Sister Act 4: Venus, Serena Reach Wimbledon Final

Andy Roddick of U.S., gives the thumbs up, after defeating Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in their men's singles quarterfinal match at Wimbledon, Wednesday, July 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

(AP)

Venus has won 20 consecutive matches at Wimbledon; if she makes that 21, she will become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win the tournament three straight years. On Friday, the day before they face off for the singles title, the sisters will wake up at the house they're sharing during the tournament and head to the All England Club to play as a pair in the doubles semifinals, an event they won last year.

Richard Williams said Serena persuaded him to stick around for that doubles match. But he'll get on a plane Saturday, making sure to remind the pilots not to tell him who wins singles final. How will he find out which daughter is this year's Wimbledon champion?

Not from TV. Or the Internet. Or by checking their Twitter feeds.

No, he'll find out the way he does every time one of his kids claims a Grand Slam championship: He'll read the sign that his neighbors in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., always post on the gate of their house — "Congratulations, Venus!" or "Congratulations, Serena!"

"All I know," Dad said, "is a Williams is going to win."

Serena nearly didn't make it. Seeded second, she hadn't lost a set all tournament, yet found herself trailing the fourth-seeded Dementieva.

The Russian is often pointed to as the best player without a Grand Slam title — if it isn't her, it's probably Safina — and the biggest weakness in her game long has been her serve.

She double-faulted eight times, but there were moments when that stroke got her out of trouble, including a second-serve ace at 110 mph. Surprisingly, it was her normally sturdy groundstrokes that let Dementieva down. Of course, Serena had something to do with that.

Dementieva's match point came at 5-4 in the third set, with Serena serving at 30-40. Dementieva had a backhand passing shot set up and tried to hit the ball cross-court, but Serena hit a backhand volley that clipped the tape and landed in.