After the supreme excitement of Serena Williams's three-set victory over Elena Dementieva in the opening semi-final on Centre Court, the match that followed was always likely to be an anti-climax. But what occurred was the equivalent of descending from the top floor of a skyscraper to the basement as the older Williams, defending champion Venus, destroyed Dinara Safina of Russia 6-1, 6-0 in 51 minutes.