SERENA Williams joked earlier this week that she would steal her sister Venus's breakfast on Saturday if they both made it to another Wimbledon singles final.

Now that they have, tennis fans will have to wait and see whether the competitive edge implied by that quip is translated into a final worthy of both the occasion and their combined talent.

Both came through Friday's semi-finals quite comfortably with Serena defeating plucky wildcard Zheng Jie of China 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) and Venus defeating Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)

The sisters' paths have crossed 15 times before on the women's tour and few of those encounters have lived up to the hopes invested in them as clashes between two of the most talented players in the history of the women's game.

The often lacklustre nature of their matches has led to suggestions that the sisters are simply too close to really go for the jugular when they face each other across the net.
A less benign explanation of why their clashes have largely failed to sizzle involves a conspiracy theory that the results are pre-arranged with their father and coach, Richard Williams, deciding how the game's major prizes are shared out between his daughters.

Such suggestions, understandably, rankle with both sisters, although Venus acknowledges there have been moments in their respective careers when she felt family opinion about who should win was was markedly in favour of one of them.

Recalling their first meeting in a tournament final, at Key Biscayne in 1999 when they were both still teenagers, she admitted: "I think that my family wanted me to win because I was the older sister. So they thought I should win this title because I was older, and then Serena would have a chance after.

"There have been other times where I felt like they felt like, Serena hasn't won, so it's her turn to win."

Whose "turn" it is here is not an easy question to answer.

As the defending champion, Venus, 28, has claimed a Grand Slam title more recently than her younger sister, who last tasted victory in one of the four major trophies at the Australian Open last year.

But Serena's total haul of eight Grand Slams is two ahead of Venus, who is bidding for her fifth Wimbledon singles title.

That record would suggest that, on grass, Venus's smoother movement around the court and her reach at the net might give her the edge. But in their two previous meetings in Wimbledon finals, in 2002 and 2003, it was Serena who emerged victorious, as she has done in five of their six Grand Slam finals. -- AFP