And so, it has come to pass, just as Richard Williams imagined it would: sisters Venus and Serena Williams are the two best tennis players on the planet and, if Voyager 1 and 2 are right, the entire solar system, at the very least.

	Serena Williams, right, laid the younger sibling jinx to rest for good with her Grand Slam win over sister Venus.

"I thought he was telling the truth," Venus Williams said earlier this year. "I was just being the daughter of a proud father. And more than anything, I think he knew he put the work in and that we were listening to him. I think that's why he had the confidence to say that myself and Serena would be Grand Slam champions. Right now, we are some of the best players in the game, I guess, in history."

Guessing isn't necessary. Which begs the question ... is there anyone outside the family who can challenge them for the top spot in women's tennis? The answer, based on recent returns, is no one, no how. Unless it's another Williams -- their mother Oracene?

"All I can say is that at this stage of the tennis proceedings I'm figuring Oracene's looking good for the title," tennis analyst Mary Carillo said Tuesday in an e-mail just before jumping on a plane for London. "She's my outside pick after the sisters.

"Is this bad? Depends on what a stranglehold on the sport means to the average fan. I personally think the tennis firm of Williams, Williams and Williams sounds pretty damn catchy.

"I could be wrong. But I'm not."

Venus, who turned 22 on Monday, is the No. 1 seed at Wimbledon, which begins play on Monday. Serena, only 20, is the No. 2 seed. With Venus at the top of the draw that was revealed Tuesday and Serena at the bottom, they cannot meet until the final -- at this point, the likeliest of scenarios. If they both advance as expected, it would be the third all-Williams Grand Slam final in 10 months after last year's U.S. Open and this year's French Open and, get this, their seventh championship in the past 12 Grand Slam singles events.

		Although Venus has the No. 1 ranking, make no mistake, this has been Serena's season.

This is relevant because last Sunday Eldrick Woods earned his seventh Grand Slam title in 11 attempts, winning the U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park. He was the only golfer to finish under par on the treacherously long Black Course. His victory underlined his dominance of the PGA Tour that has grown to historic proportions. Four different golfers won the other major titles and no one -- from David Duval to Phil Mickelson to Sergio Garcia -- has stepped up to provide a credible opposition.

The same is true in women's tennis, or about to be. Certainly, Jennifer Capriati has won three of the past six Grand Slam events, two Australian Opens and last year's French, but there is evidence that the gap between her and the Williams sisters is about to become larger than ever.

Consider this sobering thought: What if Tiger Woods had a younger brother who was just as good or, potentially, better than he was? That's what we're talking about here. And it's a phenomenon that could -- should, actually -- dominate women's tennis for the next decade.

Serena has beaten Capriati no fewer than three times this year. After suffering an ankle injury in Sydney, Serena came back to reach the final at Scottsdale, where she hung on to beat Capriati, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. In Miami, Serena took Capriati out in a straight-sets final, 7-5, 7-6 (4). On the way to her first-ever clay court title, Serena defeated Capriati in the semifinals at Rome before avenging a previous week's loss to Justine Henin in the final.

Although Venus has the No. 1 ranking, make no mistake, this has been Serena's season. They have each won four tournaments, but compare Venus' four -- Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia), Paris Indoors, Antwerp and Amelia Island -- to Serena's French Open, Miami, Scottsdale and Italian Open titles, and it's no contest. Serena has by far won the most money ($1.483 million) on the WTA Tour and has played in only 12 tournaments, two fewer than Venus and four fewer than Capriati.

Clearly, Serena has experienced a breakthrough.

	With Serena Williams' defeat of Jennifer Capriati, Richard Williams' daughters are where he predicted -- on top of the tennis world.

"Serena seems to be where Venus was two years ago, when Venus made her big jump," Pam Shriver observed before the French Open final. "Look out, because Serena could be better than Venus and this could be her big run to start that. Serena's a different competitor from how she was prior to the Canadian Open last year. She had lost so many close matches up to beating Capriati in the final there. Once she did that, she hasn't looked back.

"She's lost a few matches, but she hasn't lost leads and she hasn't gotten nervous like she seemed to before."

The Ericsson Open in March was the point of departure. Serena spanked former No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-0, then torched her sister Venus 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals. The win ended Venus' 22-match win streak and seemed to change the personal dynamic between the sisters. Heading into the match, Serena had lost five of six matches to Venus, but this time it was the older sister who seemed dazed and confused. The final against Capriati was almost anticlimactic.

The French Open was more of the same. In 91 minutes, Serena beat Venus 7-5, 6-3 -- and she did it without her best game. She won 12 consecutive points after trailing Venus 5-3 in the first set and won her second Grand Slam title going away. Venus had an uncharacteristic nine double-faults and zero aces. In narrowing the intra-family record to 3-5, Serena did not appear to be intimidated by the sister she's idolized since childhood.

"The point in the match when you forget that is when you first walk out there," Serena said. "This is a Grand Slam final, and it's been awhile since I won one. Long time."

If Venus (0-2 this year) and Capriati (0-3) can't beat Serena, what chance do, say, Monica Seles, Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin, Jelena Dokic, Martina Hingis and Sandrine Testud -- the rest of the women's top 10 -- have? With Davenport and Hingis dogged by injuries, the competition for the top spots is thinner than usual.

After winning the French Open, Serena was asked how an all-Williams Wimbledon final might be different.

"It would probably be a much quicker match," she said. "I think on grass, maybe I'd go to the net a bit more. Maybe Venus would also come a bit more. In a way, it will almost be a bit more fun because that really suits our game.

"With our style of serving, the returns, it would really bring the best probably out of both of us."

For the rest of the women's tennis that is a truly frightening prospect.

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.