Tracy Austin

Serena and Venus Williams are as familiar with each other’s games, habits and personalities as the Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, are with one another. Though they are almost two years apart — Venus is 28 and Serena will be 27 on Sept. 26 — they grew up playing together in Compton, Calif., just as they do now that they live in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. There is nothing either does on the tennis court that will surprise the other.

Wimbledon, of course, is played on grass, but I don’t think the surface they play on matters to either Serena or Venus. Neither is going to become skilled at sliding on clay and neither has trouble in London, particularly since the grass has become slower. Here, where the ball is going through the court well, they both will hit big, because that’s the way they play.

On Wednesday night, they will fill Arthur Ashe Stadium at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The atmosphere should be electric. Since they don’t play a full schedule during the year, their rankings aren’t high enough to keep them from meeting before the final. This is unfortunate because it will only, and I don’t say this to make light of the match, be a quarterfinal.

Serena has cruised through the tournament so far, and she will have to step it up about four levels to be really competitive. I think players want to step it up gradually and not have to do it quickly. She will have to do so.

Neither has faced much resistance. Serena has lost only 14 games in four matches. Venus is playing just as well, having dropped merely 15 games. She will have to serve well and be aggressive. I think Serena has a bigger serve, but Venus is more consistent. Serena has taken pace off her serve to become more consistent, but it’s no small potatoes.

Both will have to take advantage of second serves. If either hits one short, the returner will put the server on the defense immediately. Venus will have to be careful because she sometimes comes up a little short. She will have to concentrate on not letting this happen.

The match will be about taking control of the point, pushing the other player back and making sure to use all the court (and do it wisely). It will come down to execution and who plays the big points well.

It is interesting to look at the statistics from Venus’ 7-5, 6-4 Wimbledon victory that I think is the best match that they have played against one another. She had only four aces and three double faults, but won 61 percent of her first serve points, (one of which she hit 129 mph). She made 13 unforced errors and converted — and I think this was the key — 4 of 7 break point opportunities. Overall, she won 82 points in the match.

Serena had nine aces and only double faulted once. She won 75 percent of her first serve points and that was outstanding. She had 11 unforced errors, but was hurt by converting only 2 of 13 break point opportunities. In the end, she won 75 total points.

She came out on fire at Wimbledon, breaking Venus’ serve in the very first game. Venus seemed to be off-stride in the beginning, but regained her focus and got back into the match. Only seven points separated them at the finish, but Venus won the ones that were critical. As I mentioned, she made more of her break point chances.

Serena and Venus have both played 10 U.S. Open. Serena is the No. 4 seed and has a 43-7 tournament record, while Venus, who is the No. 7 seed, is 50-7.