Venus and Serena Williams, the first sisters in the same Grand Slam semi-finals in modern tennis history, have only two obstacles between them and a showdown for their first major title.
But those hurdles are world number one Martina Hingis and reigning US Open and Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport, so it's a bit early to crown the black Americans as the new queens of the US Open.
The Williams sisters get the chance to make history today in the women's semi-finals of the $14.5 million event, with third seed Venus facing Swiss star Hingis and Serena meeting second seed Davenport.
"Lindsay hits the ball really hard. I hit the ball hard. It's going to be fun," seventh seed Serena Williams said. "It's pretty exciting for women's tennis. Again we're carrying men's tennis."
Serena (17) had never reached a Slam quarter-final before and Venus (19) has yet to win a Slam title but has reached the quarters in seven of the past eight Slams, reaching the 1997 final and 1998 semi-final at Flushing Meadows.
"Now it's Venus and Serena's time," said nine-time Slam champion Monica Seles, Serena's quarter-final victim.
"Definitely Serena and Venus are up there. They have such an advantage to have each other just in terms of practice, pushing each other. I don't think it can get (any) better than that."
The Hingis-Venus Williams meeting is a bit of a grudge match. Hingis called Venus a "big mouth" last week and Serena responded by saying the 18-year-old Australian Open champion's comments were due to "a lack of formal education".
Actually, both sisters praised Hingis for the mental aspects of her game.
"She probably can't hit the ball as hard as myself or Serena, so she has to use the other things because if she's not smarter, it's most likely she will get overpowered," Venus Williams said.
"Martina thinks very well on the court," Serena Williams said. "She is hitting balls harder. She is moving the ball around. She is doing a lot of good things. So Venus is going to have to attack, not make too many errors. I think she can do that. She has to stay mentally sound."
Hingis has a 7-3 career edge on Venus Williams, having won three of their past four meetings and in both prior Slam matches - the 1997 US Open final and 1998 French Open quarter-finals. They are 1-1 this year.
"I lost to her in Rome but I won in San Diego, which was on the same surface as it is here," Hingis said.
"It was a great match. I just played very well. I'll try to do the same thing as I did there, just basically go out and try not to miss much and make her play and see what happens."
Serena Williams has a 2-1 edge on fellow American Davenport and won both prior hardcourt meetings. But as she did at Wimbledon, Davenport has allowed others to trade taunts and quietly reached the semi-finals for the sixth time in her past eight Slams. "There has been a lot of talking and it's like me, Serena, Venus but nobody really takes care of what Lindsay is doing," Hingis said. "She is like cruising through her draw and nobody takes her serious."
That is not a mistake Hingis will make with Venus Williams. "I have to take her serious," Hingis said. "I feel like a more experienced player with more confidence right now. Maybe her serve gets a bit shaky at some critical moments, but when she gets into a rally she is quite tough.
"She gets everything back. She's tall and she moves quite well for being such a tall person. When it gets really important, when she is down, she is able to pull it off and just not miss anymore."
Meanwhile, unseeded Frenchman Cedric Pioline ousted fifth seed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 46, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (16/14), 7-6 (10/8) to reach the semi-finals. Pioline, a finalist in 1993 reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the fourth time in his career and faces either Todd Martin or unseeded Czech Slava Dosedel.
