The first semi-final in Montreal will be an all-Williams affair as Serena and Venus will play each other for just the second time in the last five years.  Their last match came in Charleston in 2013 when Serena cruised through their semi-final, 6-1 6-2.  I’m pleased it’s Serena-Venus as it looked for sometime like it could be Serena-CSN.  With the greatest of respect to Carla Suarez Navarro, a Serena-CSN match would have been excruciating.  I love watching Carla play tennis, but her record against Serena hasn’t been good and the draw of a Venus-Serena match, particularly as they have been so rare of late, is pretty huge.  In a gruelling quarter-final, Venus produced a staggering display to come through against CSN in three sets, 4-6 6-2 6-3.  I have such HUGE respect for what Venus is doing on the tennis court right now.  She has played four days in a row and three matches that have gone the distance.  Her heart and spirit is just incredible.  The match was pretty messy, but peaked in the third set where the pair played some wonderful points at the end.

In the first of the quarter-finals, Serena won an entertaining contest with Caroline Wozniacki, coming from a set and a break down to win, 4-6 7-5 7-5 in two hours and 41 minutes.  You can read my full recap of that match HERE.  I think both Serena and Venus are going to be exhausted going into this match! I was convinced one or both would fall at the quarter-final stage.  They were set to meet at this same stage in Stanford last week and could have met in the final of Dubai, but neither of those situations materialised.  Venus has had a magnificent week, but I think she will run out of gas against Serena and all those lengthy matches will finally catch up with her.  Whatever happens, it should be a fantastic occasion in Montreal.

Prediction: Serena d. Venus in 2 sets