Tomorrow Dinara Safina, sister of You-Know-Who, plays Serena No-Surname-Required in the women's final. The No 1 ranking is at stake and everything is up to the Russian. The American will play well, she loves finals, the Russian will simply have to play better.

If statistics were the measure by which to judge finals, then this is already a no-contest. The American, 27, has won nine grand slam titles; the Russian, 22, has been to a single grand slam final, in Paris last year. They have met six times before and Williams leads 5-1, and in their last two encounters last year (US Open, Tour Championship), the Russian only won five games apiece from the American.

Throw in the fact that the Russian, whose face can be even more mournful than her brother's, has a tendency to tighten under pressure, while Williams is known for the reverse, then we might as well give out the trophy today and take the day off off tomorrow.

But sport doesn't work like that, always there is the possibility of the miraculous. Roger Federer has lost finals, so anything evidently is possible. Kim Clijsters was considered too nice to win, a polite way of saying she lacked the heart for a fight, but eventually even she won a grand slam title.

Safina has to believe her day will come, that one day when the shots, the nerves, the luck, everything holds together. Meanwhile, the only thing an athlete can do is to keep putting herself in finals, time and again, till something happens. You have to first give yourself the chance for victory and she has. Ivan lendl lost his first four grand slam finals, yet persevered and finished with eight major titles.

The more opportunities you give yourself, the more you learn. And Singapore golfer Lam Chih Bing would testify to that. He kept pushing at the door of success, falling back, then pushing again, and then finally last year at the Volvo Masters of Asia, he broke it down.

Safina lost the French Open final last year to Ana Ivanovic, but says: "When I came there (into the final), nobody believed I can be there. Also me, I was like 'take one match at a time, one match at a time'. Suddenly you're in the French Open final.

"All of a sudden you want to win (and there's) all the pressure. I hope all the experience I went through in that match will help me for my next match tomorrow." Last year Safina might have wondered if she belonged in a grand slam final, now there should be no such hesitation in her mind.

Safina has to be aggressive because Serena will be aggressive, especially when it matters. Broken down into its simplest terms, tennis is about big points, about winning the moments that matter. Federer did it beautifully against Andy Roddick and the American acknowledged it. Said Roddick: "You know, he just came up with shots when he needed to. That's what he does." Serena tends to do it instinctively, recognising when her opponent is in trouble, when momentum is shifting, and lifting. This will be the key to Safina, holding back Serena and imposing herself.