Venus and Serena Williams have unpacked their bags in England at the All England Lawn Tennis Club to settle in for tennis’ grass court grand slam, Wimbledon. It starts today, Monday, June 20, 2011.
Both sisters hope to stay a while because much is at stake, including their family name. Serena is the defending champion with four total wins and has to fight to retain her title. Venus is the open-era Wimbledon queen with five wins, to date, and is almost obligated to show up in the tournament’s final. In fact, there’s only been one Wimbledon final over the last 11 years without at least one of the dominating sisters at the net.
Beyond that, Venus and Serena are under media watch due to their recent lengthy absences due to injuries. Besides the Eastbourne International warm-up tournament they just played with Venus losing in round 3 and Serena in round 2, they hadn’t stepped foot on a professional tennis court in more than six months and one year, respectively.
Today, Venus faces Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, and Serena will take to the grass tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21, against Aravane Rezai of France. –gerald a. radford
