Universe Would Not Align Without Venus

I’m not sure who will be in the royal box at Center Court today for the Wimbledon women’s semifinals. I’m not privy to the arrangements in advance. But if it’s anything like early this week, the list will read something like: Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Lord Frederick Windsor and Lady Gabriella Windsor, Sir Richard and Lady Buckley, Lord and Lady Kindersley and Willy Loman.

Loman, you may recall, was the protagonist in “Death of a Salesman.” Venus Williams read the book in high school. The world-weary Loman has been following her around ever since.

“I thought it was sad,” she said of the book, oddly interjecting a discussion of it into her news conference after her quarterfinal victory Tuesday over Natalie Tauziat.

“I was waiting for the punch. I thought it was really sad because, you know, I think they lived their lives in a way that could have been . . . that was less than what it could have been.”

From listening to her, you get the impression that she is haunted by the prospect of the same thing happening to her and that she will do whatever it takes to avoid living a life of quiet desperation.

Her life, of course, already has been extraordinary. She grew up in Compton and, against all odds, became a professional tennis star and won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, all before her 21st birthday.

It’s that last part, her age, that might be the problem. Now that she is 21, what’s next? She sounds like Peggy Lee in that old, sad song, “Is That All There Is?”

I’m not sure that she is seeking more major titles or more money or more glamour. It could just be that she wants something different, another world to conquer.

She said before this tournament that she was having trouble motivating herself.

“Last year, I wanted to win at all costs,” she said. “This year, I feel quite different. The last couple of days, I’ve been trying to think about the mind-set I was in when I became champion. I definitely have to get back into that attitude.”

From all appearances, she appears to have done that. She hasn’t lost a set going into her semifinal match today against Lindsay Davenport.

But perhaps she isn’t as focused as she seems. Her father, Richard, told an English television network Wednesday that Venus is pondering retirement, exploring other avenues that could be as lucrative and challenging.

Is that a real possibility? You never know how seriously to take anything Richard says, and Venus wasn’t available Wednesday for comment. But let’s just consider for the amount of time it takes to read this column that it is.

Her premature exit from the tour might be good for some women who are trying to advance in the rankings, but it would not be good for women’s tennis.

There’s a tendency to think of all the Williamses as the same, at least the three public ones, and think that they’re a little out there on Court 18. But, actually, Venus is the mature one.

That is certainly true in comparison to sister Serena, which could be expected because Venus is 15 months older. Serena can be expected to grow up as much as Venus has, but, for now, Serena is the flighty one.

There has been no suggestion that she didn’t really have a stomachache when she lost to Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals Tuesday. Serena obviously was ill. But it seems as if something happens to her in all of her big matches--food poisoning at the Australian Open, something mysterious at the French Open--that even she speculates might be brought on by pressure.

“Serena, you get a lot more drama in her matches,” Davenport said. “I think it’s maybe a little unfair to lump them together.”

That doesn’t mean you never get drama with Venus. There was that bumping incident at the U.S. Open with Irina Spirlea, although that was several years ago, and she has withdrawn from some tournaments, such as this year at Indian Wells, when she was supposed to meet her sister in the semifinals.

Besides that, Davenport said, “In terms of matches, Venus is pretty low drama on the court. She goes about her business, doesn’t say much anymore. You know, just plays--wins or loses. I don’t really think there’s too much drama with her.”

It’s good to hear Davenport’s perspective on the Williams sisters. Of all the prominent players, Davenport is probably the most levelheaded.

As one of the London newspaper tennis columnists wrote last week, she is “the closest to a normal, well-adjusted human being among the top women’s players.”

She said women’s tennis would miss the Williamses, all three of them.

“They’ve been probably the best thing that’s happened to tennis,” she said. “I mean, everything they say or even that Dad says, you know, you guys have a heart attack about, write it all over the place.

“They give us so much exposure. They create all this drama for the sport. I don’t think it’s gotten bad yet. I think people are so intrigued by it that it’s still helping the women’s game tremendously.”

Even Richard?

“I haven’t heard too many comments this week,” she said. “I don’t know if he came out and said stuff.

“But I think a lot of times he says stuff just to shock you guys. I think he has fun with it. He says something, goes and laughs about it. I don’t know, that’s my opinion. I think he’s smarter than what he likes people to perceive him as. I think he jokes around with you guys an awful lot.”

So do we in the media. That’s why we never, ever allow him to manipulate us.

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Randy Harvey can be reached at randy.harvey@latimes.com.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS

Today on Center Court

* Jennifer Capriati (4) vs. Justine Henin (8), Belgium

* Venus Williams (2) vs. Lindsay Davenport (3)

TV: 1 p.m. (delayed), Channel 4

Inside: Today’s All-American semifinal matches the last two Wimbledon champions. D11

Semifinal Matchups

Today’s women’s semifinals will be shown on Channel 4, delayed, at 1 p.m. A look at the head-to-head matchups:

VENUS WILLIAMS (2) vs. LINDSAY DAVENPORT (3)

Davenport leads, 10-6

*--*

Year Tourn. Surface Round Winner Score 1997 Indian Wells hard-outdoor QF Davenport 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1) 1997 Zurich hard-indoor QF Davenport 6-0, 6-4 1998 Australian Open hard-outdoor QF Davenport 6-0, 6-4 1998 Oklahoma City hard-indoor SF Williams 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 1998 Stanford hard-outdoor F Davenport 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 1998 U.S. Open hard-outdoor SF Davenport 6-4, 6-4 1998 Zurich hard-indoor F Davenport 7-5, 6-3 1999 Australian Open hard-outdoor QF Davenport 6-4, 6-0 1999 Stanford hard-outdoor F Davenport 7-6 (1), 6-2 1999 San Diego hard-outdoor SF Williams 6-4, 7-5 1999 New Haven hard-outdoor F Williams 6-2, 7-5 1999 Philadelphia carpet-indoor SF Davenport 6-1, 6-2 2000 Wimbledon grass-outdoor F Williams 6-3, 7-6 (3) 2000 Stanford hard-outdoor F Williams 6-1, 6-4 2000 U.S. Open hard-outdoor F Williams 6-4, 7-5 2000 Linz carpet-indoor F Davenport 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

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JENNIFER CAPRIATI (4) vs. JUSTINE HENIN (8)

Capriati leads, 1-0

*--*

Year Tourn. Surface Round Winner Score 2001 Berlin clay-outdoor SF Capriati 6-2, 4-6, 2-1, ret.

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