Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 25 June 2007 /

THE talk over the next fortnight may well be all about whether Roger Federer can land his fifth Wimbledon title in a row.

But Serena Williams is more concerned with equalling big sister Venus's three Wimbledon women's singles titles.

The 25-year-old younger and shorter Williams sister (5ft 9in to 6ft 1in Venus, who was 27 last week {June 17}) has one edge on Federer. Unlike the men's world number one, she has won all four majors. In fact, she has won the Australian Open three times, the French Open once, Wimbledon twice and the US Open twice.

If she needs any further incentive to recapture the title she last won in 2003, this year she knows that for the first time the women will be playing for equal prize money. The men's and women's singles champions will each scoop £700,000. All she has to do is win seven matches to hit the jackpot and cast off the frustrations of an injury-plagued 2006 when she only played six events.

Yet despite that track record in majors which includes victory in this year's Australian Open, Williams is only ranked seventh behind top seed, 2006 runner-up and French champion Justine Henin, 2004 winner and second seed Maria Sharapova, and defending champion and fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo. Sister Venus, at 23, and Martina Hingis, at 9, are the only Wimbledon winners in the draw, seeded below her.

While Henin, who beat Serena in the French Open quarter-finals in straight sets, completed final preparations at Eastbourne by beating Mauresmo in the final, Williams has been back home in Florida practising and preparing with Venus.

Missing tournaments like the DFS Classic in Birmingham and the International Women's Open in Eastbourne in the Wimbledon countdown will not be seen as a problem to the younger Williams sister.

Don't forget, she arrived in Melbourne in January with what appeared to be minimal match preparation and, from an unseeded position, swept everyone aside, especially Sharapova in a ruthless final display.

On her day she can hit everyone off the court and if she can get past Henin in their projected quarter-final, then there may well be no stopping her.

She starts off against Lourdes Dominguez Lino and the 26-year-old Spanish girl was a first-round loser on her Wimbledon debut last year. The American couldn't have wished for a better start and neither it seems could have her supporters - she is an overwhelming 1.13 favourite to win in straight sets.

Williams has not played at Wimbledon since her third-round exit in 2005 - and she will want to put right that blot on her copybook. It was her worst performance since her debut year in 1998 when she also fell at the third fence. Otherwise there's a quarter-final, a semi-final, a runners-up spot and two titles in a 33-5 win-loss Wimbledon record.

If the Williams sisters have put in the hours on the practice courts since Paris then Serena will be a good bet to take the title, just like she did in Melbourne. For that reason she is trading at 4.5 with Betfair to be the 2007 champion.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>