Tennis: Sister slammers

By RONALD ATKIN

Back in 1987, when they were ranked No 2 and No 3 in the world, Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander met in the semifinals of the US Open.

Since both are Swedes, tournament organisers stuck them on first at 11am in a virtually empty stadium.

It was Super Saturday in America, when Grand Slam traditions are annually hurled to the wind by this misbegotten tournament in favour of television ratings.

Matches involving Americans are deemed more appealing to the nation's late-rising couch potatoes.

Back in '87 Mats and Stefan did their stuff, the former winning in four sets. Afterwards the pair were asked if they minded being insulted by the arrogant scheduling.

Rather than a straight yes or no, Wilander offered this parable: two tennis players, a Czech and a Swede, jump into the deep end of a New York swimming pool.

Who sinks first? Answer: who cares?

Much the same comment could be applied to this year's women's final, won by Serena Williams in straight sets over her big sister Venus.

Once upon a time, the result of the women's final at the US Open made it into the Sunday papers of more than just the United States.

Now the match has to be played as the CBS Prime Time final on Saturday night. And anybody who doesn't like it can jump in a pool and sink.

But, be honest now, how many really care whether Venus or Serena won?

This was the third consecutive Grand Slam final contested by the Super Sisters; the fourth in the past five. A bit like Lewis-Tyson IV, this was a contest too far. In raising women's tennis to a new level of bludgeoning skill, the Williamses have, in effect, wrecked it as a spectacle, though of course CBS Prime Time would not agree.

Opponents are already staggering from bomb-proof bunkers with raised arms and shattered rackets.

Jelena Dokic, the Miss Dismal of whatever nation she happens to be currently representing, has opined that there is no point going on court against Venus or her "baby" sister. Some baby, eh?

Others haven't quite got around to being so frank as Dokic, but you can see from their expressions as another 190km/h ace screams past them or a smash threatens their wellbeing that they are thinking pretty much the same.

Lindsay Davenport's face was a mask of resignation mixed with despair as she was pummelled to the deck in the semifinals by the catsuited Serena.

Had a cartoon-strip bubble been floating over Davenport's head it would have read "Why bother?" All Serena lacked in that match was the executioner's mask.

Davenport, Jennifer Capriati and Amelie Mauresmo are all big punchers who have fancied their prospects against a Williams, while those who play slower-paced stuff with style and skill, such as Martina Hingis and Monica Seles, have been out of serious contention for a while.

Now suddenly the other big hitters are being outhit, particularly by Serena. She reached this final by winning six matches in less time than it took Marat Safin to get through his first-round contest against Nicolas Kiefer.

Naturally, they will be delighted about all this at the Williams family patch in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. His daughters' domination is a tribute to the eccentric skills and gritty drive of Richard Williams, determined that two black children should storm a white-dominated sport.

However, though it is a wonderful tale, the Williams girls have turned their sport into a bore simply by virtue of their unassailability.

And it is not just a matter of the sisters dominating the sport, it is also becoming a matter of little Sister Serena dominating Venus.

On the subject of sibling rivalry Serena pulls not punches. For her their tennis relationship is defined in the phrase "take, take, take".

And season it has been Serena who has been doing all the taking.

She has emptied Venus's toy box and kicked it around the playground, denying her the French Open title, snatching away the Wimbledon and United States Open championships Venus had held for two years, and supplanting her sibling as the world No 1.

Within their private bubble of supremacy, Venus is now definitely second best. When it came to the crunch in the US Open final, Venus was crunched. Venus hit the harder serves, but double-faulted 10 times, conscious, perhaps, that Serena would punish second serves with fierce returns.

There was no evidence of letting up on either side of the net, Venus summoning the will to deliver a 140kp/h ace with a second serve to erase the first match point.

"Any loss is never a barrel of fun," Venus said, "but I've had a great year, more than any other person, besides Serena, could ask for.

"But she played better than me. I think my level's about the same as last year, but mentally I'm not there."

Asked if she thought the majority of tennis followers would like a break from all-Williams finals, Venus said: "I've never met anyone who's walked up to me and said, 'I don't want to see a Williams-Williams final. Lose.' I haven't met those people yet."

Serena, whose goal this year was to win Wimbledon, has set her mind on a Grand Slam next year.

"I'm a perfectionist, pretty much insatiable," she said.

She loves Venus dearly, but does not mind beating her.

"Ten years from now, I hopefully can look at tapes and films with my kids and say, 'Look, mom did a good job,' she said.

"I don't want to have it any other way."

For the record

Serena Williams is just the seventh woman in tennis history to win three consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments in a calendar year.

Williams missed the Australian Open in January because of an ankle injury. Only three women, Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf, have won all four majors in a calendar year.

1928: Helen Wills, of the United States, won the French, Wimbledon and the US championships, and repeated the feat in 1929.

1953: Maureen Connolly, US, became the first woman to achieve a Grand Slam of the Australian, French, Wimbledon and US championships.

1970: Margaret Court, Australia, accomplished the Grand Slam.

1972: Billie Jean King, US, won the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

1983: Martina Navratilova, US, won the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open titles and won the French, Wimbledon and United States championships in 1984.

1988: Steffi Graf, Germany, completed a Grand Slam when she won the gold medal at the Seoul Olympic Games. Graf also won three consecutive Grand Slam titles, the French, Wimbledon and US Open championships, in 1993, 1995 and 1996.

2002: Serena Williams, US, won the French, Wimbledon and US Open titles.