Venus takes opening set

Venus has taken a first set advantage

V Williams leads S Williams 6-2

Venus Williams took advantage of her powerful baseline play and accurate serving to take a one set lead over sister Serena in the women's Wimbledon semi-final.

The first set looked to be going to serve until the fourth game when Venus made her younger sister pay for a number of uncharacteristic double faults.

But Serena recovered in the following game as she matched Venus with some terrific cross-court shots to break back.

However the elder of the pair used all her experience to take the next game on Serena's serve, and it then seemed a formality for Venus as she cruised to a 6-2 opening set advantage.

Fifth seed Venus has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the last two years but it appears that she may go one better at the expense of her sister.