Tennis: Power-hitting pair don't scare Hingis

By KATHY MARKS

MELBOURNE - Venus Williams has a fabulous new wardrobe, the biggest sponsorship deal known to woman and two Grand Slam trophies on the mantlepiece of her home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Serena Williams has some equally stunning new frocks and only marginally less cash.

What more could a couple of girls want? They want more of the same, and the chances are that one-half of sport's most formidable sister act will walk away from Melbourne Park a week on Saturday with the Australian Open title.

Venus, the Wimbledon and US Open champion, would love a hat-trick of Grand Slams.

Serena, who won the US Open in 1999, is raring to recapture past glories.

If self-belief were all it took to clinch the season's first major, all bets would be on these two exceptional women.

Venus, who also picked up the Olympic gold medal during a 35-match winning streak, said she and Serena had taken tennis to new heights.

She asserted that she was playing as well as Martina Navratilova at her peak, and said of the £28 million ($93.5 million) contract that she recently signed with Reebok: "I deserve it. I guess I'm a rarity."

Venus' 19-year-old sibling believes that similar wealth awaits her. "Don't be surprised if you see me take eight Grand Slams in a row," Serena said. "I've got to get a deal like that."

The pair are products of a tough Los Angeles ghetto where, according to the now familiar rags to riches tale, they had to clear junkies' syringes off their practice court.

For all their brash confidence, however, neither Venus nor Serena - ranked No 3 and No 6 in the world respectively - has much of a track record in Melbourne.

Venus, aged 20, who suffered from tendinitis for the first four months of 2000, did not compete here last year. Serena did, but was sorely underprepared, and was knocked out in the fourth round.

By contrast, the two women who are their principal rivals have savoured victory here. Martina Hingis, the world No 1 by dint of a consistently successful 12 months, lifted the trophy three years running, surrendering it to Lindsay Davenport in 2000.

Hingis has not won a Grand Slam title since the 1999 Australian Open, but enters the championship in peak physical form, boosted by a straight-sets defeat of Serena in the quarter-finals of a warm-up tournament in Sydney last week.

The 20-year-old Swiss, who went on to beat Davenport in last week's final, said she was not afraid of either of the big-hitting sisters.

"A lot of girls are already intimidated just going on to the court, but the more you play them, the less problems you'll have," she said.

Over the next fortnight, Hingis will have to live up to her words. She and the Williams duo are in the same half of the draw and, if all goes according to the seedings, she will meet Serena in the quarter-finals and Venus in the semis.

This is the daunting scenario that now faces women on the circuit: in order to win a major tournament, they may - depending on the draw - have to beat not one but two of the powerful, ruthlessly motivated Williams sisters.

If the pair are to be prevented from adding another Grand Slam title to the family portfolio, now may be the best time to do it.

Both lack competitive match practice, having taken a two-month break to pursue courses in fashion design.

They are not troubled by ambivalence about their roots, and it will be fascinating to see how much they can achieve. Billie Jean King, the US Fed Cup captain, believes Venus has reached only 75 per cent of her potential, and some regard Serena as the more talented.

Serena says that she is embarking on her Open assault armed with a "great new attitude" - an ability to curb her temper on court.

Both sisters also have new hairstyles. Out are the matching sets of white beads that jiggled distractingly as they leapt around court; in are pineapple-style thick-plaited ponytails designed to convey a more mature look.

As Serena explained: "New millennium, new attitude, new backhand, new hairstyle.

"You can see our faces more, and what kind of beauty we possess, and how cute we are, and how we're growing up. We're young ladies now."

Both won their opening matches yesterday.

- INDEPENDENT