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WIMBLEDON, England — A spot in her seventh Wimbledon final already secured, Venus Williams headed back to Centre Court to catch the end of the next match.
Scouting? Not really. More like rooting. And when Thursday’s second semifinal ended, Williams stood, smiling and applauding for the woman who won, the woman she will have to beat to earn a fifth championship at the All England Club: her younger sister, Serena.
The most unusual and, at times, uncomfortable rivalry in tennis is once more in the spotlight at the pinnacle of the sport: Venus will play Serena in their third all-in-the-family Wimbledon final Saturday.
It’s their seventh Grand Slam title match — Serena holds a 5-1 edge over her sister — but first final at any tournament since 2003.
“Our main focus is obviously both of us getting to the final,” Venus said. “Then, from ther
Venus Williams will face her sister Serena for the Wimbledon women’s championship Saturday. |
e, it’s every Williams for themself.”
While there are, of course, differences in personality (Venus calls herself a nerd; Serena is more extroverted) and game (Venus’ serve is faster, for example, and Serena’s return is considered better), the siblings’ paths to what will be their 16th head-to-head matchup were remarkably similar.
Neither has lost a set in the tournament, and Venus won her semifinal 6-1, 7-6 (3) over fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-1, 7-6 (3), before Serena hit 14 aces in a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over 133rd-ranked Zheng Jie of China 6-2, 7-6 (5). Coincidentally, each Williams won 80 of the 141 points in her match.
How unsurprising were Thursday’s results? Consider this: The sisters are now a combined 100-13 at Wimbledon for their careers; Dementieva and Zheng are a combined 29-13.
“We’ve both been working extremely hard,” said Serena, who holds an 8-7 career edge over Venus. “It’s just coming together.”
Both have been ranked No. 1, but a combination of injuries and inactivity contributed to Venus being No. 7 now, and Serena No. 6. All of the top four-seeded women were gone by the quarterfinals, the first time that’s ever happened at Wimbledon, which cleared the way a bit for the sisters.
The only other sisters to play each other in a major final were Maud and Lillian Watson, who met to decide the very first Wimbledon championship — all the way back in 1884.
While No. 1 Roger Federer plays Marat Safin in one men’s semifinal today, and No. 2 Rafael Nadal meets Rainer Schuettler — who needed two days to finish his five-set quarterfinal victory over Arnaud Clement — in the other, the schedule also includes the women’s doubles semifinals.
The Williams sisters will play Nathalie Dechy and Casey Dellacqua in that event, then return to the apartment they’re sharing during the tournament.
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