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Venus, Serena Williams Face Off at Wimbledon Women's Finals - 2003-07-05

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American sisters Venus and Serena Williams will face off Saturday, for the sixth time in a grand-slam tennis final, as the play once again for the Wimbledon championship.

The 21-year-old defending champion, Serena, is a heavy favorite over her 23-year-old sibling, Venus, who continues to suffer from an abdominal strain picked up in April.

World-number-one Serena practiced on Friday, while fourth-seed Venus rested.

Despite the injury, Venus says she will be on the court for her fourth straight Wimbledon final. Venus won the title in 2000 and 2001, and is 26-1 at Wimbledon in the past four years. She has a total of four grand-slam titles.

Serena has five major titles, and is 39-1 in her past six grand-slam events. She holds a 6-5 edge in head-to-head matches with her older sister, and won the last five times they met.

The men's final on Sunday will crown a first-time grand-slam winner as 26-year-old unseeded Australian Mark Philippoussis takes on 21-year-old Swiss star Roger Federer - the fourth seed.

Both won semifinal matches Friday by identical 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 straight-set scores.

Philippoussis downed unseeded Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, while Federer defeated fifth-seeded American Andy Roddick to become the first Swiss man ever to reach a grand-slam final.

Two years ago, Federer ended Pete Sampras's 31-match Wimbledon winning streak.

Philippoussis is trying to become the third unseeded men's champion at Wimbledon since seeding began in 1927. He is coming back from a severe left knee injury at last year's U.S. Open that left him in a wheelchair for three months.

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