Sister Act III Approaches for Williamses

And now, for a Williams family update.

Serena Williams, 16, made her Centre Court debut at Wimbledon and left in 49 minutes after beating another heralded teenager, Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, in a 6-3, 6-0 second-round victory Thursday.

Venus Williams, 18, was on the court for four more minutes than Serena, but matched her younger sister by beating Barbara Schett of Austria, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round. And Venus put her distinctive stamp on the day, hitting a 125-mph serve and six aces.

And their mother?

Oracene Williams, who has a broken ankle, is day to day, still being transported to her daughters’ matches in a wheelchair. She fell down a flight of stairs last week.

The sisters are one match from playing each other in the fourth round. It would be their third meeting in 1998, and Venus has won the other two matches.

“Serena is definitely a juggernaut,” Venus said.

How do you stop that Wimbledon rookie, Serena?

“Just become a bigger one [juggernaut] yourself,” Venus said. “I guess you have to become the nemesis.”

The other youngster doing well at Wimbledon is 19-year-old qualifier Cara Black of Zimbabwe, the sister of pros Byron and Wayne Black. Cara Black won three qualifying matches to reach the main draw, and she defeated 13th-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5, 6-3.

The other top women advanced in the second round, although top-seeded Martina Hingis had another difficult match, defeating Elena Makarova of Russia, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

However, the expectation of Williams vs. Williams, Part III is starting to dominate the proceedings. The two silly teenagers keep being silly. Venus claimed Serena took her cookie the other day, and Serena said if she could change one thing about her older sister, “I would make her a bit shorter so we could be the same height.”

“We always laugh,” Serena said. “Even if we get into an argument, we start laughing and say it’s silly.”

Still, Serena seems more comfortable on grass. She won her first match in her first attempt at Wimbledon, and it took Venus her second Wimbledon to win a match.

But she’s trying to adapt.

“I serve and volleyed once today. I think I’m doing good,” Venus said. “I’m coming to the net. You can’t expect a person to throw away their old coat. Especially if it’s their old favorite.”