PREVIEW: Wimbledon Ladies' Final

Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams
Head-to-head: 7 Venus, 8 Serena
Last meeting: Bangalore '08 (hard), Serena 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4)

After all the major upsets earlier in the tournament we've finally arrived at Venus vs. Serena XVI; let's hope that this match, unlike their past meetings, will be a fiercely competitive one. Both ballers have been playing solid tennis this fortnight with neither sister even sniffing a third set. Incidentally, the Williams sisters have also made the ladies' doubles final so they deserve full credit for an incredible tournament *clap, clap*!

How they got here: 4-time defending champion V battled a familiar foe, Elena Dementieva, and easily dismissed the Russian 6-1, 7-6 (3) making 15 of 21 approaches to the net. 2-time champion ReRe faced surprise semifinalist Zheng Jie and hit 14 aces to defeat the Chinese baller by a similar score of 6-2, 7-6 (5).

The last time the sisters met was in the semifinals of the Bangalore Open where ReRe broke a 2-match losing streak to her sister, pulling out a 3-set win on her way to the title. It was their first meeting since the fourth round of the '05 US Open.

Here's what V had to say about facing ReRe in the past:

I really played the best that I could and she was just better. I mean, there were a series of matches where I just -- she was just better than I was at that point, you know, on that day. She was definitely on a high. I had just came off of a couple years of just winning everything. I was tired. And then she had come off a couple years of not winning everything and she was more pumped. So it was kind of like this, you know, balance of her going up and me kind of being a little tired, a little burned out probably.

ReRe has this to say about playing her sister:

It's like, you know, I personally want everything that Venus has. So, you know, she wins a trophy, I would desperately want it. I would be really, you know, eager to have it. We're good at this now. We just leave everything out on the court. This is the finals of Wimbledon. Who doesn't want it?

Outlook: This one is actually very tough to call since both sisters are pretty evenly matched. Historically, you have to give the edge to ReRe because she's 5-1 over her sister in Grand Slam finals and seems to summon the extra motivation against her sister. However, V is the defending champion and feels most comfortable on Centre Court.

If V can keep her first serve percentage high and utilize her superior net play, she'll gain the advantage in the match. But if she's giving second looks at her serve, ReRe will jump on her and grab the momentum quickly. It's a real toss-up here but I'm giving the nod to V in 3-sets.

(image via Getty)