#Sports - Williams sisters renew rivalry, as Venus eyes Serena Slam

With her heart racing as she stood two points from defeat in her
third round match at Wimbledon, Serena Williams looked in serious
danger of missing out on a 26th on-court date with older sister,
Venus.

For a fleeting second, the American even contemplated finding “a
dance class” while she “hung around to watch Venus play” as brave
Brit Heather Watson looked like she would deny the sisters a chance
to renew their Wimbledon rivalry by toppling the world number one.

Those dance classes were soon a distant memory as U.S., Australian
and French Open champion, Serena, kept alive her dreams of
completing the “Serena Slam” by setting up a fifth All England Club
showdown with her sister.

A contest that will feature two women, who between them have hoisted the RosewaterDish 10 times since 2000,has the potential to be a classic but could very well turn out to be the ultimate anti-climax as has been the case in
many of their previous meetings.

“I’m one of the few people that has experienced what it’s like to
play, in my case, my brother (Patrick) on the tour,” said American
great, John McEnroe.

“I know this is wrong but I thought to myself if I lose to my brother
I’m going to go and jump off the top of the Empire State Building.

“I love my brother and it should be that if you’re going to lose to
anyone, you want it to be your brother. But there is some weird
dynamics.

“I’ve always been amazed that Serena and Venus have been able to
handle it so well because the older person is supposed to win. Serena
is feeling a lot of pressure as she’s going for history, go for the
grand slam, so Venus has got an opportunity.”

Serena leads their overall head-to-head 14-11, and is 3-2 at the
grass court major having won their last grand slam meeting in
straight sets in the 2009 Wimbledon final.

Not everyone was sure if Serena was engaging in some mind games
when she declared Venus was “in better form than I am and I think
she has a little bit of an advantage going into that match.

“I’m playing the toughest player I’ve played in women’s tennis.
That’s never fun.”
Five-times champion, Venus, however, took that observation with a
pinch of salt.

“There’s no easy points against Serena. No matter how Serena’s
playing, she knows how to win,” said 16th seed Venus, who a year
ago snapped a run of five successive losses to her sister in their last
meeting in Montreal.

What is true is that Venus’s progress has been drama free and her
run includes a 6-0, 6-0 walloping of the unfortunate Madison
Brengle in the opening round.

The one thing they both agreed was that it was “unfortunate the
match was so soon” as today’s clash will be the first time they have
met at the All England Club before the semi-finals.

“We’ll leave everything out on the court. When it’s done, we’ll go back to regular life,” Serena, seeking a 21st major, said about a rivalry that is now in its 17th year.

“I mean, she’s my sister today. She’s my sister next week. She’s my sister next year. I think that’s a little more important than a match.

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