Tennis

Can the Williams sisters get back to the top?

The days when Venus and Serena dominated the WTA are behind them, but don't count them out.

By KEITH NIEBUHR
Published January 16, 2005

Their story, simply put, was made for Hollywood. Two sisters from Compton, Calif., making it big in professional tennis, armed with amazing skills and pushed by an overbearing yet prophetic father.

Each sibling wins major championships.

Each reaches No. 1 in the rankings.

When they appear in an event, many pencil them into the final before the first serve has been struck.

Their play is remarkable.

Their aura, it seems, will last forever.

But times have changed for Serena and Venus Williams. The sisters remain prominent but no longer a force. And at this week's Australian Open in Melbourne, both sit on rather unfamiliar ground. For the first time in years, Serena and Venus must prove themselves to the tennis world, which seems to be asking: Are their best days in the past?

"There is no longer an aura of intimidation surrounding the Williams sisters," said Pam Shriver of ESPN, a former tour standout.

Like Tiger Woods in golf, Serena and Venus set such a high standard of excellence that when the major championships stopped coming it was somewhat of a shock. In truth, the sisters are hardly yesterday's news, but their slip from the top was not predicted by many.

Two years ago this month Serena captured the Australian Open for her fourth straight major title, completing what she called the "Serena Slam." Venus wasn't far behind, finishing as the runnerup to Serena for each of those championships.

That summer Serena won Wimbledon for her sixth major and fifth since the beginning of 2002. Venus again was the runnerup, but with four major championships of her own played second fiddle to nobody else. But then injuries, as they often do, reared their head and neither player has been the same since.

A bad knee forced Serena to miss the 2003 U.S. Open then sidelined her for several months last year. She missed most of the hardcourt season, went 39-9 and won two titles (no majors). Serena seemed close to getting her groove back in July, but fell to Maria Sharapova in the Wimbledon final and was upset by Saddlebrook's Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. What she never lost was her confidence.

"I always consider myself the best," Serena said. "When you become the best, then, you know, things are tougher. People try harder to beat you."

While Serena appears ripe to end the major drought, the same cannot be said of Venus, who hasn't been her best in some time. At one point, Venus reached five finals in six majors, but now she hasn't won a Grand Slam event since the fall of 2001. An injury-plagued 2003 season, the result of a lingering abdominal problem, marked the first time she finished outside the top 10 since 1997 and began a precipitous fall.

Last year, she again was slowed by injuries (abdomen, ankle, wrist) and her play continued to suffer. She won two titles but was a factor in only one of the four majors. Yet, in September, Venus said, "I'm getting there."

Others, however, aren't so sure.

"Serena can regain her dominance, if she stays healthy, but Venus looks lost and she has for the past year or so," Shriver said.

Injuries aside, other factors appear to be at work.

As strange as this might sound, the sisters aren't exactly young any more - not in tennis, that is. Venus is 24. Serena is 23.

The sport around them also has changed. A few years ago only a handful of players could match the Williams' shot-for-shot power. Today, a number of them (Sharapova being one) are capable of slugging it out against the sisters.

And then there is this: Tennis isn't the only thing either sister has going on. Both design clothes. Serena has given acting a try and is a big fan of shoe shopping (it says so in the "on the town" section of her Web site).

"I definitely focus on the tennis," Venus said. "But just like every other person in this world, I'm not just a career person. I'm also a person. And it's very important for me to continue to develop myself as a person on and off the court. If I didn't develop myself and have interests outside the court, I feel I would be stagnant and uninteresting."

None of this is to suggest either player is uncommitted, but when they were younger there were few of these diversions. And, of course, there was greater success.

"The single-mindedness is not there," Shriver said. "You need that focus in this game. Other top players who are so hungry have it, and they closed the gap, especially while Serena and Venus struggled with injuries in 2003 and '04. I believe some of (the sisters') aura can come back, but it's not guaranteed, and it will never be like it was."

Information from Times wires was used in the report.

[Last modified January 16, 2005, 00:33:22]