Reporting from Wimbledon, England — By the time Venus and Serena Williams prepared for another Wimbledon final, they'd grown weary of people asking them how they prepared for another Wimbledon final.
"Please," Venus said. "Humor us with something a little more creative."
Through two weeks of the Williamses as their meeting seemed to loom imminently over the proceedings -- until Elena Dementieva gamely threw in doubt and a match point that Serena weathered in the semifinal -- inquirers remained curious about their singular situation as two finalists who also happen to adore each another and cohabit here.
As Venus seeks her third straight Wimbledon title and sixth overall, while Serena seeks her third overall and first in six years, and as Venus seeks to defeat Serena in a final for the second straight year, everybody still wants to know whether on Friday night they speak to each other, whether they eat together, whether they watch a DVD or bad reality TV.
"We're used to being in this position now, so we pretty much have it down," Serena said on Friday afternoon, later adding, "We just live our lives. It's not the end of the world. You know, it's like Sunday, Mondays are still going to be here."
After winning their singles semifinals on Thursday, they won their doubles semifinal in tandem on Friday, blasting the No. 1-seeded pair of Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the United States by 6-1, 6-2, to ensure they'll seek their second straight Wimbledon doubles title and fourth overall on Saturday, hours after they finish singles.
It's before the singles that intrigues outsiders, though Venus did allow this week that, "We still encourage each other" through the week but, "I mean, on finals day, we don't say, 'You can do it!' to each other."
Otherwise, their routines apparently don't change.
"No, it's the same," Venus said.
"No, it's the same," Serena said.
Finally, in a news conference previewing their final, a reporter asked if they'd like to change things up and ask a question directly to each other.
"Are you ready to get out of here?" Serena said to Venus, drawing laughs through the room.
"Ditto," Venus said.
chuck.culpepper@latimes.com
