Are sisters doin' it for themselves?

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Ian Chadband13 April 2012

Serena jokes she might just have to steal Venus's breakfast while Venus tells Serena it's going to be every Williams girl for herself out there.

Yet when these close, loving tennis sisters smile and giggle like this about their Wimbledon showdown, it can't help but encourage the cynics to wonder once again how exactly we can ever expect to see a family at war on Centre Court tomorrow.

Venus Williams has made it clear, thanks to comments from semi-final victim Elena Dementieva which may or may not have had something lost in translation, that she finds it offensive anyone should still be trotting out the same old lines about the destination of the Rosewater dish being sorted out over cornflakes tomorrow.

That's a fair enough riposte. This, Venus may rightly think, ought to be the championship where we should only be hailing another glorious revival of tennis's great sister act.

Henin's gone, Hingis has gone, Mauresmo's sinking, Sharapova's struggling and Ivanovic got KO'd but Venus and little sis just keep on slugging like the true heavyweight champions of SW19 that they are.

Only once both of them booked a seventh Grand Slam final bout - and a third final date at Wimbledon - there was a sort of tired inevitability about all the same old innuendo resurfacing, kicked off by Dementieva's suggestion, albeit quickly retracted, that "a family decision" could decide tomorrow's winner.

Actually, there is no proof of the old locker room belief that family collusion - with dad Richard supposedly behind which sister's turn it was to triumph - has ever dictated their results.

But despite her justifiable indignation yesterday, Venus didn't exactly help her cause when reflecting on their first WTA final at Key Biscayne back in 1999, musing: "I think that my family wanted me to win because I was the older sister. So they thought I should win this title... and then Serena would have a chance after.

"They didn't say anything. There have been other times where I felt like they felt 'Serena hasn't won, so it's her turn'."

But, of course, thinking something is very different from fixing something and if we were to believe the Williams family arranged victories to keep both sisters happy, then why would Serena be gifted five wins in those six finals. Not a very equitable family carve up, that, eh?

No, the reason the whispers about the Williams persist is because the matches between the two most explosive power players of their generation have proved such damp squibs, including Serena's wins in their two previous anti-climactic Wimbledon finals.

Yet that's surely down not to familial machinations but to the unique pressures which must afflict siblings who spend their lives being inspired by each other only to face maybe two days a year when they're asked to battle each other.

Can you imagine Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer sharing a kitchen on the eve of the final, chatting away about who's going to get the shopping in? No, me neither.

Yet Serena reckons she and Venus will just carry on being their chatty selves at home today and when asked if they might not talk to each other, she simply teased: "Maybe I should try that. It might be really intimidating."

Not a cat in hell's chance, of course. Serena says she "really, really, really" wants to win. Maybe, but family comes before a fight.

It's not that either lose their unquenchable will to win when seeing sis across the net, just that sub-consciously they must find it harder to summon their most ruthless tennis instincts.

Serena admitted as much yesterday after her win over Chinese revelation Jie Zheng which, like Venus's win over Dementieva, showcased their capacity to intimidate opponents and, when the victim fights back, to turn up the screaming intensity to finish the job.

But against Venus? "Traditionally I haven't screamed as much when I played her. I don't know why. Maybe I just want to stay focused," shrugged Serena. Or maybe, despite their best intentions, they've never been able to quite find the same raging fire within themselves when they know any win will be kept in the family.

Both insist there's more than that on the line; they're dealing in history. So, for instance, Serena says she's determined to end her career with more Wimbledon titles than Venus - currently, she's losing 4-2 - while also smiling that the only contest that really counts is total Grand Slam titles - current score Serena 8, Venus 6.

Don't underplay the power of sibling rivalry either, the pair reckon. "I personally want everything that Venus has," said Serena. "We're good at this now. We just leave everything out on the court."

Really? The truth is it's rarely looked as if they've left everything out there in head-to-head combat.

Serena protested defensively that they'd had a couple of classics, like their Australian Open three-setter she won in 2003. Only two out of their 15 matches? Don't hold your breath for a stormer tomorrow.

What's needed is for them to dismantle family bonds for one day. Get those cornflakes hidden, Serena; send your best mate to Coventry for 24 hours, Venus.

Because perhaps it's only if they ever get really mad at each other that we'll get the sort of thrilling gladiatorial climax we know the Ali and Frazier of the women's game can deliver.

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