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Serena Williams joked earlier this week that she would steal her sister Venus’s breakfast on Saturday if they both made it to another Wimbledon singles final.
Watch a video preview of the match
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Now that they have, tennis fans will have to wait and see whether the competitive edge implied by that quip is translated into a final worthy of both the occasion and their combined talent.
The sisters’ paths have crossed 15 times before on the women’s tour and few of those encounters have lived up to the hopes invested in them as clashes between two of the most talented players in the history of the women’s game.
The often lacklustre nature of their matches has led to suggestions that the sisters are simply too close to really go for the jugular when they face each other across the net.
A less benign explanation of why their clashes have largely failed to sizzle involves a conspiracy theory that the results are pre-arranged with their father and coach, Richard Williams, deciding how the game’s major prizes are shared out between his daughters.
Such suggestions, understandably, rankle with both sisters, although Venus acknowledges there have been moments in their respective careers when she felt family opinion about who should win was was markedly in favour of one of them.
Recalling their first meeting in a tournament final, at Key Biscayne in 1999 when they were both still teenagers, she admitted: “I think that my family wanted me to win because I was the older sister. So they thought I should win this title because I was older, and then Serena would have a chance after.
“There have been other times where I felt like they felt like, Serena hasn’t won, so it’s her turn to win.”
Whose “turn” it is here is not an easy question to answer.
As the defending champion, Venus, 28, has claimed a Grand Slam title more recently than her younger sister, who last lifted tasted victory in one of the four major trophies at the Australian Open last year.
But 26-year-old Serena’s total haul of eight Grand Slams is two ahead of Venus, who is bidding for her fifth Wimbledon singles title.
That record would suggest that, on grass, Venus’s smoother movement around the court and her reach at the net might give her the edge. But in their two previous meetings in Wimbledon finals, in 2002 and 2003, it was Serena who emerged victorious, as she has done in five of their six Grand Slam finals.
Serena also defeated her sibling in Australian, French and US Open finals over the course of those two years, something Venus now attributes to the burn-out that followed her highly successful spell around the turn of the century.
“She was just better than I was at that point,” she recalled. “She was definitely on a high and I had just came off of a couple years of just winning everything. I was probably a little burned out and she was more pumped.”
This time around, Venus believes it is a case of “every Williams for themselves” with the reliability of her serve, the fastest in women’s tennis, potentially the decisive factor.
“When I get it going it helps me out a ton,” she said. “I think that and being able to go out there and return really well will be key for me.
“To win a title, you’ve got to play aggressive and not just hope that your opponent misses.”
Serena meanwhile insists that the meetings of the sisters have not been as low-key as has been claimed, citing the 2003 Australian Open final in particular as “three extremely tough sets of very high quality tennis.”
And she claims she will have no problem getting motivated to put her big sister in her place again on Saturday. “It’s easy, especially with sibling rivalry. I want everything that Venus has.”
Wimbledon women’s final head-to-head record
(year, tournament, round, surface, winner, result; prefix denotes seeded player):6-Serena Williams (USA) v 7-Venus Williams (USA)
Serena leads 9-7
1998 Australian Open Hard R64 V. Williams 7-6 (7-4) 6-1
1998 Italian Open Clay Q V. Williams 6-4 6-2
1999 Miami Hard F V. Williams 6-1 4-6 6-4
1999 Grand Slam Cup Hard F S. Williams 6-1 3-6 6-3
2000 Wimbledon Grass S V. Williams 6-2 7-6 (7-3)
2001 Indian Wells Hard S S. Williams W/O
2001 US Open Hard F V. Williams 6-2 6-4
2002 Miami Hard S S. Williams 6-2 6-2
2002 French Open Clay F S. Williams 7-5 6-3
2002 Wimbledon Grass F S. Williams 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
2002 US Open Hard F S. Williams 6-4 6-3
2003 Australian Open Hard F S. Williams 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-4
2003 Wimbledon Grass F S. Williams 4-6 6-4 6-2
2005 Miami Hard Q V. Williams 6-1 7-6 (8-6)
2005 US Open Hard R16 V. Williams 7-6 (7-5) 6-2
2008 Bangalore Hard S S. Williams 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-4)
Paths to Saturday’s Wimbledon women’s singles final (prefix number denotes seeding):
7-Venus Williams (USA) v 6-Serena Williams (USA)
Venus Williams
1st rd: bt Naomi Cavaday (GBR) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1
2nd rd: bt Anne Keothavong (GBR) 7-5 6-2
3rd rd: bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) 6-1 7-5
4th rd: bt Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 6-3 6-4
QF: bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 6-4 6-3
SF: bt 5- bt Elena Dementieva (RUS) 6-1 7-6 (7-3)Serena Williams
1st rd: bt Kaia Kanpei (EST) 7-5 6-3
2nd rd: bt Urszula Radwanska (POL) 6-4 6-4
3rd rd: bt 29-Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1
4th rd: bt Bethanie Mattek (USA) 6-3 6-3
QF: bt 14- bt Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 6-4 6-0
SF: bt Zheng Jie (CHN) 6-2 7-6 (7-5)
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