Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki will put their friendship aside today to do battle for the US Open title.
Williams and Wozniacki have one of the closest friendships on tour but, as the world No1 pointed out, she is well used to having to cope with personal feelings on court.
“If I can play Venus, I can play anybody,” Serena said of her sister.
Williams and Wozniacki have become even closer during this summer, spending what appeared from the many pictures to be a riotous week together in Miami in May.
Both had gone out of the French Open early while Wozniacki was getting over the shock ending to her engagement to Rory McIlroy. “Serena is a fun girl,” said Wozniacki. “She’s so nice to hang out with. Always makes me laugh.
“But I’m pretty good at separating things on the court and off the court. It’s definitely going to be a huge match on Sunday. The friendship, while we are on court, is put aside. We are both competitors. We will just be fighting for every point.”
While it is no surprise to see Williams in the final for the third year running, Wozniacki’s resurgence has been more unexpected.
The Dane was a prodigious talent, a US Open finalist at 19 and world No1 by 20. But over the last three years, success on the biggest stage has dried up.
“I have definitely learned a lot in those years,” she said. “I have had more matches under my belt. I have learned more about myself.”
The Dane has only won one of her previous nine matches against Williams but has recently pushed her close twice in Montreal and Cincinnati.
“When she’s on fire, she’s hard to beat,” Wozniacki said. “But I have had two tough matches against her the last few weeks. I was really close. Hopefully for me, third time’s the charm.”