Wimbledon 2008: Zheng Jie v Serena Williams - As It Happened

Bear with me ... Doing the game-by-game on the first semi-final was thirsty work. I need a drink.

Preamble: The knowing nods we all gave when Britain's last hope Elena Baltacha crashed out to wild card Zheng Jie are ancient history. Since then Zheng has overcome top seed Ana Ivanovic, 15th seed Ágnes Szávay, 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova and the fact that she's about 2ft 1ins tall to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon and can no longer be overlooked. Zheng may not be in the same class when as Williams when it comes to power and shot-making ability, but she is surprisingly agile and incredibly dogged.

She simply does not give up on points and her ability to just keep returning the ball has driven many of her previous opponents to distraction. That's what she relies on and Williams will have to make mistakes for her to succeed. She remains the underdog, but, lest we forget, everyone was ready to write off Marion Bartoli before her semi-final against Justine Henin last year ...

I'm disappointed to say ... that a staggering number of empty seats remain on Center Court. I would be very surprised if we see similar gaps for the men tomorrow. Is this an indication that, despite equal pay, men's tennis remains more popular with the fans?

First set: Zheng* 0-1 Williams Zheng's lack of height is undeniably a hindrance when it comes to serving and Williams gets off to a flying start by breaking her to 30, seeing out the game with a glorious forehand down the line that Zheng has no chance of reaching.

First set: Zheng 0-2 Williams* Dearie me, Zheng is all over the place here. Serena is banging down typically fierce first serves, and even her second serves - coming from such a high trajectory, are hopping up around Zheng's head and giving the Chinese all sorts of trouble. Williams holds to love.

First set: Zheng* 1-2 Williams Williams shanks a forehand some way out as Zheng holds serve at the second attempt. Those of a more jingoistic bent will be pleased to hear that - at last check - 14-year-old Brit Laura Robson was a set up, and on level terms with her opponent Bojana Jovanovski in the quarter-finals of the girls' singles.

First set: Zheng 1-3 Williams* Being short isn't all bad - apparently - as Zheng whisks a two-handed backhand from about two inches off the floor over the net and across Serena's face for a glorious winner. Serena holds, though.

First set: Zheng* 1-4 Williams She's done some things well, Zheng, but somehow it just doesn't seem like that tenacity that got her here will be enough against an opponent of this sheer power. Serena biffs a forehand volley to the far corner of the court and this set is already looking as good as over.

First set: Zheng 1-5 Williams* Serena holds to 15 and when she gets that wide, sliced first serve in Zheng really does just have no hope of reaching it.

"On the blogs, it has been claimed that Zheng's giant-killing is a reflection of the depth of the women's game," reports Gary Naylor. "Isn't it, and the empty seats to which you refer, more a reflection of its shallowness? Outside the top few, all are much of a muchness, neither fit enough nor powerful enough to challenge the elite. That elite has now shrunk due to the physical and psychological burden of ascending through junior tennis, then staying at the top. Clijsters, Henin, Hingis and this Wimbledon, Sharapova, Ivanovic and Jankovic are all absent or as good as absent. Richard Williams may not please everyone (or anyone) but he knew what he was doing with his dazzlingly dedicated daughters."

First set: Zheng* 2-5 Williams The fans that have deigned to show up on Centre Court are desperate for a competitive match, and there's a relieved cheer - if not quite Zhengmania - as she recovers from 0-40 down to hold. All of a sudden it's raining on Centre Court and the covers have been rushed on.

Blame the crustacean munchers We could be here for a while yet, so in the meantime here's some food for thought from Peter McDonald regarding the emptiness of Center Court this afternoon. "It's the curse of the corporate and prawn sandwich brigade," raves Peter. "They have tickets because 'one has to be seen to be here'. When Henman came out to finish his ill-starred match against Goran Ivanisevic match, they were still at the trough, so great was their interest in actually watching the tennis ... Any seat left empty for more than 30 minutes should automatically become available to others!"

Rabid appeals for the redistribution of wealth? On the Guardian website? Too right. Besides, who would eat prawn when mung beans are so readily available?

Blame it on the lack of great contests "I think part of the reason for the Center Court gaps might be the relative lack of any strong narrative to the tournament, especially when compared to the men's tournament running alongside," volunteers a sage Andi Thomas. "Somebody (McEnroe? Bolletieri?) said that this was the best men's No1 and No2 in the history of the sport, and the momentum building behind their possible/probable final meeting is almost tangible. Add in the frankly unknowable Marat Safin, and that's a fascinating build-up."

"By contrast, the women's tournament has been underwhelming. The upsets have been down to poor performance and fitness, and the two favorites are the only two elite players so far who've been playing anywhere near well. Add to that the general shallowness of the field, the stylistic mundanity of 99% of the women's game, the general antipathy of the tennis establishment to the Williams' sisters, the all-round brevity of three-set tennis, and you don't have a recipe for bums on seats."

A considered, well constructed argument? On the Guardian website? Too right.

Don't blame it on the sunshine, mind ... because it has reappeared over Centre Court, and hopefully we'll be under way again shortly. The moonlight and the boogie are still conspicuous by their absence.

Williams win the first set 6-2 Well the break doesn't seem to have done Zheng any great favours. Williams reels off her service game to love in double-quick time and that's the set. "I'm glad to see you haven't referred to Serena Williams as a fist-pumper so far," hurrahs Ian Copestake. "One of her most enduring and characteristic traits is that her form of fist-pump-esque celebration is distinctive because she elbow-pumps. The elbow is the defined centre of her arm motion, moving it as she does towards her pelvis or groin. This results in a quite 'feminine' celebration of force because it appears inwardly directed, rather than the fist-centered outward gesture that is the focus for most male tennis player celebrations."

Right you are. See, the main reason I hadn't made reference to it was just because she hasn't done it yet. To be honest this match has been too straightforward for her to bother getting that worked up.

Second set: Williams leads Zheng* 6-2, 0-1 Zheng's not ready to roll over just yet, though, and she drops just one point on her first service game after the break.

Second set: Williams* leads Zheng 6-2, 1-1 These two could play for months without Zheng ever breaking Williams' serve. Whether Serena slices it wide, thumps it down the middle or simply makes it kick up from the middle of the service box there are only ever two results - Zheng swishing her racket at thin air (never fat air, mind) or - if she's lucky - scraping her frame against the ball as it whizzes by her. Again, the game goes to love.

Second set: Williams leads Zheng* 6-2, 1-2 But she has looked better on her own serve after the break, scampering back and forth behind the baseline to retrieve apparent lost causes and delivering a brace of really nice winners when she finally gets the opportunity to plant her feet. She holds to 15.

Second set: Williams* leads Zheng 6-2, 2-2 The Beeb's commentary team are imploring Zheng to line up wider to give her some shot at reaching Williams' wide sliced serves but they're actually underestimating Serena, who has mixed her serves up from outside to inside throughout. Another straightforward hold.

Second set: Williams leads Zheng* 6-2, 2-3 She's surprisingly strong, Zheng, when she gets going and reverses the trend by leaving Serena lunging at nothing with a ferocious punched forehand from the baseline. She needs resolve, too, after letting a 40-15 lead slip to take the game on deuce. "It's not easy to get tickets for top sporting events, says Gary Naylor, "but if I want to take my kids to a Test Match or an England game at Wembley or Twickenham or the Open Golf, I know how to do it and I know that if they don't get tickets, it's because every seat is taken. But Wimbledon? They don't play on the 'first' weekend, nor on the middle Sunday, and the last weekend is for Finals, so there's only the middle Saturday to take them or after school in the evening. I have no idea how to get tickets for those narrow windows and Wimbledon seem quite happy about that. No wonder we struggle to get kids interested in tennis, when the annual showpiece event makes them (and locals like me) feel about as welcome as bottle of Brown Ale in the Pimms tent."

Second set: Williams* leads Zheng 6-2, 2-4 Well that goes to show what I know. Four games after I insisted she could go a month without breaking Serena's serve, she does just that, finishing the game by dispatching Serena's second serve with a two-handed backhand of gasp-inducing ferocity. Serena's first serve remains nigh on unassailable, but Zheng has been increasingly dominating the rallies, so when the American's first serve wavered, she was quick to take advantage.

Second set: Williams leads Zheng* 6-2, 3-4 Well that was short lived. You wouldn't like Serena when she's angry, and she swats a series of contemptuous returns past Zheng so quickly that the game was done in barely a minute.

Second set: Williams* leads Zheng 6-2, 4-4 And Serena's next service game is similarly rapid, with not one point dropped. "The problem here is Wimbledon's ticket selling system," chips in Adanna Chaput de Saintonge. "It is ill-thought out. Plain and simple. They are supposedly at pains to make some gesture towards equal access to tickets and so keep a certain number back for sale on the door, but half empty semi-final Centre Court games go to show that they need to go back to the drawing board on this one. The demand is undoubtedly out there. They just don't know how to effectively meet it."

Second set: Williams leads Zheng* 6-2, 4-5 You can't help but be impressed by the sheer resolve of Zheng - every time you think she's flagging she just seems to dig a little deeper and she belts another wicked two-handed backhand past Williams from the the baseline as she holds to 30.

Second set: Williams* leads Zheng 6-2, 5-5 Serena gets a bit sloppy after romping into a 40-0 lead, but after dropping two points on a pair of lazy shots, still holds without the need for deuce. "I don't see the validity of Andi Thomas' argument," says Stephen Holt. The men's and women's draws have been equal in their lack of competitive challenge for the top two (Federer/Nadal and Williams/Williams) as they march to their inevitable finals against each other. I think the only reason people are less interested in the women's version is because they feel like they are intruding on a private family matter, and it's difficult to build up a rivalry between sisters who are so close."

Second set: Williams* leads Zheng 6-2, 5-5 Bleugh. More rain. Zheng had just taken a 40-30 lead when it started heaving down over SW19. This could be a long break.

In response to Stephen Holt "I can see his point about the lack of competitive challenge, but I think there's a distinction," replies Andi Thomas. "The Federer/Nadal dominance stays interesting because their excellence feels like a pushing of the boundaries for men's tennis, particularly from Nadal. It feels like we're seeing something of importance and significance for the game as a whole: the undisputed king and the up-and-coming pretender (at least on grass). As such, the smoothness of their progress is less due to the weakness of the game and more due to their extraordinary talent."

"Whereas the Williams sisters have proceeded this smoothly largely thanks to the inadequacies of those nominally around the same level Ivanovic, Sharapova, Jankovic, Dementieva) and the retirement of Henin. It's more interesting to watch two players demolish everything around them because they're that much better, than to watch two players demolish everything around them because it's been weak, at least from a narrative point of view. Much better to see excellence rewarded than competence indulged, I reckon, and the sisters haven't had to be anything but competent so far.

"I realise this is all subjective. I also realise that I'm setting this up very nicely for a total let-down of a men's final, aren't I? Safin to beat Clement in four ..."

It's still raining ... And unfortunately I'm going to have to leave you. Fear not though, readers, for Les Roopanarine will be on hand, waiting to take over if the weather does improve. You can email him at les.roopanarine@guardian.co.uk. Thanks for hanging around with me all afternoon and keeping me busy with your emails.

Good news! The covers are off at the All England Club and play should commence shortly. Many thanks to Paolo, who has handed me the proverbial baton after a typically sterling stint at the game-by-game helm.

In response to the response to Stephen Holt ... comes the following from Samantha Rajasingham: "I don't necessarily agree that the Williams sisters are surrounded by a lower level. Women's tennis is being played at an incredible level this year. And it is fantastic to see players like Zheng and Tanasugarn up the level of their game for Wimbledon. If Sharapova and Jankovic are out it's because of injuries (which might have something to do with the scheduling). And Ana Ivanovic doesn't yet have the type of game to suit grass, nor was she properly prepared for Wimbledon. People always criticise the Williams sisters for not playing enough, but there they are, ready to attack Wimbledon when it counts. The level is great, but they both are just that much more determined when Wimbledon rolls by, and it is the speed that best suits their power play.

"If the women's final would appear to be less interesting than the men's (I suppose Nadal/Federer) it would be due in large part to the act that the Williams sisters share the same kind of play, and we know that their styles matched together don't necessarily make for long or entertaining rallies. Also, they do not necessarily bring out the most competitive edge in each other. In contrast, Nadal and Federer have vastly contrasting styles and personalities, and seem to bring out the best in each other."

Second set: Williams leads Zheng* 6-2, 5-6 Serena is rapidly back into her stride on the resumption of play, snatching the first point with some ferocious baseline hitting to reach deuce before working her way to break point. Zheng, though, quickly retrieves the situation, and after a couple more deuces she wrong-foots Williams with a stinging forehand return to reach game point. A punishing rally ensues, and the world No133 looks anything but as she trades heavyweight blows with the former champion before heading to the net behind a solid cross-court approach shot and burying a smash. Williams will have to serve to stay in the set.

Second set: Williams* leads Zheng 6-2, 6-6 Serena moves briskly to 30-0 courtesy of some heavy serving, only for Zheng to pile on the pressure with some aggressive returning. Her enterprise reaps dividends as Serena miscues a forehand at 30-30 to bring up set point. But Zheng nets a makable return in her anxiety to close down the net and the chance is gone. Back-to-back aces from Serena clinch the game, and it's tie break time.

Second set: Tie break: Williams beats Zheng 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) Serena turns up the heat to establish a 3-0 lead in the tie break, and it looks bleak for the Chinese. Zheng, though, bravely holds on to her next two service points as Serena makes a hash of things from the back. Normal service is quickly resumed with another pair of aces from Williams: 5-2 to the American. Undaunted, Zheng brings an abrupt halt to a stinging baseline exchange with a two-hander so crisp and so deep that it reminds you of Chris Evert in her pomp. Briefly unnerved, Serena sends a forehand wide, but at 5-5 a huge serve clips the line to give Williams match point. Sadly, Zheng's brilliant run comes to an end with a double fault. Serena looks to the VIP box in joy, and it's all over.

So that's it For the the third time since 2002, we have an all-Williams final. Thanks for your emails.