{babes} Focused Serena not keen to follow Venus's lead

LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - With sister Venus and Roger Federer both sent packing from Wimbledon, Serena Williams was in no mood to follow suit, and battling Czech Petra Kvitova was unlucky enough to be on the receiving end. Venus fell to unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova on Tuesday, while a day later Federer, the six-times champion here, was sliced apart by Tomas Berdych's laser-like forehand in the biggest shock of the tournament so far. Serena halted the run of surprise results with a typically determined 7-6 6-2 win on Centre Court against the 20-year-old Czech, and fear of defeat appeared to motivate her as much as her desire for victory.

"The only thing was 'If I go out at least I went out with some great champs. I was in good company," she told a news conference.

Following a semi-final against world number 62 Kvitova that refused to follow the script, Williams said: "I definitely worked really hard. I didn't expect to get as far at the beginning of the tournament."

The American with the glittery nails is now overwhelming favourite to take her fourth title when she lines up against Russian 21st seed Vera Zvonareva in Saturday's final although she was wary of putting too much pressure on herself.

"On paper it looks like I should win. But Vera, I've played her several times, she's beaten some good people.

"I don't think she does anything terrible… She does everything good.

"It's tough playing a player like that who doesn't really have one real weakness and everything is pretty much a strength, from her forehand to her backhand to her movement."

Zvonareva has already got the better of Williams once at this year's Wimbledon when she and partner Elena Vesnina beat Serena and Venus in the women's doubles on Wednesday.

Serena was fined $4,000 for failing to appear at a press conference after that defeat.

With a fourth title beckoning, the top seed is unlikely to be so forgetful after Saturday's showdown.