Sister Act Rules Wimbledon, Again

It's still a Williams sisters world. That's the big statement from Thursday, when they both won to set up the big event: an all-Williams sisters final at Wimbledon. Again.

It's always a big event when they play each other, with the discussion covering their play, their clothes, their father, their attitude and whether they're deciding in advance which one will win. (The answers are: Serena better overall, Venus classy and Serena showy, weird but successful, good at the big moments and no.)

---

---

The beauty of it all is that no other match in women's tennis gets so many people noticing, watching, talking. They both won Thursday; both made big statements. Serena beat No. 4 Elena Dementieva 6-7 (7-4), 7-5, 8-6 in a classic. It was everything Serena should always be, if only she cared enough to try the other 44 weeks a year -- when she isn't playing a major.

Venus' statement? She played No. 1 ranked (stupid computer), No. 1 seed (stupid Wimbledon seeding committee) Dinara Safina (stupid player). And we've heard grumbling from Williams fans, and from Serena herself, about that ranking and who's best. So this was Safina's chance to prove herself.

Venus won 6-1, 6-0. Safina won 13 points. Just 13 points for the No. 1 player in the world.

"She's ranked No. 1 in the world," Serena said. If you missed it, she had a catty, yet true, distinction. Not the best, just ranked as the best. Serena is best.

Funny thing is, Safina's lead in the rankings will actually increase over the Williams sisters now. Did I mention that the rankings computer is stupid? Safina is picking up points from her improvement over her play last year at Wimbledon. The Williams sisters don't gain, basically, because they didn't improve. All-Williams last year is the same as All-Williams this year.

A quick thing about Safina. She must be the worst No. 1 player women's tennis has ever had. The talent is there, but not the head, not the role and attitude of a champ. In her last two times on the big stage, Safina turned to her coach nearly in tears on court during the French Open final, asking why she's "such a chicken." Thursday, she won 13 points.

Her statements? Embarrassing. For a champ, she doesn't send much of a message of strength and power to young girls.

"She gave me a pretty good lesson today," Safina said. "Judging by this one, I cannot say anything."



This is the day when every anti-Williams person has nothing to say, no statements. So who's going to win? I'll take Venus, who is unbeatable here and now. Just one person is capable of beating her, someone named Williams. Richard Williams. What we don't know is which daughter he has picked to win. Venus won last year. Does that make it Serena's turn?

That was just a joke. I don't believe for a minute that they fix these matches, as people have accused. It all comes from Richard's goofy comments, from a hard-to-understand, amazing sister-relationship, and from the fact that in the 20 times they've played each other, going 10-10, there has yet to be one good, well-played match. But come on, that's based on the confusion and emotion involved in playing your sister, someone you grew up with on the courts, travel with, live with on the road. How can you separate the sister from the opponent?

"It's real easy when you get a serve at about 127 [mph] and it comes back as a winner," Venus said. "You soon realize you're playing against an awesome player and you better really get ready on your toes."

Nice words. Not true.

Listen to this.

"I'm happy for her to be in the final, but I have to face her and defeat her," Venus said. "I don't necessarily want her to lose, but for sure I want me to win. Maybe that doesn't make sense.

"But when I'm playing someone else, for sure I want them to lose. I don't like to ever see her [Serena] disappointed in any way. But at the same time, I don't want to see myself disappointed. So I'm still the big sister, but I'm still going to play great tennis."

This sibling stuff gets in your head, stirs things around. And that has created the bad matches.

It's also the best thing possible for tennis, now that Rafael Nadal is out with a bad knee and can't have a rematch with Roger Federer. The only negative that stuck out about the sisters came during Serena's match. She had match-point against her, and just kept fighting and fighting. It's her trademark. And it's true that big players step up for big moments.

But seeing her play like that is a reminder of how Serena throws away so much of her legacy. She doesn't fight like this, or even show up fit or ready to fight, for non-majors. So you could get a nervous thrill from watching her Thursday, but also feel a little cheated that she's not providing that all the time. Or at least more often.

In fact, that's why she's not No. 1, because Safina builds up enough computer points with her consistency the rest of the year.

"It's two completely different players," Dementieva said, "when [Serena's] playing Grand Slams or other tournaments."

Well, at least we see her like this now. Someone else is No. 1 because Serena allows it. But with Venus-Serena on Saturday at Wimbledon, we get another event, another statement.

Like what you read here? Follow me on Twitter: @gregcouch