Venus must stifle Williams family affections to end Serena's reign

Today will be the sixth time the Williams sisters have met in a Grand Slam final, but will they show a competitive edge?

For many tennis fans another all-Williams final is hard to stomach; although it may be the state of Venus's stomach that determines its outcome. An abdominal strain will probably not prevent her from taking to Centre Court today but it may, as at Roland Garros, hamper her ability to compete. And that will be too big a handicap for the champion in 2000 and 2001 to take into any match against her younger sister, the holder and No 1 seed, Serena.

Indeed, talk of competing raises the perennial accusation levelled at the sisters. They simply do not compete when in competition with each other. They do not appear to achieve the same intensity. They are siblings, not rivals. They are doubles partners, best friends and live together in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The contests have been one-sided and there have even been claims that the result is fixed in advance. A phone call from their father, Richard, and it is sorted, some say. If that is true, he has been remarkably indulgent towards 21-year-old Serena of late: she has won their last five meetings including, of course, four Grand Slam finals to complete the "Serena Slam". Such conspiracy theorists no doubt believe that Venus's injury is now a convenient excuse for her to put up less of a fight without being accused of allowing Serena to win.

Venus, 23, tried to dispel this after her three-set victory over Kim Clijsters by saying: "Really, I don't see my opponent across the net. I just see the ball. I can't control what they're doing on their side; I can only control what I'm doing on my side."

Venus was having difficulty controlling herself, however, during that match. The grunt as she strikes the ball so powerfully was replaced by a squeal of pain from the damaged muscles in her abdomen. In the players' tunnel during the one-hour rain break she sat slumped, tearful and distressed as her mother Oracene Price and four sisters - including Serena - tried to console her. Later she admitted that the pain caused her to panic. "My mom said: 'If you're gonna play, play. If you are not gonna play, you know, pull out. If you gonna hurt it more, don't play. You've already been fighting this a long time.'" And play she did.

In the stand, Serena puffed out her cheeks in admiration at the end. Venus' victory was arresting, dramatic and for it, the quality of her tennis throughout this tournament, her popularity at SW19 and, remarkable as it is for such a player, her status as the underdog, she will start today as the people's favourite.

There may also be a sense of destiny about her as there so often appears to be about Wimbledon champions. Having been usurped by her sister as World No 1 - a ranking, incidentally, Venus helped preserve for Serena by defeating Clijsters - her motivation has been questioned. Injury has hampered her but she has still won just one title this year while her father has questioned her appetite for a scrap especially since she has developed interests away from the game - such as fashion and design. That desire now appears to be re-found. "Not only was I trying to beat Kim, but I was trying to," she said after her victory, her voice trailing off. Trying to what? Trying to show that she was back in the game, perhaps.

"Venus is playing extremely well," Serena said yesterday. "She's played extremely well throughout the two weeks. If I'm going to win, I'm going to have to serve and return really well and get as many balls back as possible because Venus runs a lot of balls down."

Serena, with her victory against Justine Henin-Hardenne avenging the traumatic loss in the French Open semi-finals, is also back in her groove. Whereas Venus is taller and quicker, Serena is the epitome of muscled athleticism. She struck the ball so aggressively against the Belgian that one of her ear-rings flew off. The sisters serve impressively - 31 aces each this Wimbledon - and can win through the power of their groundstrokes alone, although Venus has re-found confidence in her volley. Their dominance of the women's game has been re-established this fortnight and although there have also been signs that it may not last that much longer, it is also not in danger of coming to a premature end.

"I can't afford to be 70-80 per cent. If I'm not 100 per cent it is going to be hard for me to win," said Serena when asked of her chances of beating her sister, before revealing the conundrum at the heart of today's contest. "It's not easy for me to play someone I care so much about."

Hopefully they will both be able to put that to one side for the afternoon and, injury withstanding, show the stomach to fight each other.

The all-Williams finals

2001 US OPEN

Venus won 6-2, 6-4

Serena's tame performance contradicted the pre-match hype. This was the first time that sisters had contested a major final since the inaugural women's tournament at Wimbledon in 1884 (Maud Watson overcame her sibling Lilian). But Serena seemed unable to come to terms with the idea of competing against her older sister at the highest level. Venus took control of the points from the start, and although there was hefty hitting on both sides of the net, the match did nothing to dispel scepticism about a genuine rivalry.

2002 FRENCH OPEN

Serena won 7-5, 6-3

Once again, a major contest between the sisters, now ranked No 1 and No 2 in the world, proved to be a disappointment. In this case the match was so error-strewn as to be almost laughable: 13 breaks of serve, eight against Venus, who double-faulted nine times. The sisters belted the ball vigorously, and with good intent, but the harder they tried, the worse the match became. Venus, credited with only four winning shots, made 47 errors. Serena made 54 errors and hit 11 winners.

2002 WIMBLEDON

Serena won 7-6, 6-3

Few spectators would disagree that they had value for money. Such was the heat of competition that the crowd's gasps of admiration and awe were almost as loud as the grunting on court. The intensity of the rallies and the all-round quality of the match subdued the conspiracy theorists. Serena said Venus would not admit to it, but her arm was bothering her, which was why the defending champion served less well than usual. But Venus made a determined effort to extend her winning sequence of 20 matches on the lawns.

2002 US OPEN

Serena won 6-4, 6-3

On the evidence of Serena's emphatic victory, it was suggested that the name Williams would come to be thought of in the singular. The sisters had soared above their rivals, and, within their private bubble of supremacy, Venus was second best. Although Venus hit the harder serves, she double-faulted 10 times, conscious, perhaps, that Serena would punish second serves with fierce returns. There was no letting up on either side as they traded mighty drives to the corners of the court, Serena usually winning the point.

2003 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Serena won 7-6, 3-6, 6-4

The 2hr 22min match was the closest and hardest fought of the four consecutive all-Williams finals. But, as hard as Venus struggled, she could not wear Serena down. After Venus fired an ace to level at one set apiece, a different outcome seemed conceivable, but her serve deteriorated in the third set, and Serena moved in for the kill and became only the fifth women to have held all four major titles at the same time, along with Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Maureen Connolly.