Both Venus and Serena Williams came out in the semis and played incredibly focused and efficient tennis under great pressure. We've seen that from Venus a lot but not Serena. Serena set the tone by knocking Martina Hingis off the court. And Venus seemed much more relaxed in her semifinal without the pressure of "Oh my gosh, my little sister might beat me to the first Grand Slam title."

	Pam's Picks
	Shriver Former WTA Tour pro Pam Shriver is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis throughout the U.S. Open. Shriver, a tennis analyst for ESPN, was ranked as high as No. 3 in singles play. She won 21 singles and 112 doubles titles, including 22 Grand Slams.

Of course, all sorts of intrigue will surround the final: Will they be on all cylinders? Will they show up?

I have a hunch it will be the best quality tennis they've played against each other. They've both won the U.S. Open before. They're determined to get rid of the criticism and are determined to play a high-quality match. They only need one high-quality match to bury the controversy.

I talked to Richard Williams after the match and he mentioned Venus' sore knee and Serena's sore back. Kerrie Brooks, their full-time physical therapist, says they are in good health except for Venus has a sinus infection she's been fighting all week. But Brooks did not mention any other injuries. The women just have their regular precautionary taping -- Venus' wrists and Serena's ankles. In a final of a major you usually have a few things that are sore. But nothing is normal given what happened at Indian Wells and because of that, they're going to be under microscope and have to deal with it.

They've had problems psychologically dealing with each other. It's been 15 months since they've played. Serena goes on these streaks. This streak that she's on looks like the one two years ago when she won the championship. This run stems from her victories over Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati in Toronto, where she won the title. People have seen Venus' competitive nature as being more solid, and she's handled the pressure better the past 15 months.

But Serena is playing as tough as she's played since two years ago. Venus' second serve is a problem. The question is, will her forehand hold up? If it does, she doesn't have any holes in her game.

It will be interesting to see who will be more aggressive at net. Venus tends to do that more. She has learned from Wimbledon what the net can do for her.

Edge: Venus