NEW YORK - It’s earlier than we’ve come to expect to see Venus and Serena Williams playing each other at a Grand-Slam tournament, but the way this U.S. Open draw worked out the two siblings are meeting in the fourth-round -- in a match where in my opinion Venus rates the edge.

Showdown between sisters
The eighth-seeded Serena started off the year well as she won her seventh career Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. But in recent months while Serena was nursing an ankle injury and then a tweaked knee, it was the 10th-seeded Venus who came on the radar screen.

That certainly came as a big surprise to me because I hadn’t expected it. But Venus showed up at Wimbledon and walked away with her fifth Grand Slam title -- her first since winning the 2001 U.S. Open.

When the sisters first came to the forefront of professional tennis it was Venus who was the dominant force, but after 2001 it was Serena who was intimidating the other players. In the past year or so, neither Venus nor Serena proved the dominant force as players like Justine Henin-Hardenne and Maria Sharapova started to become focal points on the WTA Tour.

Let’s take a look out how the games of Venus and Serena match up.

Serve
I think that Serena has the much better serve. I believe that Serena’s motion is more fluid and it doesn’t have a tendency to break down as easily as Venus’s serve does. And on the second serve, Serena’s much more capable of picking her spots -- she’s just as capable of serving to the forehand and backhand side of her opponent.

In comparison, Venus has a tendency to pull her serve to a right-hander's forehand. Even when Venus is serving at her best, I still like Serena’s serve because I think her motion is far superior.
Edge: Serena.

Return of serve
I think both Serena and Venus both have very good return of serves. I think it tends to depend on the match being played, but on the whole both Serena and Venus utilize their return of serve to their advantage, and both can put an opponent off with the shot.
Edge: even.

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Volley
I really like Venus' technique on the backhand volley much better than Serena’s, and that can be quite critical in a match. And let’s face it, Venus has the height advantage between the two, and that certainly is a benefit when volleying.

Venus is a little taller and longer, and that three extra inches or so definitely gives Venus more range and reach.
Edge: Venus.

Forehand
As we have seen, Venus -- when she gets into uncomfortable situations in a match -- will often find that her forehand breaks down. Obviously, at Wimbledon this shot was very solid for Venus, which is one important reason why she bested the field.

It surprised most people that Venus' whole game held up as well as it did at Wimbledon, and her serve and her forehand were especially key in her wins at the All-England Club over Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport.

I know that Davenport tried to break down Venus’ forehand in the Wimbledon final and couldn’t. It would be a bonus if Venus could keep this shot at the level she had it at during her run to the Wimbledon title.

But in the big picture, Serena is steadier with the shot, and I think Serena has the better, more-solid forehand.
Edge: Serena.

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