WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Serena Williams seems to have found a peculiar way to keep her vanity table uncluttered, even if her 33 tennis trophies, cups and plates weren’t exactly designed to store her makeup brushes.
The 10-time Grand Slam champion said Tuesday she hasn’t yet taken time to admire her prizes, instead putting them to a more practical use.
“I use some of my trophies for makeup brushes,” Williams said after reaching the Wimbledon semifinals by beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-3. “Maybe (someday) I’ll just take a step back and be like, ‘Hmmm.’ Take all the makeup brushes out and really appreciate every title and every trophy.”
A smiling Williams said the best trophy for the job was the one she won in Indian Wells, Calif., in 2001. It was at that tournament the family was booed after Venus withdrew just before a semifinal match against Serena. Their father, Richard, said those jeers were racially motivated, and the sisters have boycotted that tournament since then.
Serena has won two Wimbledon championships, beating big sister Venus in the final in 2002 and ’03. Venus beat Serena in last year’s final.
They could meet for the 21st time in their careers on Saturday at the All England Club. Serena plays Elena Dementieva in one semifinal Thursday, while Venus faces top-ranked Dinara Safina in the other.
“Right now I’m just thinking about winning my next round, which is another tough match,” Serena said.
Venus also knows what to expect if they both advance to face each other in a Grand Slam final for the eighth time.
“You have to be on your best game,” said Venus, who is 2-5 against Serena in major finals, “and hopefully she might not be on her best game.”
As a team, the Williams sisters are the defending doubles champions at Wimbledon. Venus said she hopes to continue playing together for many years to come.
“We’ve talked about playing the 2012 Olympics,” Venus said. “We’ve talked about playing doubles in 2016, because we hope it goes to Chicago. That’s pretty much where our timeline is heading.”
TWO TO GO
The top-seeded men’s double team of American twins Bob and Mike Bryan need two more victories to claim their second Wimbledon title.
“We’re having a good time and we’re feeling good,” said Bob, who has won seven Grand Slam titles with his brother. “Our serves are popping, and we’re holding comfortably so far. We like the way the two weeks are progressing.”
The Bryans, who picked up their third Australian Open title in January, easily beat fifth-seeded Bruno Soares of Brazil and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
“So far, so good, but we can’t expect to win so easy the whole time,” Mike said.
In the semifinals, the Bryans will face fourth-seeded Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas, or ninth-seeded Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium.
Of all the Grand Slam tournaments, the Bryan brothers seem to feel the most relaxed in southwest London.
“England’s where we’re most comfortable,” Bob said. “We love Wimbledon. We get takeout every night. We do our own laundry. We get groceries. This one feels a little bit like home.”
DEFENDING THE ROOF
A day after the first match played in its entirety under a roof at Wimbledon finished, the tournament’s organizers were already defending the conditions on Centre Court.
Andy Murray beat Stanislas Wawrinka under the translucent roof and stadium floodlights 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The nearly four-hour match ended Monday at 10:39 p.m., and Murray said when it was over that the humidity was so bad “it was like I’d been in a bath.”
Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Club, said Tuesday he did not think the humidity was a “great factor.”
“I think he’s entitled to his opinion,” Ritchie said of Murray, who is trying to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. “I’m sure on reflection he will look at what an enormous positive it was for him. If there was some humidity in the air it wasn’t on the court. I think the court was bone dry.”
Later Tuesday, Murray addressed the matter again via his Twitter account, writing: “one last thing…i loved playing under the roof even if you’ve read different! the atmosphere was amazing, just very humid.”
TOO HOT
Medical officials said they treated 132 people at the All England Club on Tuesday, most of them for heat-related problems. Only one was taken to the hospital.
The temperature was about 90 degrees.
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