Sisters signal serious intent

The biggest favour Venus and Serena Williams can do for tennis, and for themselves, is to provide the French Open with a full-blooded contest in today's women's singles final; no quarter asked, none given.

A duel similar to the one Serena won against Jennifer Capriati, the defending champion, in Thursday's semi-finals would do nicely. If that is too much to expect, given that Venus and Serena are sisters first and rivals second, then we shall settle for a match of serious intent in which they display the full range of their power, skill, athleticism and mental strength.

By defeating Capriati, Serena Williams became the world No 2, second only to her older sister. The ranking will hold for Wimbledon, which means Venus, attempting to win the title for the third time in a row, will be seeded to play Serena in the final.

Without wishing to rush too far ahead, the quality of today's contest may be a guide to what we can expect should the sisters meet on the final Saturday at Wimbledon, at least in terms of competitiveness.

The nature of their semi-final at Wimbledon in 2000, won by Venus in straight sets, raised questions about Richard Williams's influence on the course of his daughters' careers. In March last year, Venus' last-minute decision to withdraw injured from a semi-final against Serena at Indian Wells, California, angered spectators and caused controversy about alleged racist remarks.

And at the United States Open last September, when they became the first sisters to compete in a Grand Slam singles final since the inaugural women's tournament at Wimbledon in 1884 (Maud Watson overcame her sibling Lilian), Serena's tame performance contradicted the pre-match hype.

Serena's two wins against Venus came in the final of the lucrative Grand Slam Cup in Munich in 1999 – which both sisters have described as an exhibition tournament – and in the semi-finals at Key Biscayne, Florida, in March this year, 6-2, 6-2, another match that failed to impress many spectators.

The sisters tend to bristle when questioned about the validity of their matches against each other, but they talked a good fight on the eve of today's meeting. "I'm definitely going to be more serious this time," Serena said. "Honestly, I want to win just as much as she does."

"I think we can always play better," Venus said, "but we've always done our best when we walk out on the court, every time."

Although they have practised for hours on clay courts in Florida, this will be their first meeting on the sport's slowest surface, and their first opportunity to add the French singles title to the family collection. "Venus pretty much gets every ball, and I pretty much get every ball," Serena said, "so I think on this surface there are maybe going to be longer rallies than in the past. When we played at Wimbledon, everything was quick. But that will probably be the only difference."

For once, Serena could be considered the favourite, given her recent triumph at the Italian Open in Rome, a tournament Venus missed through injury. But Serena will obviously have to overcome her tendency to freeze when playing big sis in major championships.

Venus is keen to end a series of disappointments in Paris. "I was starting to think that maybe I had a jinx at this tournament," said Venus, who last year lost in the first round to Barbara Schett, of Austria, in straight sets. "There are always some tournaments on the tour where you always lose."

So may the better sister win the best match they have played.