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THE
SCOOP: U.S. OPEN, DAY 14
Will
Serena ever overcome the Great Venus?
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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FLUSHING
MEADOWS, N.Y., SEPT. 10 – Serena
Williams friends – and
there seemed to be a good two dozen of them hanging around the
U.S. Open – were
feeling a little sad for the 19-year-old after she failed to step
it up against her older and
better-playing sibling in the U.S. Open final on Saturday.
The
singer Brandy, Serena's friend and star of the Cinderella remake,
told tennisreporters.net that, "I know she really
wanted it bad so I really felt for her."
Oracene
Williams, Serena and Venus' mother, was pulling for her youngest
daughter in the second set, just so her daughters could show the
many
millions who were watching just how amazing her daughters can
be when they
are both on their games and bringing them full force against each
other.
"I
was trying to get her going," Oracene said. "I said,
C'mon. Be tough.
Don't think your playing your older sister.' But she was nervous.
Venus
played beautifully.
"I
was hoping that Serena would win the second set and give Venus
a little
competition. But if she would have won the second set it might
have hurt her
more to lose in three than to lose in straight sets. So it's all
right. Serena didn't play her best, she wasn't as focused as she
was against Hingis. It's a sibling thing and it always has been."
Oracene's
younger sister, Ruth, was in the house, and said that just like
Serena, she has always looked up and seen Oracene standing over
her.
"Venus
just beat up Serena, so don't want to get beat up. I've never
beaten Oracene in anything. I'm just like Serena."
As
tennisreporters.net has opined on many occasions, Serena
is not as good as Venus is. Serena is a very accomplished player
who is flashy, fast-moving and tends to use a wider variety of
shots than Venus, but she does not have Venus'
rock-solid base. Her serve is nowhere near as effective and her
groundies
aren't as accurate. As Serena said on Saturday night, Venus is
a smarter
player than she is. Listen to Venus.
"I
understand the plays better than Serena does," said Venus,
who didn't drop
a set during the tournament. "I put the ball where I want
or try to draw an
error."
Just
in case you missed this, Venus now has four Grand Slam singles
titles –
more than Tracy Austin and more than Lindsay Davenport. At age
21, that makes
her the best player out of Southern California since Billie Jean
King. Pretty
heady stuff
The
best thing to come out of the Williams vs. Williams result is
it now puts
to rest any ugly rumors that their matches are fixed. Take note:
Venus has
four Slam titles and Serena has one. Serena has never beaten Venus
in a
regular tour match (the only time she took her was in the Grand
Slam Cup,
which is an exhibition). If the fix is in, Serena is certainly
getting the
raw end of the deal
Oracene
said that Serena is ready to get over being psyched out when she
plays Venus. When will this happen?
"At
the 2002 Australian Open," she said. Get your A-list of 100
celebrities
ready, Melbourne.
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