Losing to big sister Venus little solace for Serena

WIMBLEDON, England -- Serena Williams hates to lose.
This is not a well-kept secret.
Her attitude after a big defeat confirms it. A lioness who survives to hunt each opponent as prey, Serena's competitive heart just doesn't compute allowances for failure.
Even her family confirms, the concept of being checkmated is the bane of Serena's existence. In fact, her relatives willingly take much of the blame for her inability to deal with defeat as an outgrowth of them always spoiling her as the baby of the family. Her sister, Lyndrea, who flew in from Los Angeles yesterday, said Serena to this day can't even bear to lose when they play the card game "spoons."
"Serena thinks everything is supposed to go her way, that's the bottom line," said mom/coach Oracene Price, who had finally removed the large sunglasses she hid behind during the match. "She thinks that's the way it's supposed to go in life. But this is life."
Serena's face in disappointment always tells the story -- it's a sour frown, one of anger and disbelief that anyone, even her sister Venus, would have the goods to one better her in a match. And that's the look we all were treated to when Venus solidified her position as the pre-eminent grass-court player of her generation with a fifth Wimbledon title, a title that came at the expense of Serena in an entertaining 7-5, 6-4 victory on Saturday afternoon.

CARL DE SOUZA/Getty Images
Serena Williams let her frustration show during Saturday's final as her chance at another Wimbledon title -- and another win over her big sister Venus in a Grand Slam final -- slipped away."It's definitely not any easier," said Serena, about coming up short in a Grand Slam final to kin instead of a nonrelated rival. "I just look at her as another opponent at the end of the day. I don't think it's harder, but it's definitely not easier."
To drive home the point of how unacceptable a loss is to Serena, it can be noted that while she gave Venus credit for her abilities on grass, she managed to insert herself into the explanatory equation. And let's remember when pondering the comment, Venus has five Wimbledon titles and Serena has only two, although she did win her two with final victories over Venus in 2002 and '03.
"Well, it says a lot about her. I mean, she's won five Wimbledons now," Serena said. "She's beaten me on grass now, so that definitely says a lot."
It should be made clear that being a bit of a sore loser does not mean that Serena exhibits unsportsmanlike behavior. The fact that she conceded a game point in the ninth game of the first set to Venus during the final after umpire Carlos Ramos called for them to replay the point, is a testament to her fairness in battle.
Certainly, Serena's passion for competition and success supports her future candidacy as one of the all-time greats of the game. She's already won eight Grand Slam titles, at least one at each of the four majors, dating back to her first as a 17-year-old at the 1999 U.S. Open. She's captured 31 career titles to date and is a former world No. 1. And she's only 26, so there's plenty more opportunity ahead.
For her mother's part, however, she believes it's time for Serena to grow up and experience a reality check on life in the real world.
"Well, you know, she's going to have to learn how to suck things up," Price said. "[She needs to] say, 'OK, I'm not going to win everything. This is going to make me a better person. This will build character for myself and I have to learn how to lose. I might not be happy about it, but I just have to go on, go on and say, you know what, I didn't get this one, but I'm getting the next one.'"
While Price compassionately understands Serena's disappointment in being outplayed, she would prefer her daughter to deal with defeat in a different way -- her present style of going AWOL is disturbing. Most recently, Serena tuned out after her shocking third-round exit at the recent French Open, in which unlike Saturday's final, she played sloppy, dispassionate tennis.
"I'm not going to say nothing," said Price, smiling when asked how she might go about consoling Serena. "Before she won Australia [2007] that time and she lost in Hobart I didn't see her for two days. She didn't answer my e-mails, no texts, nothing. And when she lost at the French Open [2008], which was the worst, nothing for a week or two. You can't talk to her because she's not communicating with anyone."
It wasn't all gloom and doom for Serena, as it turned out on Saturday.
About three hours after she failed to win a ninth Grand Slam title against big sis, the two walked back onto Centre Court together, a joint force to be reckoned with, winning the women's doubles championships 6-2, 6-2 over Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. For Venus, that marked the second time at Wimbledon she scored a daily double by taking the singles and doubles title -- she also performed that magic in 2000. For Serena, it salvaged the day, because she would not go home without a 2008 Wimbledon trophy.
But everyone knew the day was all about their earlier encounter, a match that produced terrific tennis, surprisingly, considering the blustery conditions. It was a competitive affair played to a capacity crowd.
The meetings between Venus and Serena now stand at 8-8 with Serena leading 5-2 in Grand Slam final outings. And while Venus tried to contain her joy in victory so as to not rub it into Serena's face, Serena did not hesitate to hide her frustration in failure.
If those details don't squelch the crazy notion that the Williams family has made a habit of fixing the matches between Venus and Serena, it's hard to imagine what would silence that incessant chatter, which Venus so aptly deemed "offensive" and "extremely disrespectful" in advance of the final.