PARIS -- When a Grand Slam loses both its Williamses in a single day before the first Saturday of the French Open even dawns, well, you know you've just lived through one freaky Friday.
You know because you've seen Serena Williams at high noon in the high-tension portion of the second set, ready to smash an overhead so hard the ball might disintegrate, only to smash it into the net.
You've seen mother and coach Oracene Price in the hallway outside the interview room and heard her say of Serena's 6-4, 6-4 loss to Katarina Srebotnik, "I'm trying to figure it out. I'm really trying to figure this one out."
You know because after about nine more hours, in swelling darkness that felt like farce and made you wonder if some tournament honcho had dozed off, you've seen Venus Williams slugging it out with Italy's 30th-ranked Flavia Pennetta, Pennetta repeatedly hitting lines, even though it's possible the lines- people can't really see.
And you've seen Williams, after losing to Pennetta 7-5, 6-3, wave to a sparse crowd at 9:48 p.m. and saying she felt sad about Serena, "Yeah, just wasn't a good day for our family today, but we always learn and get more determined after our loss."
And then, you know because you've seen a French Open robbed of some flair, bound for a first-time Roland Garros winner and left to the Russians and Serbians still here: Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In fact, it's only the second Williams-Williams one-day double-loss in history, and the first since the French Open on June 1, 2004. On that quarterfinal day, when Venus Williams lost to Anastasia Myskina and Serena Williams to Jennifer Capriati, it curtailed a phase of Williams-Williams dominance that had grabbed the sport by the scruff.
This time, it might not have much significance other than to say it all looked bizarre.
The sisters will play Wimbledon and play on, and probably never need to figure out how Serena lost to Srebotnik.
Serena Williams had reached the fourth round in 24 of 26 Slams this decade; Srebotnik had reached it once in 34. Williams had touted her clay-court preparation as her best since her title year of 2002. Three-time-champion Justine Henin had retired. Opportunity radiated.
Yet Williams looked edgy on a pivotal backhand volley, on that overhead plus another, on some hopeless howlers of drop shots.
