Womens Wimbledon Final - Venus and Serena from the All England Club

London, Great Britain – Inasmuch as the women’s tennis is a complete mess, two shining beacons – Venus and Serena – rise above it all, the only constants in the field and so it is with some anticipation, trepidation even (never a comfortable situation watching siblings slug it out – I mean which sister do you cheer for? How do you choose?) that we turn to Wimbledon’s final curtain call on Saturday.

We seem to have been here before: another Wimbledon final, another Williams’s family affair. For the second year running (fifth overall encounter at the All England Club) the crowds will be treated to a sister act. Last year, Venus beat her sister in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. This year, the two-time defending champion Venus entered the draw favoured second to only Serena. Apparently, the consensus was that Serena looked better than Venus. Virtually unbeatable. Still think so after today’s semis?

Tennis Betting Line: Venus Williams -150 Serena Williams +110

Match Time: 08:00 A.M. Eastern Time Saturday July 4 2009

Head-to-head Analysis: They are level 10-10 lifetime and 1-1 in 2009.

Tennis Betting Analysis: If Serena Williams was favoured over her sister at the start of the tournament to take the title, after today’s semis the landscape changed. It is Venus that enters this match with the favourite price tag of -150. After the Centre Court destruction of Dinara Safina – the world No.1 player and top seed at Wimbledon – in five minutes, the market jumped on her bandwagon.

Serena Williams was embroiled in a battle with Elena Dementieva and almost looked like she might be packing her bags sooner than later and having to make do without a new makeup brush holder (seriously, she uses her trophies for her makeup brushes). If not for a few lucky breaks going her way, it might have been so; but fortunately, she moved into the final when she survived the three-set marathon.

Tennis Betting Verdict: This is going to be a tough match to call. Another close Venus, Serena battle. Going on semi-final performances, the match is on Venus’s racquet. She is the better player on grass methinks – although Serena is the better all-surface player – and she has the special relationship with the All England Club, having won it five times. She is the queen of Wimbledon, playing in her palace. Serena won the event twice but that was in 2002 and-2003.

Going against Serena is the fact that she might be pooped a bit after her semi encounter. Somehow, Venus is a force to be reckoned on grass. She has to bring her A-game if she wants to beat big sister. For my part, I like Venus to win this again.

Tennis Free Picks: Venus in three sets