Venus Williams eases into Wimbledon final PA

VENUS and Serena Williams cannot be separated on the court – but it’s Serena who holds the upper hand off it.

The sisters meet in Saturday’s final – after Venus crushed Dinara Safina and Serena scraped past Elena Dementieva in their respective semis – with the head-to-head stats showing them to be locked at 10 wins apiece.

But Venus has revealed how her younger sister gets the better of her when they’re not playing tennis.

Following her 6-1 6-0 win over world No1 Safina, she said: “We could be in the store trying something on, and she’ll be like: ‘No, that doesn’t look good.’

“As soon as I put it down she tries it on. But I got hip to that.

“So soon there will be another trick that I have to get hip to. So I don’t mind – it’s funny.”

Serena also has the final say whenever the siblings share apartments during tournaments. At the French Open in May, for example, Serena landed the bigger room, although in London it was Venus’ turn.

And Venus explained: “In the States our room is exactly the same. But I always defer. She picks first. It makes me happy. You know – I want her to pick.”

Little wonder Serena gets first dibs, given what a picture of fire and intensity she is on court, when compared to Venus’ insular, controlled demeanour. But those roles can be reversed when they’re not playing tennis, as one journalist discovered following the dismantling of Safina. When asked if the result was embarrassing for women’s tennis, Venus replied with a succession of curt replies: “Why did you put it like that?”

“Are you trying to be down on women’s tennis?”

“So you’re trying to be down basically.”

“Because I don’t deal with down at all.”

And finally: “I’m just making sure you’re not trying to be down, because I respect Dinara Safina immensely, and I think you should too.”

If that intensity can be taken on to the court on Saturday, fans should be in for a treat.

On the 10-10 record, Venus added: “That’s intense, huh?

“I guess this will be a tipping point match.

“You know, my hope is that there will be many more to come.”