Venus victorious in battle of siblings

New YORK, SEPT. 9. Venus Williams has won her second consecutive U.S. Open title, beating younger sister Serena 6-2, 6-4 in the first Grand Slam final between blacks and the first between sisters since 1884.

Fourth-seed Venus Williams has won four of the past six Slam titles, having taken her second consecutive Wimbledon title in July. She won $ 850,000 for the triumph.

But the moment of triumph was bittersweet for Venus Williams because it came against Serena. ``I always want Serena to win,'' Venus said. ``So it's kind of strange. I'm the big sister. I take care of Serena. I make sure Serena has everything even if I don't have anything. I love her too much.''

Serena replied, ``We always look up to the big sister and always want to win because they're always older and always ahead of us and they always do.''

Serena was in her first Slam final since capturing her only Slam title here in 1999. She settled for second-place money of $ 425,000.

``I'm disappointed, but not much,'' Serena Williams said ``I'm still young. I'm only 19. I have a few more years.''

Not since Maud Watson beat sister Lilian 6-8, 6-3, 6-3 for the first Wimbledon women's title in 1884 had sisters met in a Grand Slam final. And that 19th century matchup of British siblings was from a field of only 15.

Sports, music and entertainment celebrities were among the 23,023 at Arthur Ashe Stadium watching the historic error- filled match between American rivals, the first U.S. Open women's final to be played at night.

``It helps people of colour. It helps tennis. It helps everybody,'' women's tennis pioneer Billie Jean King said.

Erratic Serena Williams surrendered breaks in the fifth and seventh games to drop the first set and slapped a Forehand wide to hand her older sister a break to open the second set.

Serena denies being nervous

``I wasn't nervous at all,'' Serena Williams said. ``I've been in the finals of the U.S. Open before.''

But Serena Williams, the 10th seed, broke back in the fourth game to level 2-2, winning 10 of 13 points in one stretch as Venus began to spray shots outside the lines.

Serena sent a backhand long to give back the break in the next game, screaming as she watched the ball land long to give Venus a 3-2 edge, but broke back on a mis-hit volley in the next game to level again at 3-3.

But Serena Williams double-faulted twice to open the ninth game and hit a volley wide and surrendered a critical break when Venus hit a backhand winner from the baseline.

Venus then served for the match and won on her first match point when Serena netted a baseline shot to end it after 69 minutes. The sisters met and hugged at the net, Venus consoling her sister by saying, ``I love you.''

Younger sisters were 4-23 against elders in prior WTA matches, including Venus' 4-2 mark against Serena. But one of those Serena wins came when Venus withdrew from the Indian Wells semifinals last March with an injury.

The sisters, who began playing together as children in an inner- city Los Angeles neighbourhood, practised against each other briefly and spent much of the day before the match napping, their mother Oracene Williams said.

The matchup caused trouble for computer scorers, who typically only put last names on computer scoresheets. Not until play began did they realize no one could tell which Williams was which without first initials.

A chance to end title drought

Pete Sampras has claimed a revenge victory over the man who crushed him in last year's final, moving into a Sunday showdown against on-form Australian Lleyton Hewitt.

The 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory by No. 10 Sampras against Russian third-seed Marat Safin gives the 30-year-old American a lifeline to try and salvage a sorry season. Sampras has gone 17 tournaments without a title, claiming his last one at Wimbledon, 2000.

It was the third straight victory this week by Sampras over another U.S. Open winner after beating Patrick Rafter and Andre Agassi in the previous two rounds.

Sampras maintained a miracle run, winning 87 straight games from the second round here without dropping serve.

The home crowd-pleaser will square off against a pair of fresh 20-year-old legs belonging to on-fire fourth-seed Lleyton Hewitt, playing his first Grand Slam final.

Hewitt screamed into the finale, crushing the life out of seventh-seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.

The lop-sided scoreline was the most impressive in tournament semifinal history. The previous worst defeat at this stage was Todd Martin's 1999 win over Frenchman Cedric Pioline with the loss of only six games.

Hewitt unstoppable

Fourth-seed Hewitt was unstoppable on serve and untouchable on returns as he broke the 27-year-old Russian three times each in the first two sets and twice in the third. ``I had a job to do, I just kept going after it,'' said Hewitt. He didn't play his best, but he could only get better. If he had a sniff in the third, he'd fight it out to the bitter end.``

''It's an unbelievable feeling to be in my first Grand Slam final. This is one of the biggest thrills of my career, along with winning the Davis Cup in 1999 and my first tournament title.``

Sampras was quietly confident after his satisfying victory. ''I'm hitting my serve well,`` said Sampras, who had 20 aces and 49 winners. ''The rhythm is there, even with the wind. The second- set tie-breaker was a big part of the match.``

''I started out serving huge - and serve is a big part of my game. That lets me chip and charge and mix things up.''

Sampras beat Hewitt in the semifinals here a year ago. ``He's a great competitor, he loves a target. He returns and passes well. And he'll be fresh after an easy match.''

Sampras, with 63 career titles and a record 13 Grand Slam singles crowns, is banking on a lot in his match finale. The veteran is now a win away from setting another mark for the record books.

A victory today would give Sampras the record for most consecutive years (nine) in which majors have been won. He and Bjorn Borg are currently level on eight.

Sampras whipped through the rapid-fire opening set as he took advantage of a break of the holder in the sixth game for a 4-2 margin.

The American tenth seed sent down his sixth ace of the afternoon for two set points, nullifying the first with a double-fault but producing a spectacular reverse overhead backhand to claim it.

Things bogged down for the American in the second as Sampras was handed some medicine by the trainer after the third game to help calm a churning stomach.

Sampras saved a pair of break points as his form began to fade ever-so-slightly in the fourth game, but held on for 2- all when Safin put a forehand into the net post.

The set ended up going into a tie-breaker, where Sampras used ace number 14 to earn two set points. Safin saved one with a skillful return at the feet, but let a return go wide.

Sampras kept up the pressure in the third set, breaking for 3-1 and completing his victory with a 20th after one hour, 54 minutes.

Safin graciously admitted that he was out-played: ``I feel a lot better about my game, I'm proud of getting this far,'' he said after coming out of a long slump this season which has still not resulted in a title after winning seven in 2000.

''I've found my game again. I lost to the best player in the world. I'd like to finally win something, but if I have Pete Sampras across the net, it is impossible.``

''It's Pete Sampras, it's how many finals and matches he's won. He's got a big serve, a big reputation. There is too much pressure. It's mental and physical.``

The results:

Women final: 4-Venus Williams (U.S.) bt 10-Serena Williams (U.S.) 6-2, 6-4.

Men's semifinals: 4-Lleyton Hewitt bt 7- Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus) 6-1, 6-2, 6-1; 10-Pete Sampras (U.S.) bt 3-Marat Safin (Rus) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

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