Serena does encore, this time with big sis

Serena joked about the tax bite on her prize money and how she should have talked about that with president Bill Clinton when he called to congratulate her. All the time, Venus looked almost glum.

“It doesn’t help at all,” she said of the doubles crown. “It never helps. I’ll never forget. I’m bitter.”

She sat quietly, chewing nuts as Serena talked about how wonderful it was to be a double champion in a Grand Slam event. Serena is the more exuberant sister, anyway, so it was easy for her to get excited. Venus looked on with a poker face, smiling only occasionally, laughing once or twice as she talked about a mix-up in hotel rooms during the Open.

When asked about winning the doubles title, she said: “I love to win. It’s great. I’m happy.”

And then she went back to her snacks.

The day before, Venus was reduced to observer status as her kid sister won the family’s first Grand Slam singles crown, beating Hingis for the championship.

When someone suggested that Venus had softened up the world’s No 1 player in the semifinals before Serena beat her for the championship, the older sister smiled thinly.

“I’m really glad she was able to win because that means that in a way, I also have a US Open title,” she said.

At least her name is on an Open trophy, after she and Serena captured the doubles. There was no celebration of the singles title Saturday night.

“I had to go to sleep because I had another match,” she said. At the start of the doubles final, some must have wondered if the sisters had been partying. The sisters dropped the first five games in the first set. It was as if they had never met, never played tennis together, never took over the US Open.

And then, quite suddenly, they remembered where they were and who they are. And after that it was just a matter of time.

When they were done, the sisters had won $1.5 million at the Open, $915,000 going to Serena, the remainder to Venus.