Gee Whiz! Jie Zheng !

Nothing I've seen this week gave me quite the same feeling of exhilaration as watching Zheng Jie scare Serena Williams in the second set of their Wimbledon semifinal match, eventually won by Ms. Williams 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

After having been more or less smoked in the first set, Zheng ran Serena around for the first six games of the second, eventually going up 4-2, only to have Serena come back in the seventh game to break back, all of which eventually did manage to break Zheng's back But not before the fiery little Zheng had Serena on the ropes, driving her left, driving her right, testing her forehand and backhand and speed.

Much to Serena's credit, she showed she had all those things, especially the speed. And the serve, always the serve with these Williams sisters. They seem to have no equal on grass, not when they're in shape, which they obviously both are at this juncture.

But Zheng goes about 5'4". A faster and more powerful woman at that height I'm sure I may never see again. Not on tennis courts at any rate. What a shotmaker ! In that great second set, Zheng had to turn it up, had to take some risks, and she came up aces. No, not literally "aces". Alas, she was short on those. Otherwise, we may have been watching a Venus-Zheng final tomorrow. Surely, Serena didn't want a third set.

Not that there's anything wrong with an all-Williams final. Venus is no slouch on grass herself and possesses an even more formidable serve than her sister. She's fast, changes directions well, and with those long arms of hers, it's almost impossible to pass her on anything, even the finest volley. You don't see many forehand or backhand winners down the line against Venus.

Serena holda a 3-1 edge in matches against Venus. And their father once maintained that Serena would eventually go further in the game. He knows their games better than anyone. But I think he was considering the single-mindedness of Serena rather than their actual games. And on surfaces in general, not on the turf.

I’d like to say it’ll be a matchup of power vs. finesse, but that’s not entirely true. Neither sister has a huge edge on the other in either quality. It’ll come down tomorrow to which sister wants it more. Doesn’t it always between the great ones? In any sport you can think of?

There’s no question, though, that Venus had the easier semifinal. Venus played Elena Dementieva, the queen of the Russian female contingent, which is prodigious. But Elena has trouble with her serve at all times, and it was no different against Venus. Williams the elder smoked Elena in the first set, and, although Elena staged a nice comeback of her own in that second set, you never really considered the possibility of an upset.

So Venus will come into tomorrow’s match feeling fresher and less beat up, but will those advantages outweigh Serena’s feeling of confidence she gained playing that little Chinese whirlwind? Who knows, maybe still one more pressure-packed situation will break her.

That is, unless Serena wants it so much that she’ll go through anything to hold still another Wimbledon title. Surely at this point in their careers, both sisters have given some thought to their rightful place in tennis history. And their prowess in that crown jewel of them all.

Venus will battle for her 4^th Wimbledon title while Serena will battle for her 3^rd. Venus is two years older, of course, but at 28 years of age, Venus still could win a few more. I think Venus’s game is more suited to that hallowed place than is Serena’s, and I think Venus will want it more, or at least just as much.

Whatever the outcome, a very deserving tennis player will have won it. Hopefully the weather will allow for an uninterrupted match, although, come to think of it, Serena will take an edge after any stoppage in play. There is no finer actress than Serena. And nobody who has more of a knack for turning chance into opportunity.

But I thank the fates for Zheng, who introduced a measure of heart and pathos into this 2008 Wimbledon. Zheng shocked the world, not to mention the All-England Lawn Tennis Club, by, first, getting into the tournament as a wildcard, and before too long vanquishing Ana Ivanovic, the newly proclaimed tennis number one.

She then ripped into Agnes Szavay, the 15th-ranked woman, and beat her in straight sets, making it 8 straight sets of undefeated tennis for her. Then it was Nicole Vaidisova's turn. Nicole finally gave Zheng a bit of a problem, but still lost in three sets6-2, 5-7, 6-1. After the ignominy of losing that second set, Zheng really turned it on, dark hair flying hither and yon, sneakers scorching the Wimbledon earth, and the willowy Czech didn’t have a prayer.

Pardon me if I had been getting bored of the women’s game, even if Ivanovic in the number one spot was something of a lark. For too long, it had been the same chorus of Russians and Czechs, every once in a while throwing in a Frenchwoman or even an Italian here and there. And all with seemingly the same game, power and shot-making from the baseline, all big, all power, back and forth, all match long.

The men’s game is even worse, Federer and Nadal, Federer and Nadal ad infinitum. And again in the 2008 Men’s Wimbledon final. Ho-hum.

So, take some time out to watch this women’s final. It’ll truly be matching the finest women’s grass players in the entire world. That they’re sisters makes it that much more intriguing. That Serena has the edge in grand slam finals vs. her sister adds a smidge, that Venus has the edge at Wimbledon a little more.

But only one of them had to beat that Chinese fireball. My guess is that it will have taken its toll.