A family tradition at Wimbledon
LONDON - Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Williams . . . can Serena and Venus come out and play?
It's been a while since the two-woman sorority (Phi Beta Slamma) has been unleashed in concert. But here they are again: Venus and Serena, taking over yet another major championship, waving their gut-strung wands and making everybody else disappear.
The occasion is a private lawn party (a.k.a. a tennis tournament called Wimbledon) to which they invited 126 other ladies, but eventually told them all to "Get lost - Wimbledon belongs to us!"
Rude, perhaps. But by this time, of course, we know the Sisters Sledgehammer can do pretty much what they want to do on the patch of grass named Centre Court, the cathedral where they make believers out of whoever shows up. A Russian and a Chinese showed up yesterday, saw seductive carrots dangled in climactic tiebreakers, then swiftly pulled out of reach. Didn't make much difference to these two old hands at playing major semifinals. Venus took 1 hour 42 minutes to beat the statuesque Muscovite, Elena Dementieva, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).
Because, in the words of Arnaud Clement, "Wimbledon became Wimbledon again" - meaning two rainy interruptions after eight sunny days - Serena had to hang around much longer, although, her 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) vic tory over the people's choice in the People's Republic consumed only 1 hour 25 minutes of playing time.
Clement, the jaunty little Frenchman, was the losing part of a sideshow that ran over two days and lasted 5 hours 12 minutes. Despite holding a match point, he was beaten by a missing person, German Rainer Schuettler, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (7-9), 8-6, the second-longest match in the Big W's annals. Schuettler, No. 6 in 2003, seemed to fall out of the game. But he has worked his way back to No. 90, and gets a shot at Rafael Nadal today while the champ, Roger Federer, will be tested by the rejuvenated No. 75 Marat Safin.
But the Sisters, sidetracked at times by injuries and various distractions, have never been missing persons around here since Venus bagged the first of her four Wimbledon titles in 2000. One or the other has been in the final eight of the last nine years, Serena winning twice. Together they have stashed away 14 major championships, eight for Serena.
Tomorrow will be their seventh clash in a major final. Numbers, numbers, numbers, but they can't come close to the spunky Zheng Jie when it comes to TV numbers. More than 100 million have been looking in on her adventures even though they have had to sacrifice a lot of sleep, and probably never gave tennis much of a thought before Jie Whiz Jie appeared.
When her last stroke went plunk into the net for a concluding double fault, it was very early morning in Beijing. But Zheng had kept her newfound fans in a state of happy suspense through five victories, one of them over No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, as she became the first of her country to climb so high in a major. Two other triumphs eliminated high seeds - 15th Agnes Szavay and 18th Nicole Vaidisova.
Zheng came to town empty-handed, No. 133 in the eyes of Medusa, the Women's Tennis Association computer, but beneficiary of a wild card for which she has constantly thanked the proprietor, the All England Club. Her ranking will ascend to the 40s. She has received so many congratulatory messages from the People's Republic that you'd think she was the Obama chairman for China.
A petite 5 feet 5 inches, who turns 25 tomorrow, Zheng was making her singles debut on grass. "I thought I could win when I had the set point in the second [5-6, 30-40]. But probably I was thinking too much about it. I wanted to win for all those people watching. But I'm satisfied. Serena's serve was too big for me" - 14 aces, 11 service winners. A 123-mile-per-hour winner set up match point.
"I wanted it now. Now, not going into a third set - and I got it," exclaimed Serena. Nevertheless, Zheng's flat, double-barreled backhand was impressive. You wonder, however, what the Chinese Tennis Federation's reaction will be if Zheng and her teammates don't do well in the Olympics. Pressure will be considerably higher in Beijing.
Maybe their winning ways haven't changed, but life has for the sisters. Oracene Price is no longer Mrs. Williams. Another sister was murdered - "something that affects you more than you know," says Serena. "The older we get, the closer Venus and I get. As people and players." Both she and Venus resent that "a lot of people say our matches against each other aren't very good. But they get better all the time."
Of their 15 head-to-heads -- Serena leading, 8-7 - only one has been sensational: Little Sister's 2003 Australian Open final victory, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4. They've likely played a million times. Starting as kids. "We're good at this now. We just leave everything out on the court. This is the final of Wimbledon. Who doesn't want it? We're professionals," Serena says. "I'm definitely surprised that we haven't played a final here in five years." Serena won that one, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Venus, who trailed in her tiebreaker, then ran the last 5 points past Dementieva, said, "I can't imagine having a pro career without Serena. She inspires me. She taught me how to dig deep, be a fighter. But it's every Williams for themselves once we get to the final. We want the best for each other - except in the final. We have very good genetics. I think it's all in the genes. My mom and dad were good athletes. I think it's a blessing in the genes."
Rooming together, they are very different. "I read a book, Serena watches videos," says Big Sister.
Serena has made this threat: "I might get up early Saturday and eat all the breakfast food. All the Wheaties." Well, it will be the breakfast of champions for one of them, and Mom said they can come out and play.
