Sister's Keeper

It was a match made in heaven, played by two young ladies who had been through hell. Venus and Serena met in a Grand Slam final for the first time in five years - five long years, filled with turmoil and sometimes tedium, grief and controversy, exile, moments of exoneration and exhiliration, with a fair amount of (bull) excrement flung into the mix - and from all sides -  for good measure.

The last time the Sisters met in a major final - five years ago, right here - Serena Williams sledgehammered one of the bigger dents into Venus's reputation by winning on Centre Court for the second time in their family rivalry. If Serena won again today, to go 3-0 against Venus here, the claim that Venus ranks with the greatest grass-court performers of all time would have had a hollow ring, despite the four championship trophies she'd  carted off.

Five years ago, it also seemed that the Williams family dynamics cast Venus as the Cinderella sister, and she galdly took on the job of sweeping the hearth and taking out the ashes - presumably after all those news articles and papers proclaiming Serena the queen of tennis had been burned up to make room for more.

Time and again, Venus talked about taking care of her "little sister", Serena, about how Serena - the  baby in the family - needed the validation and glory represented by triumph on the court slightly more than Venus did. Often, Venus seemed to say those things with a slight undercurrent of wistfulness, as if somewhere it was written that it would be ever thus, and what sorrows or disappointments that might accrue for Venus were of the kind that she would never share with world. Meanwhile, many tennis fans were troubled or baffled  by the complexities of the situation, and the way they appeared to influence the matches the sisters played against each other. Between Miami of 2002 and that 2003 Wimbledon, Serena won six consecutive matches, and only the last two went to three sets.

Although Venus and Serena had not played a major final since 2003, Venus won two of their three most recent meetings and seemed to signal that the period of coddling Serena, of letting the baby of the family rage on and have her way, might be over. In a press conference after the match, Serena was asked if she looked up at the family members gathered in the player-guest box, and, if so, what did she see there?

She replied: "Yeah, it's kind of hard to look up there because I don't know what they're thinking, like if they're gonna say, you know, do this or do that, c'mon, I don't know. . . I just really tried to gather strength from myself."

I took that to mean: What good are they, they're probably okay with the idea of Venus winning, instead of me - to hail with them. . .

I exaggerate for effect, but let's remember that this is a selfish sport; other tennis players have flat-out driven siblings clear out of the game with their dominance games. And at the end of the day, it isn't Serena's fault if she's been indulged and coddled. And that's what today seemed to be all all about, in terms of the family dynamic. It was time to deny the baby in the family - to send the message that as much as she is loved, it isn't always all about her. Granted, it's a fairly late time to send that message, but you know how tennis players are - old and wise beyond their years in some ways, babes in others.

Today, Venus asserted her right to win a big match against Serena. Today, she declared that for a few short hours, while she hunted personal honor and glory, she would not be her sister's keeper. As a result, the sisters played a great match. In fact, it was the highest level of women's tennis I've ever witnessed. And while so far I've focused on the psychology of the match, I'd felt all along that there were  concrete reasons for why Venus ought to win (you can read them via the link). That she did, and pretty much for just those reasons, merely confirmed that whatever subtexts influenced previous matches, this one was free of them - much like everyone had hoped, and some had expected. Five years is a long time in tennis.

And what tennis it was. Serena showed that she's an extraordinary, bold, fearless shotmaker, while Venus demonstrated that she covers the court better than anyone in the women's game. If there was a down side, it was the sense that as Serena has matured, she's lost mobility. I don't know how that can be reversed, or even if it can be reversed, but there's got to be some solace for her fans in the fact that she will be able to dictate and blaze her way to wins on any surface but clay for a long time - no matter what happens. In the first two games, Serena was nothing less than savagely adept, just rippping balls with a dazzling combination of pace and placement: As Venus said in her presser:

"To be honest, this is the Wimbledon final, so of course I expected her to play that well.  And, of course, I mean, she's Serena Williams. She can pull out anything. I did expect her to just be all over anything I put out there. But I didn't really think a lot; I just kept playing, and it wasn't looking that great, you know (in the first set) - 3-1, 4-2, but then, when it got to be even, it was closer."

Venus raised her own level sufficiently to break back in the fourth set, and from that point on it was a question of whether Serena could hit more winners than Venus could run down as she turned points in her favor simply by extending them. That's always a tough assignment for the shotmaker, and once again pure shotmaking ability did not prove sufficient.

The one asterisk applied to this match-up was alongside Venus's serve. Despite having trouble with the swirling winds, she settled down and as the match went on she served better and better. "The serve has been key for me here," she said. "I felt like any time I need it, it was pulling me out of any bind."

Venus was in a mellow, friendly mood in her presser; Serena, by contrast, was not. But that was hardly surprising, given the break this represented from the dynamic that dominated five or six years ago, back when both women were capable of getting to finals to play each other. Serena was aloof and sullen, keeping her own counsel; underneath it, I imagine she was going, Waaaahhhhhh! She had a difficult time finding anything to be cheery about, which was only a little odd, given that her sister had just performed an epic feat at Wimbledon. But for Serena, it's all about Serena. And hey, this ought to make fans of all those players not named Williams, whom Serena routinely torches, realize that it's nothing personal. It's just the way Serena is, and at least she doesn't put on a false front.

Remember that "let" call that resulted in Venus winning the fairly critical ninth game of the first set, to go up 5-4? Serena hit a shot that seemed to be sailing wide, and cried out "Oh no!" Venus let the ball drop - it appeared to land in - but the umpire had already called "let." He ordered a replay, but both women started for their chairs - presumably, Serena surrendered up the point, feeling her cry was a distraction.

When Serena was asked what happened, she stonily replied: "I don't know."

Did the ball land in or out? Do you know?

Again, she said, "I don't know."

When you came over to the side of the court, did you hav a discussion with him (the umpire)?

"Yeah," she said, "I forgot about the match, pretty much."

It was a bizarre moment and many people laughed nervously. Clearly, Serena was no longer interested in talking. All of this was a little surreal, and proof positive that warm and fuzzy family feelings were the last thing on anyone's mind. But isn't that what everyone has hoped for and wanted? The significance of the encounter was not lost on anyone. Perhaps Venus put it best when she said:

Nobody can say what the next five years will bring, but the one thing I hope it delivers is more matches of this quality -  even if means Venus firmly saying no to her baby sister.