ESPN.com - Wimbledon 2002 - Williams sisters have raised the bar
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Thursday, July 17
Williams sisters have raised the bar

WIMBLEDON, England --The Williams sisters both played phenomenal semifinals. Venus was at 3-all in the first set and then closed the door on Justine Henin. And Serena was at 2-all and then she closed the door on Amelie Mauresmo.

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Pam Shriver
Shriver
Former WTA Tour pro Pam Shriver is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis throughout Wimbledon. Shriver, a tennis analyst for ESPN, was ranked as high as No. 3 in singles play. She won 21 singles and 112 doubles titles, including 22 Grand Slams.

So just like at the 2001 U.S. Open, they played great semifinals. The big question in the tennis world is can they play a great final? If they don't, people aren't going to want to watch a fourth Grand Slam all-Williams final. Their matches aren't usually high quality, and people don't know who to cheer for because there's no conflict. For the health of women's tennis it needs to be a great final.

But the Williams sisters are not ruining the game. Is Tiger Woods ruining golf? It's up to the rest of women's tennis to figure out how to close the gap. Players like Jennifer Capriati, Daniela Hantuchova and Kim Clijsters need to figure out how to beat them. All the Williams sisters are doing is moving the bar higher, which is what Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles all did -- but this time there are two of them.

The ink on women's tennis is wet right now. They are writing new history every week. Serena will be the No. 1 player on Monday. It's another step in their historic story -- now that they are both going to have a turn at No. 1. The only challenge left is for one of the two to win the Grand Slam. Venus has already proved she can win half of the year by taking Wimbledon and the U.S. Open back-to-back for two consecutive years.

So who will make history this time? Venus admitted that she's been distracted and hasn't played her best tennis. Serena looks like she seems to be handling the emotional and mental side better. But Venus has won two Wimbledon championships and Serena hasn't won any. On grass, you tend to go with the person who has won before, so I won't go against Venus.

This final more than any other final is important. It's their third Grand Slam final and it's Wimbledon -- the Granddaddy of them all. But how they produce in the final is secondary to them being No. 1 and No. 2 in the world.

Pick: Venus

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