The Williams Sisters: The Great Equalizer of the Sexes

I am not going to lie to you: I do not watch women play sports as often as I watch men play.

I will watch women's track at the world and national level, and I will watch women's swimming at the world and national level.

And I will watch tennis whenever the Williams sisters play.

To give you an idea of how much I like men's tennis, I only bother to watch it when Nadal, Federer, or Roddick are on the court.

Maybe it's that equal appeal that causes tennis to distribute equal prize money to both its men and women, despite the fact women usually play less rounds and thus spend less time on television than men.

Venus and Serena dominate their sport like very few have. When they are in opposite sides of the bracket, it is expected that they will face in the finals.

Of the last nine Wimbledon Finals, Serena and Venus have won seven between them.

Their dominance is something that is well known and much discussed, so it raises new questions.

The only interesting matches these two have are when they play each other.

Tennis just recently agreed to play men and women equally, so is now the time to allow women into the men's bracket?

Michelle Wie has played on the PGA tour. After having the displeasure of seeing her "highlights" on the tour I think its time for the Williams sister to give us something worth watching.

Go against the men. After years at the top it is the only thing left to do.

The Williams have proven they are the best at women's tennis. Now it is time for them to break the sex barrier in tennis and go play against the men.

However, there are of course a few things that would have to be considered.

Would the Williams have the endurance to survive a tournament that consisted of best of five matches rather than best of three?

My answer is yes. They are world class athletes. They might need more rigorous training, but they could do it.

Just yesterday Serena told reporters at Wimbledon, "Yeah, I'm ready for five-set matches."

This was after she beat Victoria Azarenka in two sets which lasted one hour and 13 minutes.

I believe Serena when she says she is ready, and I assume if she is ready than so is Venus.

Next, one would wonder if Serena and Venus could handle the higher speeds of the men's matches.

Once again I think this is an obstacle they could overcome. They both routinely reach 120 mph on serves and women of less talent are able to return their serves.

With their athleticism I think they could learn to handle serves at speeds they have never seen before. These girls already cover the court against each other with ease at the same speeds seen out of mediocre men's players.

So will it happen?

Maybe, but not a major. I doubt either Williams could make it past the Round of 16 in a major just because of the extra stress on their body and the talent they would be facing.

Even if they did have a legitimate shot at winning a men's title, it still may not be worth it for them to try.

In the women's brackets one of these two is almost guaranteed a million dollar check at the end of every final. If they were to try to win in the men's bracket they would be forfeiting some of that money, but then again they make most of their money off the court.

If they were ever to try it maybe they would choose the Key Biscayne tournament since it is a local tournament, for them, that they routinely play in.

As for the barrier, I think the tennis world would be forced to accept Serena and Venus if they ever made a push to play with the men. They are women's tennis biggest names and to deny them would be horrible PR for the sport.

I would love to see them do it and if Serena and Venus want to do it, they can.

And there is never a better time than the present.