People’s Monday Belongs to Sisters

WIMBLEDON, England — The third Monday of Wimbledon, “People’s Monday,” served as a Centre Court curtain call for sisters Venus and Serena Williams.

They had been such a large part of Wimbledon the last two weeks, and it seemed a shame when their singles semifinal ended on a double fault by Serena.

But People’s Monday, held those rare times the tournament is carried over an extra day, gave them another shot. The women’s doubles final, postponed because of bad weather and the late-finishing men’s final Sunday, gave Serena a chance to leave on a happier note and Venus, the new Wimbledon women’s singles champion, an opportunity to accept more kudos.

And, taking advantage of a bargain price of five pounds--about $7.50--a livelier-than-usual crowd was on hand.

The sisters didn’t disappoint, either, taking their first doubles title here, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Julie Halard-Decugis of France, 6-3, 6-2, in 70 minutes. Serena finished it off, hitting a 102-mph ace on match point.

Venus and Serena needed a wild card for a spot in the doubles draw because they had played so sparingly this season and had no ranking. They are the first sisters to win a Wimbledon doubles title.

“The worst part is, we both couldn’t have won the singles,” Venus said. “It’s just not possible. . . . In the doubles, it’s a great feeling because we always win together.”

With the proceeds going to a children’s charity, the stands were more than three-fourths full on another chilly day. Outside the grounds, a tabloid was being sold, headlined: “Williams Sisters Set to Rule Tennis.”

Well, why not?

“It’s really amazing because I hadn’t played in two months,” Serena said. “Venus only played four tournaments this year. Just for us to come back like this, I can only imagine what people are thinking. Obviously, they’re probably going to go home and practice harder. But you know what? We are too.

“So, we really are serious. We mean business.”

Said Venus: “The last four Grand Slams [we’ve played], we’ve taken four of the titles there. It’s getting pretty scary, but we like it.”

Serena was smiling again and laughing at her own jokes, upbeat for the first time since her loss to Venus.

“We’re not even playing our best tennis right now,” Serena said.

Venus agreed, saying: “A lot of unforced errors. Service breaks. We don’t come in [to the net] as much [as we should].”

The Williamses started slowly--Venus’ serve was broken twice in the first set--but there was a reason for that. The sisters had gone to the Champions’ dinner Sunday night and finally got to bed about 2 a.m.

Apparently, just getting ready for the dinner took Serena time too.

“It took at least two hours . . . and I wasn’t even the Wimbledon champion,” she said, giggling. “It was really ridiculous. [Venus] was rushing me. . . . We barely got to the ball.”

But someone had to take charge, not only before but after the dinner as well, without mom and dad around and a final to play the next day at noon.

“We got home,” Venus said. “Before I knew it, I said, ‘Serena, you need to go to bed as soon as possible.’ ”

Serena: “She just took over as a parent.”

Venus: “I really did.”