London - Richard Williams will be on a plane to LA with his
new young wife while his daughters fight for the fourth time in a
Wimbledon women's final Saturday.
The eccentric tennis dad who boasts that he bought Venus and
Serena into the world to become tennis players, suffers badly when
his prodigy go at it hammer and tongs on court. Instead of facing his
demons, Williams prefers not to know any of the dirty details when
the sister act gets stuck into family battle.
While the senior Williams agreed to watch as his children played a
Friday doubles semi-final, but has said he will never break his vow
of skipping the finals. 'I would never watch them, I'd have a heart
attack,' he told British media.
While the paternal influence will be missing again, the struggle
will be just as fierce as the previous ones, with younger sibling
Serena trying to prevent her sister from lifting a sixth trophy at
the All England club.
The sisters have dominated this decade at the event, winning seven
of the nine Wimbledon singles titles since 2000. The other champions
have been Maria Sharapova (2004) and Amelie Mauresmo (2006).
There has been only one final this decade that did not include a
Williams sister (2006, Mauresmo v Justine Henin).
Serena and Venus will both be playing in their 14th career Grand
Slam singles final with Serena standing 10-3 while Venus is 7-6.
And despite how hard they try, it can't be just another match.
'Even if she's not playing her best, just that fight she has,
you're facing that,' said Venus of her sister. 'There's so much to
face when you play her. It's definitely a lot to get your mind
around.
'So for me I'll be focusing on getting past the player and the
fight in the final.'
Serena is equally wary: 'Going into this final I have nothing to
lose. I feel like obviously she's (Venus) playing the best tennis at
this tournament.
'I'll start with that, and then just keep positive and go with it.
So I think that if I can do that, then it will be good.'
Serena's semi-final win over Elena Dementieva lasted 2 hours, 49
minute, the longest semi-final at Wimbledon since 2000, when IBM
started recording the length of matches. Venus blasted bast Dinara
Safina in 51 minutes and lost one game.
Venus has reached the final without dropping a set and has won 34
consecutive (completed) sets since 2007. Serena is looking for her
first Wimbledon trophy since 2003.
The pair will be all-business on court with prestige and a huge
title again on the line.
'It's real easy to separate it (sisterhood) when you get a serve
at about 127 mph and it comes back as a winner,' said Venus. 'You
soon realise you're playing against an awesome player, and you better
really get ready on your toes.
'I'm happy for her to be in the final, but I have to face her and
defeat her. I don't necessarily want her to lose, but for sure I
want me to win.'
The series is level at 10-10 with Serena winning the last meeting
in the Miami semi-finals.
USA
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