on Centre. The Chinese wildcard will serve first.

1510 Zheng Jie and Serena Williams are warming up for the second ladies' semi. Again, a Williams is a big favourite but Zhneg has played well over the past couple of weeks. She has more of a chance than Dementieva - that was my verdict earlier - but I still expect Serena to win in straight sets. They've met once before - here in the first round in the 2004 championships. Serena won 6-3 6-1.

1505 Over on Court One, Schuettler opened a 4-2 lead in the fourth set to move within two games of a semi-final spot, but Clement hit back and it's now 4-4.

1501 The main news is that Venus has wrapped up a 6-1 7-6 (7/3) victory. The second set continued on serve until the tie-break with both players holding fairly easily. Once in the breaker, Dementieva threw in a double fault to fall 2-1 down but Venus then got nervous, losing two straight points on serve. But from 2-3 down she reeled off five straight points to book her place in a seventh Wimbledon final.

1500 Apologies for our coverage stopping - all sorts of technical problems have just hit us.

1424 Venus uses her great reach to stretch for a backhand volley which forces an error from Dementieva on game point. Venus leads 4-3 now.

1422 It's another set point to Schuettler - on his serve - and an ace out wide sees him take the tie-break 8-6. He now has a two-sets-to-one lead. What a relief after blowing that 6-0 advantage!

1420 Dementieva levels at 3-3 in the second set with a hold to 30. She lost the first set 6-1 to Venus it you've just logged on.

1418 It is 6-6! Clement comes to the net for a stop volley. Schuettler's brain must be fired now!

1417 Clement has saved five of those set points and amazingly he now has a point on his own serve to level up the tie-break.

1416 Dementieva shanks a forehand into the tramlines to allow Venus to hold for 3-2. However, that was a close shave and Williams is really having to fight a lot harder now. Dementieva isn't out of this yet but needs to hold steady on serve.

1415 Venus bangs down another big serve just went it's needed to get back to deuce.

1414 Dementieva brings up break point and Schuettler earns six set points as he goes 6-0 up at the change of ends.

1413 As Dementieva takes Venus to deuce, Schuettler opens a 5-0 lead in the breaker against Clement.

1411 Venus throws in her first double fault and falls 15-30 down.

1409 Dementieva holds for 2-2 and is back on terms in this second set. Is the fightback on?

1408 Schuettler takes the third set into a tie-break over on Court One. This will be very important you sense.

1406 Dementieva pulls a forehand into the tramlines to fall 15-40 down. However, both are saved. The Russian is living dangerously again here though.

1404 Michael Meyer feels Clement and Schuettler could do with some help out on Court One. "Could somebody please get some rocket-powered wheelchairs for Scheutler and Clement out there... they need more pace and power to even come close to Nadal in the sem's. This game is actually irrelevant." I have to agree with you Michael, Nadal will surely crush whoever comes through this one. It's currently 5-5 in that third set.

1401 One is saved with a massive ace but Dementieva then gets lucky - the ball dropping dead off the net cord. She breaks for the first time and gets the set back on serve at 1-2. She's still alive - just.

1400 A rare sloppy game from Venus sees several errors hand Dementieva two break points.

1357 Dementieva shouts out - nyet, nyet, nyet - as her frustration boils over after falling 15-40 down. Another awesome powerful stroke for the back of the court rams home Venus' advantage. She breaks for a 2-0 lead and this match looks all but over.

1355 Schuettler is about to serve to stay in the third set against Clement. 4-5 and crunch in what is sure to be a crucial set in that quarter-final. The winner plays Rafael Nadal.

1353 Dementieva fights back from 40-0 to 40-30 in the opening game of the second set but Venus then produces a timely big serve when can't be returned. Dementieva really needs to hold now to stem this tide.

1350 Back to the Andy Murray talk, Baggy, from Durban, has been on to say: "Andy Murray will never ever win any major tournament unless he learns to move like Nadal or Federer. At the moment he looks like a elephant, in fact an elephant is lighter on its feet than he is." That debate can continue in our opinion section. Here, I'd like your views on the ladies' singles matches. Can Dementieva fight back in this one. And how will Serena v Zheng turn out? Let me know your views: andy.schooler@bskyb.com

1349 A brtual backhand into the corner is followed up by a drive volley winner. Venus has the set 6-1 and is close to a seventh Wimbledon final.

1348 Three set points to Venus as she threatens to break for a third time.

1346 Venus holds despite squandering a 30-0 lead. Her serve is impressing and it's now 5-1 to the American.

1344 There are some grey clouds knocking around close to Centre Court at the moment. Showers have been predicted today.

1342 Schuettler breaks back against Clement on Court One. It's now 4-3 to the Frenchman who is pushing the clothing rules a bit today. A bright pink bandana is his choice of headwear. Schuettler is in a back-to-front white baseball cap.

1340 Dementieva holds after an epic game. She's on the board and that receives a big cheer from the Centre Court crowd. Four break points in total were saved in that game. Venus to serve now at 4-1.

1335 This time a big backhand sets up a break point. Again Dementieva stands firm though.

1333 Another forehand winner from Venus brings up another break chance. A decent serve saves it. Another is also staved off by the underfire Russian.

1330 It's pretty windy on court today. That's not good news for Dementieva's notoriously fragile serve.

1328 A convincing hold from Venus, including a 125mph serve. She holds to 30 and leads 4-0. Any views or questions? Email me: andy.schooler@bskyb.com

1325 Clement has the first break of that third set against Schuettler. A lucky net cord sees him strike in the fourth game. He leads 3-1.

1323 The Venus forehand - often the shot to go awry - is in great nick so far. A crunching cross-court winner brings up two more break points. One is saved but then a shot into the net from Dementieva makes it 3-0 with a double break.

1320 A big serve. big forehand combination finally seals the game for Venus. She leads 2-0. Over on Court One, the third set is on serve with Clement 2-1 up on Schuettler.

1319 A fourth chance comes and goes for Dementieva. This time a backhand goes into the net.

1318 Venus saves another break point, coming to the net to put away a high volley. She's a good volleyer when she does venture forward.

1316 Venus starts with some big serves but her opponent produces some equally good returns. A poor forehand long from Venus gives Dementieva two break-back points. The first is saved with an ace, then Dementieva goes long - deuce.

1312 A worrying start for the Russian. Some brutal hitting from Venus - to avoid confusion that's how we'll refer to her - immediately takes her to 0-40. One break point is saved but then a second serve is cracked back for a forehand return winner. A fine start for Venus. 1-0.

1310 It's Dementieva to serve first. Here we go.

1307 The players are warming up which gives me a chance to air Tom Adlam's views. He says: "Andy, I might look very silly in about an hour's time, but I think you are being too dismissive of Demientieva's chances. You don't get to world number five without being a great player and if it wasn't for her tendency to falter under pressure, she would have been in the semis in Paris. She played great tennis against Petrova for almost the whole match and to be honest Venus hasn't looked as good as she used to be." That's fair but I think her pressure problems and that dodgy serve just won't cut it against Venus today. We're about to find out.

1300 The players have just walked out on to the showcourts. Almost ready to go in SW19.

1256 The nets are up on the showcourts and the sky is still largely blue so we look set to start on time. Remember it's Dementieva v Venus on Centre at 1300 and Schuettler v Clement to finish on Court One.

1244 Victor, from Ghana, has delivered his verdict on today's ladies' semis. He says: "The Williams sisters are favourities today. I do not see Elena or Zheng Jie stopping them because I have predicted before long that they will be the double champions in both singles and doubles events. They look quite good and are serving well. Up Williams the double champions of 2008 Wimbledon!" It's certainly looking that way, Victor. And while you are blowing your own trumpet about your predicitions, I'll take this opportunity to remind you how I tipped a Williams sister to win in my pre-tournament betting preview. I hope some of you backed that at 15/8 because by tonight you could be collecting. Fingers crossed.

1240 How about Andy Murray? Well, my verdict was he was totally outclassed by Rafael Nadal last night. That shouldn't be taken as a criticism of Murray, but I think Nadal and Roger Federer showed with their performances yesterday just how far ahead of the rest of the ATP Tour. And to put things into perspective, the win was Nadal's 22nd in a row - a run which included a 6-1 6-3 6-0 demolition of Federer. The British star remains a good player, but certainly has work to do if he is to get up to the standards Nadal and Federer are currently setting. I was particularly pleased to see Murray deliver an honest and dignified assessment of his display. He admitted Nadal had been the much better player and that he hadn't performed to the best of his ability. No gripes. He'll learn and hopefulyl bounce back stronger. Remember the North American hardcourt season is almost upon us and that is Murray's favourite time of year. Don't be surprised to see him up in the top five come the end of the year. Send us your views on last night's match: andy.schooler@bskyb.com

1235 The sun is still out here but scattered showers are expected this afternoon so we could have a few interruptions. Hopefully things won't be affected too much.

1230 Serena Williams v Zheng Jie is the other semi and despite the Chinese needing a wildcard to enter this event, I think there's more chance of an upset in this semi. But that chance is still extremely slim. Having seen a few of Zheng's matches, I know she's striking the ball really well from the back on the court. However, I fear Serena's extra power will be too much for her. Like Venus, Serena hasn't hit the heights she's capable of so far, but certainly seemed to raise her level against Agnieszka Radwanska in the last round. Again, it's hard to see any other result than a Williams win. Do you disagree? Let us know your views of the semis: andy.schooler@bskyb.com

1225 OK, let's look ahead to Dementieva-Venus which is coming up at 1300. Venus leads 5-2 on the head-to-heads and the defending champion starts as the hot favourite. They've never played on grass but this is clearly Venus' domain - she's won here four times already. She's looked good in spells so far at this year's tournament but has needed to hit great heights. Certainly she hasn't needed to produce the tennis which demolished Maria Sharapova here 12 months ago. Dementieva is the highest ranked player left in the draw, but she showed her frailty in the last eight, being taken into a deciding set having led Nadia Petrova 6-1 5-1. Her serve is prone to collapse and her weak second delivery is likely to be battered today. Only one winner for me in this one. Venus.

1200 Good news on the weather front. The sun is out and play is set to start on time with a number of doubles and junior matches on the outside courts. Play on the showcourts starts at 1300 with the ladies' singles semi-finals taking centre stage. Venus Williams faces Elena Dementieva in the first before Serena Williams takes on Chinese surprise packagae Zheng Jie. There's also one men's singles quarter-final to finish. Rainer Schuettler and Arnaud Clement were level at one set apiece when play was halted last night. That clash will resume at 1300 on Court One. Stay tuned for a preview of the action. In the meantime, we'd like to hear your thoughts on those ladies' matches. We had some good responses yesterday, so email me: andy.schooler@bskyb.com