Indian Wells, California - Match-fixing charges surfaced on Friday around sisters Venus and Serena Williams after an American tabloid newspaper and a vanquished player claimed their father decided match outcomes.
The US's National Enquirer claimed in its latest edition that last year's Wimbledon semifinal, won by Venus after 19-year-old Serena seemed to mysteriously fall apart on court late in the match, was decided in advance by their Svengali-like father Richard Williams.
The Enquirer has a dubious reputation and a history of paying off sources, but has been proven correct in recent political scandals. Its report on the Williams sisters cited two unidentified sources within the Williams family.
"The sisters' father Richard admitted ordering favoured Serena to lose the semifinal match," the Enquirer's three-page story said.
The controversy arose hours after Venus, at 20 the elder of the millionaire siblings, pulled up lame moments before the start of Thursday's semifinal at the $4,5-million (about R36-million) WTA Tennis Masters Series event.
Serena advanced in a walkover after Venus cited tendinitis in her right knee, prompting whistles from more than 11 000 spectators awaiting the sibling showdown of two of the world's top players.
Venus, who is 4-1 against her sister in WTA play, withdrew only seconds before the match and prompted refund requests in vain from spectators.
On Wednesday, Russia's Elena Dementieva, a loser in the previous round to Venus, said that the match between the sisters "would be decided by Richard."
"I don't know what Richard thinks about it," she said. "I think he will decide who's going to win tomorrow. But it looks like Serena because I saw a little bit of this match, she play extremely well. I think she will be on the final."
A newspaper here quoted a tournament security guard as saying he talked to Richard Williams shortly before the match's scheduled start. The sisters said that he was nowhere near the grounds and Serena said she had not spoken to him.
"My dad's not even here," Serena said after the walkover. "He doesn't really come to our matches when we play each other. He wasn't at our practice. He walked us to the court, but then he left. That's usually how it is when we play each other."
Last year, Richard Williams pushed for appearance guarantees for his daughters from the WTA and said they would play a limited schedule of WTA events without more money, echoing an argument made by golf star Tiger Woods.
The Williams sisters pulled out of the WTA Championships and Fed Cup finals with injury claims.
Though they play a reduced schedule and are frequent no-shows with injury excuses, the ghetto-born pair are among the world's top-paid sportswomen. Venus signed a $40-million shoemaker endorsement deal last year. - Sapa-AFP