WIMBLEDON, England - One has a quick smile, bubbly personality and Grand Slam title to call her own.
The other is a fearsome competitor, but for her promise has yet to win a major tennis prize.
They're Serena and Venus Williams, sisters taking their act on to Centre Court in today's Wimbledon women's semifinals.
Williams vs. Williams is Wimbledon's main event, the family gathering and historic tennis slugfest televised 'round the world. Not since Maud Watson defeated her sister Lilian in the first women's final in 1884 have two sisters met so late in Wimbledon's championships.
The match is overshadowing the other women's semifinal between reigning champion Lindsay Davenport and Jelena Dokic.
It's dominating the talk of tennis insiders trying to figure out which sister will win.
It's even causing a flurry among Britain's bookmakers, who have installed 18-year-old Serena Williams, the reigning U.S. Open champion, as a slight favorite over Venus, 20.
In eight meetings among sisters during the 32-year professional era, the older sister has won every time, including Venus, who beat Serena at the 1998 Australian Open.
Lifetime, Venus Williams enjoys a 3-1 edge over Serena.
The sisters warmed up for their showdown by bashing around a legend in yesterday's doubles. The Williamses didn't just overpower Martina Navratilova and Mariaan de Swardt, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, they managed to take turns swatting Navratilova with tennis balls.
Serena slammed her on the left shoulder.
Venus clunked her on the head.
Afterward, they talked admiringly about a player who has won nine Wimbledon singles titles.
"She used to be my favorite player," Serena Williams said. "When I was younger, I used to admire her."
Navratilova, 43, didn't mind absorbing hard knocks, and later calmly analyzed the contrasting styles of two sisters who may yet dominate the women's game.
"They have the capability of taking it [women's tennis] another step," Navratilova said. "They just haven't gotten there yet. With their size, they're just so big."
In her day, Navratilova, 5 feet 7, was the most intimidating women's player on tour. In this era, she'd be one of the smaller stars. She looks up to both the Williams sisters: Serena is 5-10 and Venus 6-1.
