It happened again at the Big W, this time in the semifinals. The most prestigious tournament produced another classic today when Serena Williams and Elena Dementiava battled for nearly three hours in a truly epic encounter on the sport's most important court. It was a match full of seemingly interminable tension and emotion in addition to brilliant shot-making.

After valiantly fighting off a match point while serving at 4-5 in the third set, Serena was able to maintain her aggressive play and triumph 7-6, 5-7, 8-6. It was the finest match in women's tennis since the 2005 final when sister Venus beat Lindsay Davenport for the title.

And the women were overdue for a classic. As so many pretenders and contenders who vie to wrest power away from the Williams' bicameral control of the sport have fallen away due to injuries, retirement or inconsistent play - Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, etc. - the women have lacked both competitive match drama and excitement that comes from discussion about those who reside at the top of the sport. Federer-Nadal it has most decidedly not been in women's tennis.

But that was rendered moot today as Dementiava, clearly one of the nicest players on tour and eminently easy to root for, was able to give Serena, perhaps the best competitor of Open Era, the fight of her life.

And it was a fight that should not have come as that big a surprise. After all, until Serena beat Dementiava in the semis of the Australian Open in January, the Russian had defeated the American four consecutive times.

But far too often in the past Dementiava's nerves - more specifically nerves from horrible serving - have gotten the best of her and has been the chief reason why she hasn't hoisted a Grand Slam trophy. That was not the case today however. The 27 year-old proved she has exorcised her service demons as she won a remarkable 62% of her second serve points and had only eight double faults which proved to be of little consequence. She kept Serena off balance much of the afternoon with her placement.

For her part Serena served well when she had to, as her 20 aces attest to. She was able to generate, barely, enough free points on her powerful deliveries to prevent the match from getting away from her. No more so than when she served at 5-6 in the deciding set at 0-30. A couple of strong serves allowed Serena to not have to face an additional match point or two.

And she needed whatever free points were available. Dementiava was actually dictating play more frequently than the favored Williams. But neither player suffered through any significant lapses of judgment or poor shots. The level of play was that high throughout.

But it was the afore-mentioned match point down that proved Serena's shining moment in this monumental struggle. She was forced to hit a second serve when facing that match point at 4-5 in the third. And then to follow that up with a move to the net, where Dementiava had had success passing her all afternoon, was a testament to Serena's championship mindset. After all that is the trick, in tennis and life -to maintain aggression and confidence while navigating tenuous junctures. It is something that very few athletes realize on a consistent basis. Serena is in rare company indeed.

There is no question that the name Williams will be etched into a Grand Slam trophy for the 18th time out of the last 40 Slams ... oh that's right, there's that matter of the other semifinal. Forgot to mention it. Well, all one needs to know is that Venus won with ease and put another bullet into the highly dubious number one ranking of Dinara Safina. The Williams Era is still the epoch in which we exist.

SIDE NOTE: The absence of tiebreakers in the deciding set at Wimbledon (all the Slams actually except for the US Open) is one reason why today's match was so fulfilling. To have an abbreviated, sudden ending n a tiebreaker to decide such a high quality encounter would have been an anticlimax. True, a tiebreaker could have yielded its own excitement and thrilling moments but it is still a somewhat forced conclusion to a match. Having to play complete games produces a more organic, and thereby just, result.