Serena Williams says she expects crowd to pull for Venus at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England — It has been six years since Venus and Serena Williams have done what they are scheduled to do Monday at Wimbledon: Face off in a Grand Slam match.
It's earlier than the sisters wanted to meet here, a fourth-round encounter that marks their first major clash since they did battle on Centre Court in 2009 with the championship trophy on the line.
This match comes at a pivotal time for Serena, the world No.1, who is chasing the calendar Grand Slam in 2015, having won the Australian and French Opens. Venus, on the other hand, is trying to win her first major since Wimbledon in 2008.
"I think it's going to be very awkward and very uncomfortable for both of them," said Chris Evert, who won 18 Grand Slam titles and is an ESPN contributor. "Venus — as much as she wants to win — in the back of her mind she knows that she would be interfering with history for Serena. I'm feeling uncomfortable talking about it, so I can only imagine how hard it's going to be for them."
The sisters, too, are feeling uncomfortable. Rarely have any of their 25 career meetings brought out the best tennis in each another.
"I think everybody's always looking for some answer," Venus, 35, told reporters when asked if it feels normal to face her sister. "We've been facing each other a long time. I think we're both invested in one another. We both want each other to win when we're not playing against each other."
But one of them has to walk away the winner Monday. Serena holds a 14-11 overall edge in their head-to-head matches, including 3-2 on the lawns of the All England Club.
"It used to be the norm to see them in the final against each other, so a fourth-round matchup just seems odd," said Jill Craybas, a former top 40 player who works as a Wimbledon radio commentator.
"If you look back at the majority of the matches they've played against each other, they haven't been so exciting. It's gotta be hard to play each other."
"The story lines are great in that they meet, but it's rarely a good match," added Evert. "To think that it could be Venus that would get in Serena's way of the calendar Grand Slam, it's like a fable."
Not a fable that the sisters want to be a part of, however — not at this point in the tournament. Venus won their most recent encounter in Montreal last summer on hardcourts, snapping a streak of five consecutive losses to her sister.
"I just focus on winning," Serena said of ignoring her older sister across the net. "I don't focus on anything else. I'm playing the toughest player I've played in women's tennis. That's never fun."
Serena is most vulnerable at this stage of a major, just before the tournament reaches its business end as she's finding her form — and her footing — in the draw. Friday she slipped past 59th-ranked Heather Watson of Britain, after coming within two points of defeat in the third set.
"I think Venus can beat her," said Chris McKendry, an ESPN host. "If this was a series, if this was best of seven matches between them, I would go with Serena. But one match? Venus can do that."
A year ago Venus played in what many called the match of the tournament, a ball-bashing 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-5 loss to eventual champion Petra Kvitova, who went out Saturday in a loss to Jelena Jankovic.
Can Venus conjure up such tennis against her younger sister?
"I thought she played Kvitova better than anyone last year," said Tennis Channel commentator Mary Carillo. "That was the final to me. It was an unbelievable match."
"I expect more people to be rooting for Venus," said Serena, who faced a deafening crowd in her match against home-crowd hopeful Watson. "I would be rooting for Venus."
"Venus has two wins over Serena on grass and knows her game better than anybody, so she has an advantage in that respect," Evert added. "Every time Venus and Serena are set to play one another, one of them loses. They hate playing each other. How is Venus going to feel if she's the one ending Serena's run?"
