Davenport Will Try to Crash Williams Lawn Party

The Williams sisters were on the court, on the same side this time, and came into the interview room together. Serena was trying to emerge from a world of hurt, breaking out a smile after winning their doubles semifinal Friday.

Venus, who plays Lindsay Davenport in her first Wimbledon final today, was relaxed and talkative, speaking about the most intriguing Russian historical figures.

“Ivan the Terrible,” she said. “I actually got to see Lenin too, in the mausoleum. That was interesting. Naturally, the Romanov family is just a real mystery because nobody knows what really happened.”

And Anastasia?

“I think it’s a fraud, yeah,” she said.

Not far away, their father, Richard Williams, was surrounded by well-wishers on the grounds and was also talking about history, tennis history. He spoke of Venus following the proud legacy of Althea Gibson, who won here in 1957 and 1958 and how, once Venus, now 20, won her first Grand Slam, more would follow.

All Williams, all the time.

The little scene was a metaphor for what has been going on this fortnight at Wimbledon. Davenport, the defending champion, walked past the gathering around Richard Williams and was virtually unnoticed.

“She’s very happy when people forget about her,” said tennis legend Chris Evert, an NBC commentator. “She is not the type of player who says, ‘Here I am. Look at what I am wearing. Write about me.’ ”

Evert was hard put to pick a favorite, but gave the slight edge to Williams.

This is the first women’s final at Wimbledon involving two Americans since Martina Navratilova defeated Zina Garrison, 6-4, 6-1, in 1990.

Davenport, 24, is 3-0 in Grand Slam finals. Venus is 0-1 her lone Grand Slam final, at the U.S. Open in 1997.

“That was my third Grand Slam,” she said of the 6-0, 6-4 loss to Martina Hingis.

“I wasn’t even full time on the tour. I didn’t understand any strategy as far as, let’s say you’re down break point, maybe you should get your first serve in. Things like that never came to my mind. It’s extremely different from now.”

Davenport holds a 9-3 lead against Venus in head-to-head matches. That is a bit deceptive because they are 2-2 in their last four meetings and have never played on grass.

Unlike last year, in which she did not drop a set in seven matches, Davenport has faced adversity. She was losing, 0-3, in the third set to Elena Likhovtseva of Russia in the second round before rallying and also dropped the first set to Monica Seles in the quarterfinals. On top of that, Davenport has been suffering from a nasty cold.

“I’ve played her [Venus] a lot of times,” she said. “I found the key was to find a way to get her serve back, get them back deep, so she obviously doesn’t have put-away shots. On grass, that’s going to be a little more difficult than on other surfaces.”

Additionally, the sisters will play Julie Halard-Decugis and Ai Sugiyama in the doubles final. They beat Anna Kournikova and Natasha Zvereva in the semifinals, 6-3, 7-6 (4), and the match finished on a classless note. Zvereva, walking behind the sisters off the court, appeared to make an obscene gesture above her head at the crowd. Referee Alan Mills was made aware of the alleged incident and he will be speaking to the chair umpire of the match, officials said Friday night.

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Williams vs. Davenport

Head-to-head results of Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams. Davenport leads, 9-3:

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Year Tournament Surface Round Winner Scores 1997 Indian Wells hard court quarterfinals Davenport 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1) 1997 Zurich hard court quarterfinals Davenport 6-0, 6-4 1998 Australian Open hard court quarterfinals Davenport 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 1998 Oklahoma hard court semifinals Williams 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 1998 Stanford hard court finals Davenport 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 1998 U.S. Open hard court semifinals Davenport 6-4, 6-4 1998 Zurich hard court finals Davenport 7-5, 6-3 1999 Australian Open hard court quarterfinals Davenport 6-4, 6-0 1999 Stanford hard court finals Davenport 7-6 (1), 6-2 1999 San Diego hard court semifinals Williams 6-4, 7-5 1999 New Haven hard court finals Williams 6-2, 7-5 1999 Philadelphia carpet semifinals Davenport 6-1, 6-2

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