Drama Surrounds The Williams Sisters’ Wimbledon Return

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Drama Surrounds The Williams Sisters’ Wimbledon Return
By Tripp Mateschitz, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Monday, June 27, 2011 12:52am PST USA

LONDON-- Defending Wimbledon ladies’ singles champion Serena Williams of the USA and her sister Venus Williams have taken the Wimbledon singles title nine of the past eleven years.

Prior to Wimbledon, the pair had competed in only eight total singles match this year due to injuries which have kept the duo for the most part sidelined this year up until only two weeks ago.

Venus Williams and Serena Williams of the USA | Images: Getty

Marion Bartoli has called Serena Williams "the ultimate competitor."

The older sister at 31, Venus Williams can hit three double faults back to back then pound three 120 miles per hour aces back to back. Serena Williams, 29, can go down in a set 0-5 then rattle off seven games in a row to take the lead.

Either sister can lose a match in straight sets in a flurry of unforced errors or grind out a three hour marathon victory as Venus Williams did in her second round 6-7(6-8), 6-3, 8-6 win over Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan.

But after shaking off some expected rust in the first week of Wimbledon, both sisters appear on a roll as week two starts today with all 32 men’s and women’s singles players in action in fourth round play.

Serena Williams, seeded seventh, opens play at 1:00pm London time on Court One against the ninth seeded Marion Bartoli of France. Bartoli called Williams “the ultimate competitor. You never count her out of a match.”

Head to head Williams leads Bartoli 2-0 and is yet to drop a set. However the duo has not met since 2007 and Bartoli has improved her game since. Williams' long layoff could be a factor as she could turn in more errors than is normal for her. But in the end Williams should overpower the Frenchwoman and prove to be the more consistent player for the win.

Venus Williams takes on the 32nd seeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria as the second match on the Center Court with play starting at 1:00pm. Pironkova leads Williams head to head 2-1 after beating the American last year in the Wimbledon quarterfinals as well as 2006 at the Australian Open.

However Williams' two major weapons: her first serve and her movement this year in London have been much better than a year ago at Wimbledon. Williams in the past has said she is “not a revenge person,” but the American has vowed to “compete better” this year. Expect Williams to use her first serve and volley to control much of the match.

No other player remains in Venus Williams' half of the draw who has won a grand slam before. The only other player in Serena Williams' half of the draw to have won a grand slam is the fifth seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia. Serena Williams could meet Sharapova or the world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the semifinals.