Ahmed Rizvi

DUBAI // One Williams sister will be playing for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title. Contrary to expectations, it will not be the world No 1 Serena.

After elder sister Venus’s commanding 6-3, 6-2 win over Caroline Wozniacki in the first semi-final, an all-Williams title clash was taken for granted.

After all, the younger sister, a tennis patrician, was going to take on a French plebeian in the second semi.

Alize Cornet? A lowly No 26 in the world, with only three minor WTA tour titles in her collection.

At the four majors, she has managed to reach the fourth round just once in 32 appearances.

Serena? A 17-time grand slam champion, an Olympic gold medallist and winner of 41 other tour titles. At the top of the WTA rankings, she enjoys a 5,690-point lead over the No 2 Li Na. So, if royalty exists in tennis, she is the queen.

However, Serena said she was left “embarrassed” by a brave opponent who refused to be overawed. Cornet hustled and harried the erratic No 1 with some brilliant returns and retrievals, and at the end of 82 minutes she completed a notable 6-4, 6-4 upset.

“I didn’t sleep much,” Cornet said of the night before. “I was so excited about this match, and now that I beat Serena, it’s a dream comes true. It’s going to be a short night again.”

Before last night, Cornet had played against a world No 1 only twice – losing to Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and Wozniacki in 2011.

“I didn’t play well,” Serena said. “I tried, though. I just kept hitting errors. I don’t think I’ve made that many errors in a match in at least three, maybe four years.”

Cornet was nearly as stunned.

“Wow, 6-4, 6-4 … I didn’t expect that, definitely, and I’m really, really happy and proud of myself,” she said.

It was uphill all the way, said Serena, who has never made the final in Dubai, where her sister has two career titles.

“I started out extremely slow,” Serena said. “I have actually been looking at a turtle every day. It’s a really cute turtle in the hotel. I think it’s so cute.

“Maybe I was too influenced by it. I need to play better than that if I want to be playing on the professional tour. Maybe I can go to the amateurs.”

The American sisters have not met in a final since Doha in 2009.

Given Venus’s performance against Wozniacki, Cornet could have trouble reprising her role as giant-killer against the elder Williams sister.

“Before this match, I was telling my coach that Venus has been impressing me the whole week,” Cornet said. “She’s back to her top level.”

Cornet, 24, is getting there, too. She was just 18 when she climbed to No 11 in the world in 2009, but by 2012 she had slipped to No 115.

She has since recovered, but few would have given her a chance of defeating a world No 1. Now, she could become the eighth player in history to beat both of the Williams sisters in the same tournament. And she certainly has an added incentive.

“I think [Venus] feels a little bit at home here in Dubai because she won twice,” said Cornet, who lost to Venus in her 2009 title run. “So it’s going to be revenge, and, wow, I can’t wait for it.”

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