Williamses increase their odds

Although Venus and Serena Williams had won six of the last eight Wimbledon women’s finals, including Venus’ title last year, neither sister was considered a top favorite before this year’s tournament.

That status, instead, belonged to 2004 champion Maria Sharapova, who began the tournament with 2-1 to 3-1 odds, according to oddsmakers. Even Ana Ivanovic, ranked No. 1 in the world heading into the tournament, fielded better odds than Venus and Serena.

Now fast-forward to today’s semifinals, and the Williams’ sisters have returned to their roles as the players to beat.

According to betED.com, Serena Williams is a -600 favorite over 133rd-ranked Zheng Jie, who upset Nicole Vaidisova in the quarterfinals. Jie, the first Chinese player to reach the semifinals at a major tournament, is listed at +450.

Venus Williams is listed as a -360 favorite over fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva, who is at +300. Venus has a 5-2 all-time record against Dementieva.

In Sportsbetting.com’s updated odds to win this year’s women’s championship, Venus and Serena are both listed at 1-1, with Zheng and Dementieva at 12-1. At Bodoglife.com, Venus is listed at 6-5 with Serena at 11-10, followed by Dementieva at 8-1 and Zeng at 10-1.

Golf

The post-Tiger Woods’ 2008 golf tour moves to Maryland for this weekend’s AT&T National, and for the second week in a row, Jim Furyk will enter as a favorite.

At Golfodds.com, Furyk is listed with 12-1 odds, ahead of Hunter Mahan and Mike Weir (20-1), and Robert Allenby, Anthony Kim and Stuart Appleby (25-1) to win at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

A group of golfers listed at 30-1 odds for this weekend include K.J. Choi, Steve Stricker, Trevor Immelman and Aaron Baddeley, Camilo Villegas, Rod Pampling and Ben Crane. Rocco Mediate, who lost to Woods in a 19-hole playoff at the U.S. Open, and veteran Fred Couples are both listed at 50-1.

If Furyk wins, it would be his first victory in 18 starts this season and a nice bounce back after he finished in 36th place in last week’s Buick Open, which he began as a 10-1 favorite.

Kenny Perry, who began with 12-1 odds and won the Buick Open last week, is not playing at Congressional this weekend.

 lonnie.white@latimes.com