Family Affair Final Suits Sisters Just Fine

Sister-to-sister. Shoulder-to-shoulder. Bead-to-bead.

How does one handicap today’s historic moment in the Open era of women’s tennis?

Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams in the final of the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla. Venus is older, taller and more experienced than her powerful sister. But Serena has a two-tournament, 16-match winning streak and no one has taken a set from her at Lipton.

Who better to offer an up-close-and-personal assessment than Martina Hingis. Hingis is still No. 1, with Venus and Serena closing fast in her rear-view mirror. She lost to Serena in the semifinals on Friday.

“Venus is more powerful, especially the serve [and] from the baseline,” Hingis said. “She’s more aggressive. Serena kind of has the ability to change it up more, the speed, more variety.

“I think she [Serena] has a big chance definitely now. I felt like before, when they went on court, almost like Serena wasn’t allowed to win at that stage. Now if they meet in the finals, whoever is better is going to win.”

An all-sister final is a defining moment in the Open era of tennis. In 1884, Maud Watson defeated her older sister, Lilian, in three sets to win Wimbledon. The three Maleeva sisters, Manuela, Katerina and Maggie, had matches against one another but never in a final, much less the most important event other than the four Grand Slam tournaments.

On the men’s side, John McEnroe beat his younger brother Patrick in the Chicago final in 1991.

The Williams sisters have played twice on the tour. Last year, Venus won both matches, in straight sets, in the second round of the Australian Open on a hard-court surface and the quarterfinals of the Italian Open on clay.

Serena has not lost since the third round of the Australian Open in January and gained motivation from the defeat by Sandrine Testud in the third round. She has since won in Paris and Indian Wells.

“We both raised our games since the beginning of this year,” Venus said. “In Australia, we were both very, very extremely disappointed with our play. We came back in February as new people. We could even have new names.”

That’s when the strategy of entering different tournaments started. The Lipton and the Grand Slam events are exceptions. For now, they will be dividing and conquering.

Today could be the first of many all-Williams finals.

“It will be a great feeling for me because then it wouldn’t really matter who won or lost,” Serena said. “It would be like we both won. The trophy would definitely go to our home.”

Said Venus: “I don’t like putting my name and losing in the same sentence. Winning and Venus sounds great.”

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Sister Act

When sisters Venus and Serena Williams have faced each other in professional competition:

* Lipton Championships: Final--Today, 10 a.m., Ch. 11 (delayed).

* 1998 Australian Open: Second round--Venus Williams def. Serena Williams, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

* 1998 Italian Open: Quarterfinals--Venus Williams def. Serena Williams, 6-4, 6-2.