Wimbledon Betting: Two halves of the same whole but which Williams should you be backing?

Players Under The Microscope / Gary Boswell / 20 June 2008 / Leave a Comment

Gary Boswell discusses the phenomenon that are the Williams sisters and their on-court achievements and off-court "distractions". More importantly though: which of them is the value for the Wimbledon title this year?

Serena is one point higher in the current world rankings and fifteen months younger.

These are the only two factors I can come up with to explain why she is considered a shorter shot than her sister to win in the outrights for Wimbledon 2008. Perhaps also you could cite Serena's 2-1 head to head score over her sister on grass and a 9-7 overall score. That is an anomaly I admit but in general, those games against each other have always been uncompetitive, mutually disliked and a very unreliable stat marker.

Odds compilation and market manipulation is a science all of its own of course with infinite capacity for personal opinion. You would have to be blind though or have never watched a tennis match with any kind of critical faculty to fail to see that Venus was born to play on grass whilst her younger sibling was not. Venus has a 51-7 all time Wimbledon aggregate (88% win ratio) and six finals in ten years with four victories. Compare that to Serena's three consecutive finals during her world number one years (2002-2004) and a clear period since when what the younger sister has achieved to reverse the 97 ranking she slipped to in 2006 has all been achieved away from grass.

Venus is lithe and athletic and volleys like a trooper. Serena is all power. Enough when she was the world's dominant player but clearly inadequate since she has slipped. Then there are Serena's injuries. The severe calf strain of Wimbledon 2007 and the racking back trouble caused by her serve in 2008.

Doesn't bode well and her 6-4 6-4 exit at Roland Garros at the hands of Katarina Srebotnik is about where we are at with Serena these days. Because she is a Williams sister, there is always capacity for unpredictable brilliance but if that shows its head at Wimbledon 2008, I'd defy anyone to argue that it will be more likely shown by older sis.

There is of course a question mark around both of them to some extent. Venus' December 2007 graduation from the Fort Lauderdale Institute of Art with a degree in Fashion is called planning for the future by some and an indication of a split focus by others.

Serena also plays the fashion card and has rivalled her older sister's eclectic 'Eleven' line with her own 'Aneres' line which doesn't retail in Steve and Berry's (presumably because she doesn't have the degree!!) but which reputedly has just as many admirers. It is the stage, however, that seriously captures Serena's dreams these days. Cameo appearances in ER and Law and Order have whetted her appetite for acting and there can be little doubt that her persona is ideally suited. Often an actress on centre court, her one legged performance at Wimbledon 2007 was reminiscent of the classic Pete and Dud sketch - without the comic timing perhaps!

She has that theatrical instinct though and so does Venus. Little doubt that it lies behind the supreme mental attitude and colossal self belief that has always propelled both women.
I remember my first open mouthed appreciation of the Williamses as teenagers. It was at the same time that John McEnroe was berating them for bringing the game into disrepute with their locker room arrogance (such comical irony was not lost on the BOZ!!).

They have been an undoubted phenomenon in the history of sport (and beyond that into the wider world and the way in which sport impacts on politics), never mind tennis. When the white supremacist artist Glory Halle called them 'out of place in the lily white world of professional tennis', he wasn't joking. They were. Althea Gibson, Zena Garrison, Arthur Ashe paved the way. So did Yvonne Goolagong (who always gets missed from this list) but none have had the same impact that the Williamses have achieved.

As with Mohammed Ali and Tiger Woods, their impact is backed up by sporting substance. Fourteen grand slams between them. Two halves of the same whole. An unprecedented and unparalled world sporting phenomenon who Will Buckley placed at number one, ahead of Don Bradman and Pele, as the greatest sports phenomenon of all time in his 2007 Observer article on greatness.

And I agree. They have changed the landscape. Along with her boyfriend Hank Keuhne, Venus was the prime mover in achieving the equal pay status in women's tennis. Another landmark in the world picture, never mind tennis.

Wimbledon is about tennis though. And it's played on grass. Serena is currently [5.5] in the outrights when she has little or no chance of prevailing whilst Wimbledon queen Venus is [7.2] - a price that is on the supremely generous side for a four time champion still very much on top of her game and relatively injury free.

Which Williams will you be backing?