The Lipton Championships final between Venus and Serena
Williams on Sunday marked the first time sisters met in the
finals. In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers writes that Venus and
Serena Williams "made Fox look like a genius" for picking up
the Lipton finals. Rogers: "The two put on a such
compelling display of tennis that Tracy Austin turned in one
of her best performances as an analyst" (A.C., 3/29). In
Miami, Peter Bosch writes that an IMG exec was heard to say
at the end of the 28-minute first set, "It's going to go
three sets. Fox has two hours" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/29).
DADDY DEAREST? Richard Williams posted seven messages
during the match which he "strenuously displayed for the
television cameras." In N.Y., George Vecsey calls the one
which read "The Williams Family loves Fox TV" a "trifle
tacky" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/29). Other signs read: "I told you
so," "It's Venus's house," "Go, Serena, Go," and "Let's hear
it for the Williams sisters and Lipton" (MIAMI HERALD,
3/29). NEWSDAY's Shaun Powell writes that the success of the
sisters makes Williams "a very proud, accomplished and
dangerous man," whose "bizarre personality threatened to
steal the show at Lipton." Powell: "He should allow his
daughters to thrive without his interference. His presence
was necessary at first; now it's clumsy" (NEWSDAY, 3/29). In
Miami, Meri-Jo Borzilleri wrote that prior to the Lipton
finals, ticketholders could get their hair "corn-rowed and
beaded" for $5 a strand (MIAMI HERALD, 3/28)....Despite the
appeal of the WTA women, Charles Bricker reported that the
Lipton men's final was sold out two days in advance, while
the "increasingly exciting" WTA Tour had 1,000 tickets left
for its final, as of noon Saturday (SUN-SENTINEL, 3/28).
