Sports: Venus eyes for another title

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London, July 7 : Venus Williams aims to become only the sixth woman to capture four Wimbledon titles today when she takes on surprise, debutant finalist Marion Bartoli.

The 18th-seeded Frenchwoman staged a remarkable comeback, stunning world number one Justine Henin in Friday's semi-final to set up the lowest seeded women's final in tournament history.

Yet the 27-year-old American's lowly seeding of 23 and world ranking of 31 belies both her pedigree and ruthless second week form After a slow start, Williams dispatched top five-ranked Russian pair Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova as well as Serbian French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic without dropping a set.

She starts as overwhelming favourite against an opponent who has never before progressed beyond the third round of a grand slam, but the inexperienced 22-year-old was similarly discounted yesterday.

Before the women's showpiece, men's champion Roger Federer must dispose of another in-form French player when Andy Roddick's conqueror, Richard Gasquet attempts to halt the top seed's pursuit of a record-equalling fifth consecutive Wimbledon crown.

The Swiss and Frenchman play support to the women's final on Centre Court while Court One's other last-four tie pits French Open champion Rafael Nadal against battling Serbian fourth seed Novak Djokovic.

Reuters
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