ESPN.com - Wimbledon 2002 - Venus ready to go for hat trick
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Thursday, July 17
Venus ready to go for hat trick

WIMBLEDON, England -- It's Williams vs. Williams in another Grand Slam final.

No matter what happens Saturday, Serena Williams will be the new No. 1 player.

Sisters Venus and Serena Williams won in straight sets to set up their third meeting in a title match at a major -- and the first all-sister Wimbledon final since 1884.

Top-seeded Venus, the two-time defending champion, overpowered Justine Henin 6-3, 6-2 on Centre Court. Second-seeded Serena routed Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes.

Serena's victory ensured that she will overtake Venus as No. 1 in the next rankings -- no matter who wins Saturday's final.

It will be the third Sister Slam in 10 months -- Venus won at the U.S. Open in September, while Serena triumphed at the French Open last month.

The 22-year-old Venus has a 5-3 edge in career meetings against her 20-year-old sister.

Venus has won 20 straight matches at Wimbledon and is one win away from becoming the first woman to take three consecutive titles since Steffi Graf in 1991-93.

Serena, meanwhile, hasn't dropped a set in making it to her first Wimbledon final. She put on a masterful performance against Mauresmo, who had eliminated Jennifer Capriati in the quarters.

Venus Williams will be going after her third consecutive Wimbledon title.

"Today I was immaculate,'' Serena said. "I played unbelievable. I was out of my mind.''

Asked about facing her sister again, she said, "I'm really going to try, try and do my best. She's been unbeatable here on the grass. I'm just going to go out and have fun. I hope I'll be able to compete.''

The last time sisters faced each other in the Wimbledon final was 118 years ago, when Maud Watson beat Lillian Watson.

Venus Williams fell behind early against Henin, the sixth-seeded Belgian whom she beat in last year's final. She was broken in the first game and lost a marathon second game which lasted 11 minutes and went to deuce six times.

But Williams turned up her power game, winning 12 straight points and 10 out of the next 11 games to take the first set and go up 4-0.

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 Wimbledon
ESPN's Luke Jensen and Sal Paolantonio preview another all-Williams Grand Slam final.
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