Serena backs herself for title

The pair are fancied by the bookmakers to set up another all-Williams final, with Serena facing Zheng Jie and Venus taking on Elena Dementieva in Thursday's semi-finals on Centre Court.

"I'm not going to sit here and say (Venus is) favourite while I'm still in the tournament. That's not me," said Serena. "I always believe that I'm the favourite. Even if I'm not the favourite, I'm always going to believe that I am."

Dementieva, the highest seed left in the women's draw, does not believe she is favourite to make it through to the final, let alone win the Wimbledon title.

She disagrees with Serena, believing Venus must be considered favourite for the crown.

She said: "Venus is the defending champion. She likes to play here on grass and she's won a couple of times here. She really knows how to play here so I think she's favourite, without the (top four) seeded players."

All top four seeds failed to make it past the fourth-round stage this year - the first time that has happened since seedings were introduced back in 1927.

That has given Dementieva, into her first semi-final at the All England Club, a rare moment in the Wimbledon spotlight.

She is not getting carried away about her chances of beating grass-court expert Venus, though.

She said: "We never played on grass before so it's going to be our first meeting on grass courts. We'll see."