There are glamorous magazine covers – Elle and, soon, Essence – on which celebrity is reduced to its purest, unadulterated form. Fashion seems to be the primary obsession, although there have been bit parts in television and the movies. There is an on-line English composition class, complete with thesis statement and topic sentences. There are boys looming, cars zooming and, now, a home (together) in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

	Before Indian Wells, Serena Williams had not won a title since Feb. 20, 2000.

Oh, and there is also tennis, the thing that sustains all these other trappings of success.

For Venus and Serena Williams, growing up has always been a very public enterprise. As they come of age -- neither is yet old enough to legally sip Chardonnay -- their focus is an open question. While their chief rivals, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport, already had won at least two tournaments each heading into last week's important tournament at Indian Wells, the Williams sisters had yet to earn a title in 2001 after winning nine last season.

That changed for Serena on Saturday, when she defeated Kim Clijsters 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the Masters Series final. But the first victory of the season for a Williams sister was overshadowed by innuendo. Unlike any of her previous titles, Serena heard little applause and instead endured boos by a majority of the 15,940 fans throughout the match -- the residual of Venus' controversial withdrawal from the tournament two days before.

Venus plans to play

Venus Williams said Thursday she hopes to be strong enough to play at the Ericsson Open. "I'm looking forward to being able to compete," Venus Williams said. "We're definitely looking forward to competing in the tournament and doing the best that we can," Serena Williams said. "Venus and I tend to do well here. We just have a good time and are looking forward to it." Tendinitis in Venus Williams' right knee forced her to default before a semifinal against her sister last week at Indian Wells. She said she hasn't lost any concentration over the controversy that resulted after the last-minute withdrawal. "It hasn't been hard because we don't read what you all write," Venus Williams said during a news conference announcing the sisters' new partnership with Wrigley to promote Doublemint gum. "I just want to say to all of my fans that were watching not to believe everything that you read," Venus Williams said. "Serena and I are really great competitors, fierce competitors. We really have no fear of playing each other. We've done it on five occasions already including two Grand Slams. We're really just looking forward to playing this week. Hopefully, we'll meet at the end. We just ask everyone to come out and watch us play and bring their Doublemint along." -- Cynthia Faulkner

Minutes before Venus and Serena were to meet in last Thursday's semifinal, it was announced that Venus had defaulted because of tendinitis in her right knee. Tournament officials and fans were furious; the Williams sisters have a history of withdrawing amid questionable circumstances.

"We'd rather play each other in the final of a Grand Slam or the semifinals of a Grand Slam, or the semifinals of a bigger tournament, or the finals," Serena said.

They are notoriously slow starters. But there are signs that their tennis lives could stand, well, a little more tennis and a lot less life. After her first match at Indian Wells, Venus was asked what had happened to the game that was the most dominant in tennis between last June and October, when she won 35 consecutive matches including a gold medal at the Olympics.

"I didn't practice much," she said. "I was extraordinarily lazy, and I had a lot to do. All that put together, my game went down a little bit. I know how to pull out of a slump, how to pull out of a bad match. Really, I just think it's refocusing yourself, always setting new goals so that way you move forward."

Apparently, those new goals do not include furthering the cause of the Women's Tennis Association. On March 11, the WTA threw itself an awards party in Palm Springs, and Venus Williams was honored as the 2000 Player of the Year. She chose to stay in her hotel room -- only an elevator ride and a short walk from the festive ballroom -- instead of accepting the award. Sister Serena was the only top-10 player in attendance that night.

Venus blamed the three-hour time change and a Monday afternoon match. "I was really sad that I couldn't go," she said. "It's been tough on me because I'm still on East Coast time. By the time 8:20 comes around, to me it feels close to 12."

Venus, who already had been on the West Coast for nearly a week, reportedly was peeved that Serena got the more player-friendly Monday night match.

In raising his daughters, Richard Williams insisted that tennis not be the only thing in their lives. When most aspiring professionals were playing the competitive junior circuit, Venus and Serena were in school living a fairly normal life. They have more depth than most tennis players their age and are challenging and engaging in interviews.

But is there a downside to Richard Williams' out-of-the-box thinking? Are Venus, who turns 21 in June, and Serena, 19, giving tennis enough attention to fully realize their enormous potential? Are they, in the wake of Indian Wells, taking it seriously enough?

"People plugged into the game wonder that, too," said Peter Bodo, the widely respected Tennis Magazine reporter of 25 years. "I don't mean this in a Machiavellian sense, but they're big enough, have enough star power and fan base that they could play four tournaments a year. They're clearly a little bit of a handful in terms of their potential to be as large or bigger than the game.

"Some of it's growing pains. They're still young. The Williams sisters feel as if they can step in on demand and play well, and they've proven it. Many kids get yoked to the harness as youngsters. That's the traditional mold from 16 or so, training hard and playing matches all the time. They're so accustomed to grinding it out, they don't question it."

Pam Shriver, who was ranked from 1980-88 in the top 10 by the Women's Tennis Association, said it's too early to pass judgment.

"The thing is, they have high-risk games that are still developing," Shriver, now an ESPN commentator, said from Indian Wells. "They still have a lot of catching up to do. They didn't compete hardly at all as juniors. Between injuries and wanting to keep their schedules light, they haven't yet gotten close to a full season.

"You can't say it's all the other stuff, not yet."

Local flavor
Andre Agassi is a talented athlete who questioned the grind and, for several seasons, eschewed it entirely. In 1997 and 1998, the farthest he went in a Grand Slam was the fourth round. He has admitted if he had worked harder and eaten less fast food he might have more than his seven Grand Slam singles titles today.

	VENUS & SERENA IN FINALS
	Venus Williams has had more success but both sisters have had dry spells and hot streaks. Serena has nine titles (1 Grand Slam) and Venus has 15 (2 Grand Slams). Here are the finals they have been in since Serena won the U.S. Open in 1999:
	Date	Event	Winner
	1999
	9/12	US Open	Serena d. Hingis
	Oct. 3	Munich	Serena d. Venus
	10/11	Zurich	Venus d. Hingis
	2000
	2/13	Paris	Tauziat d. Serena
	2/20	Hannover	Serena d. Chaldkova
	7/9	Wimbledon	Venus d. Davenport
	7/30	Stanford	Venus d. Davenport
	8/6	San Diego	Venus d. Seles
	8/13	LA	Serena d. Davenport
	8/20	Montreal	Hingis d. Serena (retired)
	8/27	New Haven	Venus d. Seles
	9/10	US Open	Venus d. Davenport
	9/28	Olympics	Venus d. Dementieva
	10/8	Toyko	Serena d. Halard-Decugis
	10/22	Linz	Davenport d. Venus
	2000
	3/17	Indian Wells	Serena d. Clijsters

"For a long time, people used to say Agassi played every other year," said Cliff Buchholz, the tournament director of the Ericsson Open in Miami that starts Wednesday. "It's hard for players, young players, to be totally focused all the time. It's hard for anybody. We'd like to think the Williams sisters are gearing up for Ericsson. We hear they're working hard."

The sisters have been placed in different halves of the draw for the Ericsson and will not be able to meet unless both are in the final

The Ericsson, previously known as Lipton, is a favorite of the Williams sisters. It's their local tournament; they'll be making the drive from the house they share nearby. Many of their family and friends will be in attendance.

Maybe that's why Venus and Serena thrive there. Venus won the tournament in 1998 and 1999. She beat Serena in the 1999 final, marking the first time in WTA history that sisters had advanced to a final. The Ericsson is considered by some to be the fifth major and the Williams sisters' performance will be a valid barometer for the rest of the season.

Venus missed the first four months of last season, including the Ericsson with tendonitis in her wrists and Serena also struggled.

Serena's season was, relatively speaking, disappointing. She won three titles -- Los Angeles, Tokyo and Hannover, Germany -- but the best she did in a Grand Slam was a semifinal loss to Venus at Wimbledon. Serena was ranked No. 6 at the end of the season but injuries and inactivity this season had her on the verge of falling out of the top 10 for the first time in two years.

After last year's injuries, the sisters hired a physical therapist to travel with them on tour. So far, it hasn't paid dividends. Indian Wells was only the fourth tournament of the season for Venus, and Serena pulled out of Paris and Scottsdale, Ariz., citing the flu and several other health reasons.

In the Indian Wells quarterfinals, Serena knocked Davenport off the court 6-1, 6-2 -- it was the worst loss for Davenport in six years. Venus advanced to a semifinals match with Serena by crushing Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-3. Afterward, the Russian raised an old issue, claiming that Richard Williams would orchestrate the semifinal result between his daughters.

When Venus defaulted, even more questions were raised. The sisters have only played each other five times in four years, a remarkably low number for top-rated players. Last week the National Enquirer, a tabloid that has seen its reporting credibility improve dramatically, wondered aloud if last year's Wimbledon semifinal was fixed by Richard to help Venus win her first Grand Slam.

	Venus Williams had an amazing 35-match win streak last year.

Hitting the switch
The Williams sisters are so gifted, in terms of athleticism and on-court attitude, they seem to be able to lose focus and then -- snap! -- bear down and win. In her second-round match at Indian Wells against Cara Black, Venus won the first set 6-4, lost the second 3-6 and ran the table 6-0 in the third. On, off and on again.

"Venus especially," Bodo said. "She has another gear. If she gets in a tight match, she moves to the next gear. She just brings the ball closer to center and hits it as hard as she can."

Their father has taught them to be determined and he calls them almost daily to make sure they are practicing. Because of his influence, they will never be conventional. Or, perhaps, No. 1.

Hingis played 171 matches in 1999 and 2000 and maintained the No. 1 ranking. Davenport, the No. 2 player over that period, played 143 matches. Venus with 119 and Serena 93 were well behind. The only reason Venus finished No. 3 in the rankings behind Hingis and Davenport was her early inactivity.

"I've talked to Richard, and heard him explain his philosophy to other people," Buchholz said. "He has tried to emphasize that there's more to life than just tennis. That it's a steppingstone. They embrace this; they approach life that way. I think that has probably helped, and will give them more longevity and keep them more exciting for all of us longer."

Looking at the glass half empty, one wonders if the Williams sisters are being all they can be -- on the tennis court, anyway. To call the 2001 season a crossroads is overstating the point, but?

"It's not a pivotal year unless they don't put up the results," Bodo said. "If they don't, there's reason to wonder if they can still do it.

"They're not fully vested as winners as Martina Hingis is. In a worst-case scenario, they end up with three and two Grand Slam titles, respectively. You wonder if they brought a Hingis-quality work ethic, the grinding, maybe they could have Sampras-like numbers. You just don't know."

Shriver wonders if the Williams sisters, based on their upbringing, will ever play a full-time schedule.

"I think even if they were sitting around on the couch, they would still be playing a part-time schedule," Shriver said. "Once you get conditioned to not playing full time, it's easy to head that way. I think when they're in their early 20s -- maybe two or three more years for Venus -- we'll know more."

Venus' stated goal is to play more consistently.

"That was something I was really working on last year, throughout the whole time I had those [35] wins, just play consistently," she said. "If I were ever to take the top position, something like that were to happen, naturally, I'd want to be consistent in every match. That's something I want to work on also, just improving my serve.

"Other than that, I'm pretty good."

It's a fair statement for Serena, too.

"I think when you go into a Grand Slam or any tournament," Serena said, "you have to tell yourself you're going to win before you get there and really believe it."

So, what has she made up her mind to win this year?

"That's to myself right now," she said. "You'll see, though."