It’s Venus Who Takes Care of Family Matter

Venus and Serena Williams stepped onto center court Wednesday in their second-round match in the Australian Open prepared to do battle. Not with each other, but with two deeply ingrained and conflicting teachings.

The first lesson their parents had taught them was to place family above all else. The second was, when playing tennis, to dispatch opponents with a cold ferocity. Thus, their much-anticipated match in the Grand Slam tournament was a situation the two precocious professionals were bred to savor and raised to avoid.

The teenagers managed to hold on to remnants of each philosophy by playing a subpar match and retaining sisterly concern. As is so often the case with family situations, the eldest prevailed. In tennis terms, too, the higher-ranked player won. Venus Williams, No. 16, defeated younger sister Serena, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, in front of a transfixed capacity crowd at Melbourne Park.

The match, their first as professionals, had been eagerly awaited ever since the draw was announced. While the technical level of play was not high, the drama did not disappoint.

Such matches offer more between the figurative lines than between the on-court lines. It might have been an indicator of tennis’ future, at least that’s the way Venus sees it, a Williams one-two punch.

“I kept seeing Serena across the net,” Venus said. “It was a little bit odd, but it is to be expected. In the future it will be the same.”

The U.S. Open finalist made use of her superior experience, although each player made it clear she would do whatever it took to win.

“I feel good that I won,” Venus, 17, said. “Even though it was Serena, I’m still a competitor. After the match I told her, ‘Serena, I’m sorry I took you out. I didn’t want to, but I had to do it.’ ”

The sisters have been groomed for a career in professional tennis, first by their father, Richard, and now by their mother, Brandy, who serves as their traveling coach.

Richard Williams long has predicted that his physically gifted girls would be the future of tennis, and Wednesday’s match was to be a foreshadowing of that.

“It felt OK, I just tried to keep thinking of her as someone else,” Serena, 16, said. “I tried to treat it as a normal match, I think in the end it was a normal match. I think we handled this very well. In the future we will be able to handle it even easier. If I had to lose in the second round, no better than to Venus.”

Despite the impending match, the Williamses did not vary their routine of eating breakfast together or practicing together.

The only other time the sisters faced each other competitively was during a 10-and-under tournament at Arcadia, when the family was living in Compton. Venus was 9 and Serena 8 and they met in the final. During the match, Serena beseeched her sister, “Let me win a game!”

Venus won, 6-2, 6-2, and when Serena cried afterward Venus offered her distraught sister the winner’s trophy.

Aside from matching braces on their teeth and beads in their hair, each young woman is emphatically her own person. Venus is more stoic on court and is given to moodiness. Serena is more emotive and off the court is engaging and friendly. Venus is lanky, Serena is shorter and more muscled.

The two have been heavily courted here. Serena changed clothing sponsors overnight. Bidding was heated on the eve of the closely watched match and Serena cut a deal that had her leaving her American manufacturer to join a German one. Venus is locked in a long-term deal with her sponsor.

Serena made the highest jump of any tour player this week, moving from No. 96 to No. 53. With her win over No. 9 Irina Spirlea in the first round, she is projected to move to No. 42 next week.

The match was almost an anticlimax to the hype.

The first set was unattractive and featured tentative action from both players. Neither got her serve going and as a pair they held only four of 12 service games in the first set.

Serena had eight double faults and Venus five.

“I’ve never hit that many double faults in my life,” an exasperated Serena said. “That was not me at all.”

Venus agreed that neither player was at the top of her game. They combined for 76 unforced errors. Their shots were so loose, the set had the look of a practice session.

“We play our best in practice, it’s uncalled for,” Venus said. “You should see us go. Serena takes me out. This wasn’t our best.”

Play was stopped several times for bead breaks--time out taken while ball boys and girls patrolled the court, picking up beads that had worked themselves loose from the Williamses’ coifs.

Serena had her right knee attended to during the second set and her sister had no compunction about exploiting that infirmity. Venus sprayed shots around the court in the second set and seemed intent on running her sister.

Serena ended the match by dumping a backhand into the net. The sisters met at the net, shook hands, then Venus draped a protective hand around her younger sister’s shoulder and they walked off the court.

They responded to the crowd’s roar by linking hands and bowing in unison. They left the court holding hands.