Little Sister Serena Enjoys Mixed Success
By Jennifer Frey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 6, 1998; Page D3

WIMBLEDON, England, July 5 — Serena Williams has looked up to her big
sister, Venus, since they were little girls on the tennis courts of Compton,
Calif. Today, though, it was Venus who stood and cheered while Serena
received the accolades.

Serena Williams and Max Mirnyi of Belarus captured the Wimbledon mixed
doubles title on Court 1 this evening with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Mirjana
Lucic of Croatia and Mahesh Bhupathi of India. Lucic and Bhupathi defeated
Venus Williams and her partner, fellow American Justin Gimelstob, in the
semifinals Saturday afternoon.

Though they both are still waiting to win a Grand Slam singles title, the
Williams sisters now have three Grand Slam trophies in their cabinet at home,
all in mixed doubles. Venus won the first two, taking the championships at
both the Australian and French opens with Gimelstob earlier this year.

Venus stood in the stands in a white dress and white sweater waving and
smiling to her sister after match point, playing the role of cheerleader for
a change. Thrilled, Serena started a little dance on the court, and Venus
joined in from her seat.

Serena and Mirnyi won the title despite having to play two matches today —
 they beat Paul Haarhuis and Caroline Vis in a semifinal earlier in the day —
 and despite the fact that Serena wore a bandage on the calf she injured in
singles play earlier in the tournament. The injury caused Serena to withdraw
in the middle of her third-round singles match and to cancel plans to play
doubles with Venus.