Final Is Close Enough to Taste : Tennis: Serena Williams faces Davenport, then Venus faces Hingis.

Richard Williams and Leland Hardy have been making a point of eating at a certain fried fish restaurant in Harlem before making the nightly drive into Manhattan after a session of tennis at the U.S. Open.

It’s all about perspective.

The short trip helps the two men put the incredible journey of the Williams family into its proper place, as Venus and Serena Williams are creating history with their tennis rackets.

They’ve gone from Compton to today’s semifinals of the U.S. Open. Sisters will play in the semifinals--not against one another--for the first time in a Grand Slam event since the Open era of tennis started in 1968.

“It’s an incredible dichotomy of environments,” said Hardy, a family advisor and agent who has known the sisters since they were youngsters, all the way back in the pre-bead days.

“All the sacrifices they’ve made. It’s a complete vindication of all their hard work. I’ve been telling people for a long time how good they’re going to be and people have been looking at me like I’m crazy. “

Not anymore.

The Williamses are trying to become the first sisters to meet in the final of a Grand Slam tournament since Maud Watson beat Lilian Watson at Wimbledon in 1884.

Richard Williams said it would be this way in the early days of the tournament when he predicted an all-Williams final. He didn’t want to offer additional insights when a reporter from Dallas approached him Thursday after his daughters defeated Monica Seles and Mary Joe Fernandez in the women’s doubles quarterfinals.

What stands between his prediction and reality are the last two U.S. Open winners--defending champion Lindsay Davenport of Newport Beach and ’97 champion Martina Hingis. Seventh-seeded Serena Williams, who is in her first Grand Slam semifinal at age 17, will meet the second-seeded Davenport in the first match, followed by third-seeded Venus Williams, 19, against the top-seeded Hingis.

Of the four semifinalists, the rejuvenated Hingis is the only one not to drop a set. Serena Williams has gone three sets in her last three matches, and Davenport fought off two match points in the quarterfinals against Mary Pierce.

Should the sisters reach the final, there will be an explosion of commercial opportunities. Whatever happens, they have made it clear they want to be viewed as individuals, not as a unit.

Venus: “I think that it’s not us that say Williams Sisters. When they say, ‘Who are you?’ I don’t say, ‘Williams Sisters.’ ”

Serena: “That doesn’t make sense.”

Venus: “You guys are writing Williams Sisters, so you guys are making us plural now. I’m just one person.”

Their influence could extend beyond sports after today.

“Right now, this is what’s happening,” Venus said. “People are running to be part of it.”

Serena: “Jumping in.”

Venus: “Honestly, if you saw something good, wouldn’t you want to be in it? I would.”

Serena: “I definitely would.”

Women’s Semifinals

* Serena Williams (7) vs. Lindsay Davenport (2)

* Martina Hingis (1) vs. Venus Williams (3)