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| Serena Williams was pushed all the way by | Heather Watson |
outcome of regular Wimbledon meetings between
the Williams sisters was decided over breakfast
in their shared rented house.
When they first met at SW19 in 2000, for
example, Serena had already won her first Slam
at the US Open. The theory ran that it was
Venus’s turn and sure enough she went on from
her semi-final victory over her sister to beat
Lindsay Davenport in the final.
By the time they met next, two years later in the
final, Venus had already won another Wimbledon
title so it was time for Serena to be champion.
The following year was a repeat and a chance to
make it two Wimbledon titles each.
The most engaging battle between the two came
in the 2008 final, when both smacked the ball at
the body of their opponent at upwards of
120mph in an exhibition of no-quarter-given
powerplay in which Venus prevailed – although
Serena won the following year almost by way of
apology.
Then nothing again at Wimbledon for seven
years...until today.
As soon as she beat Heather Watson on Friday,
saving a match point before prevailing, 6-2, 4-6,
7-5, Serena was making the sort of comment
that could promote another out-of-court
settlement.
Venus, who had earlier defeated Aleksandra
Krunic 6-3, 6-2, has just celebrated her 35th
birthday. Her career has been affected
increasingly recently with Sjogren’s syndrome, an
auto-immune disease that can leave her sapped
of energy, sometimes without warning.
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| Venus Williams is in good form heading into the | clash between the sisters |
mean, she’s been through so much. She’s had a
wonderful story.”
Serena, though, is not getting any younger at 33
and having already got possession of the US,
Australian and French Open titles, she wants to
become the holder of all four concurrently for
only the second time in her career.
As a result, the Venus camp is not buying all
that sentiment. They are expecting a genuine
battle.
David Witt has coached Venus through most of
her ups and downs and has an explanation for
the convenience of the run of results in the
head-to-heads so far.
“Early on, when Venus was winning more, that
motivated Serena to want it,” he said. “And I
think now Venus sees Serena doing it and is like,
‘Look, why not me? I mean, I’m training hard. I
feel like I’m still a top-five player, and I can beat
anybody on a given day’. Which she can.”
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| Oracene Price, mother of Serena and Venus, | looks on |
The fact she has dropped down the rankings is
why this is only the second time since 1998 the
sisters have clashed before the quarter-finals of
a tournament.
“It’s just unfortunate that it’s so soon,” Serena
said. “But we’re going to do the best that we
can. I mean, she’s my sister today. She’s my
sister next week. She’s my sister next year.
That’s a little more important than a match.
“We’ll leave everything out on the court. When
it’s done, you know, we’ll go back to regular
life.”
Mum Oracene Price does not know if she can
bear to watch. “I might go take a picture of Big
Ben that day,” she said.
But according to Witt, nobody else has an excuse
to look away as it is not certain how many more
of these encounters tennis fans will be able to
experience.
“The message is enjoy them while we’ve got
them,” he said. “You’ll never see something like
this again.”
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