Wimbledon Showcase Is a Sister-Sister Act

WIMBLEDON, England — Serena Williams smiled sweetly in her obligatory BBC television interview the other day, and revealed the Williams’ family secret.

“We’re like piranhas,” she said. “If we spot any blood on any opponent, we’re going to kill it.”

So, what happens if the opponent is your sister, alter ego, doubles partner and best friend?

Well, life around the house gets a bit tricky.

Today, tennis history at Wimbledon will be created. In the women’s semifinals, it will be Williams vs. Williams. Big sister vs. little sister. Venus, the 20-year-old “ace” seeded fifth, against Serena, the 18-year-old “smash” seeded eighth. (Descriptions courtesy of Serena Williams.)

Defending champion and second-seeded Lindsay Davenport faces 17-year-old Jelena Dokic of Australia in the second semifinal. Dokic is playing in her first tour semifinal.

This will be the first time since the Open era began in 1968 that sisters have played at Wimbledon, and not since 1966, when Gail Sherriff-Chanfreau defeated her sister Carol, 8-10, 6-3, 6-3, in the second round. It’s safe to say that local betting establishments weren’t offering odds on those sisters.

It’s different now. In England you can bet on practically anything, and Ladbrokes issued a release Wednesday, offering odds at 8-11 that Serena will win the “sibling semifinal” and Venus is “evens.”

The special quality of the match is undeniable. Certainly, six-time champion Pete Sampras wasn’t asked whether he favored Davenport or Alexandra Stevenson in last year’s semifinals.

“It should be entertaining and tough for them to play each other. I’ll take a Williams,” he said, smiling.

Martina Navratilova, who came out of retirement to play doubles and mixed doubles here, had an up-close-and-personal scouting mission, as Venus and Serena defeated Navratilova and Mariaan de Swardt of South Africa, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, in the women’s doubles quarterfinals Wednesday.

“I think Serena just comes at you a little more physically,” Navratilova said. “They both are imposing positionally, much more so than with their shots. They’re coming at you, so you’re on your heels.

“I would still say Serena would have the slight edge. She’s hitting the ball deeper, and I think she’s a little more comfortable coming in and attacking a little more effectively.

“Venus’ second serve can get iffy. She’s got more of a flawed serve technically, so it can break down more easily than Serena’s serve. It’s going to be a slugfest.”

After Tuesday’s singles quarterfinals, the sisters were looser than they were Wednesday. Venus joked about Serena cheating when they were in juniors in Southern California, saying: “I just rolled with it. It’s tough to argue against Serena because she was so good at arguing, so good at cheating, it was no use.”

Serena came up with funny nicknames and talked about the differences between them. “Venus has always been so calm, so like a monotone-type person,” she said. “Whereas, I’m on the other end of the stick. I’m really excited, always, you know, going crazy.”

After their doubles victory, the sisters did not want to talk much about the semifinal today, which will be their fourth match against each other. Venus won the first three and Serena won the last one, at the final of the Grand Slam Cup in Germany in October.

“I don’t know. We feel like we answered enough of these questions yesterday,” Venus said.

Venus appeared devastated after Serena became the first family member to win a Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in September. It has never been easy for them to play each other, obviously, and they have long avoided entering the same events. This year, they have played a light schedule because of injuries.

“When you have two people that are very close playing each other, obviously sisters, something else is going on,” Davenport said. “That’s not a normal tennis match. Who knows what will happen?

“They’re very close. Maybe deep down Serena wants Venus to win. It looked like after the U.S. Open Venus wasn’t too happy about that and probably gave her a hard time. I don’t know. I have no idea what goes through those two girls’ minds. I don’t know if they’re happy to play each other or mad. I have no clue.”

Their father, Richard Williams, had no problem with questions. He chatted, posed for photographs and signed autographs as he strolled the grounds at the All England Club. He said he had decided against attending the funeral of a friend of a new acquaintance he made at Wimbledon--which turned out to be Wednesday--but thought he would still probably not attend the match. The door was left open, slightly, as Richard Williams said he would go if his daughters needed him.

He shook his head when it was mentioned that Serena once said she had a fear of frogs.

“Frogs? She said that? That crazy girl isn’t afraid of anything,” he said.