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Avoiding the issue Sisters Venus, Serena are reluctant rivals on the court
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) -- Andre Agassi was 14 when he beat his older brother, Phil, in a tennis match for the first time. They never played again. So, like many brothers and sisters, Agassi can sympathize with Venus and Serena Williams, who stage their sibling rivalry before large crowds with tournament titles at stake. "Every time I watch them play, there is always an additional element of sibling and sibling going on that I couldn't even bear to imagine," Agassi said. "For them as a family to compete against each other in such a big arena, it must be difficult." They make it look difficult. Almost everyone in tennis agrees that the sisters have dealt with the rivalry awkwardly, raising speculation that the results of their matches might be predetermined by their unpredictable father, Richard. The family denies it, and such suspicions might be unfair. But they're almost impossible to disprove, and they have tainted the WTA Tour while threatening the Williams family's lucrative endorsement empire. "It is not good to have the credibility of the game called into question," said Bart McGuire, chief executive officer of the women's tour. "I believe it's a bum rap in this case." Long-simmering speculation boiled over last week when Venus, citing knee tendinitis, pulled out at Indian Wells shortly before her semifinal match against Serena, her younger sister and best friend. There had been no hint of the injury previously in the tournament, and the crowd reacted to the withdrawal by booing the family. The controversy became a supermarket tabloid cover story - a reflection of how their celebrity transcends sports, as the sisters ruefully noted. "Serena and I have become famous," Venus said. "Next thing you know, I'm going to be pregnant by some Martian," Serena said. Give them credit for maintaining a sense of humor, particularly since they might be guilty only of a refusal to admit they hate playing each other. Richard discouraged such matches when they were growing up, and the quality of their five showdowns as professionals, all heavily hyped, has been uniformly poor. "They're not as ferocious when they play each other, and that's a big part of their game against other people," said their former coach, Rick Macci. "They don't like to play each other, and it's unfortunate. It would be worth the price of two admissions to watch them get in each other's face and lay it on the line, then hold hands afterward." Alas, Venus and Serena rarely enter the same tournament. One sister or the other has missed three of the past seven Grand Slam events, partly because they're prone to injury - the 6-foot-1 Venus has had knee trouble since age 6. They compound suspicions with coy comments on the subject. And when Venus pulled out last week, the questions became so pointed that McGuire felt compelled to address them in a news conference at the Ericsson Open. He said he talked with tour trainers and found Venus" injury to be legitimate. He also talked individually with Venus, Serena and Richard. "They all just absolutely dismiss the notion that there's anything untoward going on in their matches or that anyone could control their matches or that anyone could tell them how hard they should compete in a match," McGuire said. "I believe that." But when it comes to communication, the sisters can do better. At Indian Wells, Venus notified the tournament about her knee ailment only five minutes before the match was to start. McGuire advised the sisters to be more straightforward when dealing with the media. "In this instance we need to meet it face to face," Venus said, "because we're a good family." Suspicions regarding their matches against each other will be difficult to eliminate, however, with every flubbed forehand and errant overhead called into question. It might help if Richard adopts a lower profile - he declined to comment on the controversy - and if the sisters play each other more often. The sibling showdowns have been major events in part because they've been so infrequent. The next meeting could come next Saturday in the Ericsson Open final. "It's inevitable we'll play each other again," Venus said. "We have no issue with it. It's what we always wanted. We both wanted to be professionals, always to be the best. Hopefully, we'll be Nos. 1 and 2 in the future. "With time, everyone will see." Everyone will be watching, supermarket tabloids included.
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