WIMBLEDON PREVIW: THE WOMEN

Serena, Venus face tough roads to another meeting in final
Myskina unlikely to be tough on grass

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan & Fred Mullane/ Camerawork USA

Serena is going for a Wimbly three-peat.

Venus hasn't held the big platter since 2002.

Serena Williams lives in swanky Beverly Hills, while Venus Williams lives in a quiet part of South Florida. But they share a home away from home at SW19, the storied address of the Wimbledon Championships.

Venus won the title there in 2000 and 2001, while Serena went back to back there in 2002 and 2003. But both women are in an state of flux, with Serena having lost her a bit of stride after spending eight-and-a-half months off the tour due to a knee injury and Venus seemingly unable to play a month straight without re-injuring herself.

Two weeks ago, the sweet-swinging sisters were torched within 28 minutes of each other during the Roland Garros quarterfinals – Serena by Jennifer Capriati in three sets and Venus in straight sets by eventual champ Anastasia Myskina. Serena was angry; Venus was depressed.

It was the first time in three years that the sisters both lost before the semifinals of a Grand Slam that they both contested and the first time that they’ve lost in the same round in the 41 tournaments they’ve played together. "They’ve just came back and lost a lot of months," said Myskina. "Of course, everyone believes they can at least fight with them."

Capriati agreed. "These days it’s not shocking," she said. "There are a lot of girls who have been playing a lot more than they have. And if anyone’s going to have a chance to beat them, it’s going to be on clay."

Fortunately for the sisters, Wimbledon plants grass in its dirt. Should they find consistently on their huge serves and develop confidence at the net, they should meet in the Wimbledon final for the fourth time (Venus beat Serena in ’01 and Serena took out her older sister in ’02 and ’03.).

But that’s a big if.

SISTERS SHOW HOLES IN THEIR GAMES
Venus looked as shaky and without confidence as she’s ever has against Myskina and Serena looked absurdly out of shape against Capriati. The Williamses fight hard so you know they will give it a go, but even battle-hungry heavyweights can get knocked out if they don’t keep their chins down. "We're both competitors more than anything," Venus said. We won't just sit back and accept a loss or a performance that below of what we expect of ourselves."

If this were last year, a quick glance at the Wimbledon draw would lead one to conclude that the Williamses have easy sailing until the quarterfinals. But not now. Serena should be able to scold grass greenhorn Jie Zheng of China in the first round, but could be pressed by big-serving Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in the third round and tricky Swiss lefty Patty Schnyder in the fourth round. And then, for what must be the 100-millionth time, she’ll face Capriati in a quarterfinal, her fierce rival who has beaten her the last two times they’ve played.

If she’s practiced hard in the past two weeks, Serena should have the edge on grass because Capriati will be unable to lengthen the points and tire her foe like she did at Roland Garros. But even if Serena gets by her compatriot, her semifinal could be much worse. Fourth-seed Amelie Mauresmo, the only truly elite serve-and-volleyer, should be waiting. Without question, the Frenchwoman has enough weapons to down Serena. But Mauresmo has never won a major and despite the fact that she plays better away from home, has been pounded Serena here in the past and may not have enough self-belief to crank up her game when it really matters on Centre Court.

Even though she’s ranked No. 8, Venus was rightfully given the third seed due to her prior accomplishments here. She’ll have to find her form quickly against the powerful Swiss 20-year-old Marie-Gayane Mikaelian in the first round and then could face a tremendous task in knocking off fearless Croatian teen Karolina Sprem in round two. But she has enough savvy to win both contests, Unless American Meghann Shaughnessy rediscovers her game quickly, Venus should then cruise to the quarters, where she’ll likely confront '99 Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport, who once owned her but whom she has had in her pocket the past two years.

This is likely the 28-year-old Davenport’s last real chance at Wimbledon title, so if she manages to push past tough Russian Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round, she’s sure to come out firing against Venus. (And no, despite her royal Wimbledon pedigree, ancient wild card Martina Navratilova has little chance of winning more than one match and won’t be standing in front of Davenport in the fourth round).

Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Myskina hopes to test Venus again.

Myskina unlikely to be tough on grass
But Venus has proved match everything that the sore-kneed Davenport has to offer and is a far better mover. So really, Venus’ greatest test should come against one of the Russian in the semifinals: perhaps second seeded Myskina, 17-year-old shrieking sensation Maria Sharapova or possibly the revived 20th seed Elena Bovina. Venus would love to have a measure of revenge on Myskina, but the 22-year-old Russian is unlucky to get that far despite a truckload of new coincidence because she simply doesn’t have the weapons to match the demands of grass. Sharapova, who won the title in Birmingham last week, does.

However, even though Sharapova has the firepower to go toe to toe with Venus, she’s severely lacking in big-match experience, which showed in her quarterfinal loss to Paola Suarez at Roland Garros. Venus’ four trip to the finals here should pull her through to yet another Wimbledon final round meeting with Serena.

So if the Williamses do walk on court and get that old magical feeling that Wimbledon champs rarely seem to lose, another Venus-Serena final should occur. That will set things right in the Williamses camp once again. Hopefully, like last year, the match will go three sets. Better yet, it will be played at the two close sibling’s highest levels, a feat they have yet to achieve. Serena has won their last six matches and the last five Grand Slam finals they contested. Venus has been staring up at Serena’s diamond navel ring for far to long now. Poetic justice demands that 24-year-old Venus will regain her orbit will grab her fifth Grand Slam title – her first in three years. Hollywood justice demands that the part-time actress Serena return to her dominating form. Yet WTA Tour justice demanded at the French that the sisters receive a harsh wake up call for their lack of play the past year and the other player may not be done meting out punishment just yet.