Venus v. Serena XX: 2009 Sony Ericsson Open Semi

Venus Williams and Serena Williams will face each other for the 20th time on the WTA Tour tonight (6pm PDT, 9pm EDT) in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open following a repeat showdown of the leading contender for Best Match of 2009 between Fernando Verdasco and Rafael Nadal.

Venus leads the head-to-head between the sisters 10 to 9 but if Venus wins she will become #3 in the world and Serena will fall to #1, giving Dinara Safina the #1 ranking. If Serena wins she will retain her #1 ranking, since she has won the tournament for the last two consecutive years.

The last time they played was a few weeks ago at an exhibition in Madison Square Garden, which Serena won, but the last two tour matches they played Venus has won in 3 sets, after losing one of the best matches of 2008 in the US Open quarterfinals. Venus bagelled Serena at the Tour Championships in Doha in Decmber and won a tight 3rd set tiebreaker in Dubai in January. It's hard to predict who will win today, but I think I will give an edge to Venus. I do know that Serena does NOT like losing three times in a row to anyone, and also doesn't want to give up the #1 ranking. It should be a scorcher, hopefully it will be broadcast on the Tennis Channel, eventually!

PREDICTION: Venus in 3 sets.