Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

LONDON - When Serena Williams sits in the stands watching big sister Venus play, she's not just cheering for her sibling.

With both in the semifinals at Wimbledon, Serena also looks for some kind of edge in case the two meet for the third time in the final Saturday at the All England Club.

"She's an opponent," Serena said. "You scout your opponents."

Before playing in the final, Serena will have to get past Zheng Jie of China, and defending champion Venus will have to beat Elena Dementieva of Russia in Thursday's semifinals. If both Americans win, they'll play in the Wimbledon final for the first time since 2003, when Serena beat Venus in the championship match for the second straight year.

"She won last year," eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena said of Venus. "But I'm not going to sit here and say she's the favourite when I'm still in the tournament. That's not me."

Serena is 8-7 against her sister overall, but a dominant 5-1 in Grand Slam finals. "We're extremely motivated by each other, win or loss, on or off the court," said Venus, a four-time Wimbledon champion.

On Wednesday, the sisters beat Sania Mirza of India and Bethanie Mattek of the U.S., 6-4, 6-3 in the women's doubles quarter-finals, whispering tactics but otherwise keeping calm despite trailing 3-0 in the second set.

"I think the doubles gets us really amped for the singles, and the next day we're all tuned and ready to go," said Venus.