FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY - Charles Dickens may have had the Williams sisters in mind when he wrote: “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times,” because over the past two nights, there couldn’t have been any bigger difference of fates for the two siblings.

As Serena’s career goes into a tailspin, Venus rises. And as the older Williams comes across gracious, the younger sister seems to need to learn a thing or two about manners and dealing with the hard working members of the press.

After Serena was picked apart by No. 1 ranked Justine Henin, 7-6 (3), 6-1, in the Quarterfinals, she approached her post-match press conference like there was a gun to her head and a group of mask men were behind her demanding money.

“I really don't feel like talking about it, to be honest,” said Serena after she didn’t give her opponent any credit for her win. “It's like I don't want to get fined. That's the only reason I came. I can't afford to pay the fines because I keep losing.

“Any more questions?”

Sure, here’s a few. How about why didn’t you give any props to Henin when she made you almost foolish out there?

Or how about why are you so upset when you look like you really aren’t in shape anyway? Ok, Serena will never admit any either, but she sure makes you wonder.

Maybe she should just ask herself, this question: How can I be more like my sister? Venus has been very gracious in victory and gave some thoughts on her younger sibling.

“Serena’s an unbelievable competitor very fierce and she hates losing,” Venus said. “She loves to win. It’s just a shock. Like I don’t believe I lost when I lose. I would understand if she was upset because I know her personality.”

Serena may have bombed both on and off the court, but Venus is playing at the top of her game and having fun with it. First she won in a very tight match. After dropping the first set in her Quarterfinal to Jelena Jankovic, 4-6, she roared back to a 6-1 second set and then an on-serve third set was won by her in a tiebreak, 7-4.

“I didn’t play find the court so well in the first set,” she said. “In the second set I really wanted to play my game. My game is an attacking game. I really wanted to change it around to that, at least play things at my pace.”

That Venus did and Serena needs to relearn that. Although she won the Australian Open this year, she seemed to lose a step in 2007 and even Venus admitted she was a step slow against Henin.

Now, Venus gets to avenge her sister’s loss as she will take on the top ranked Belgian. America’s last hope on the women’s side does have a 7-1 record lifetime against Henin, but hasn’t played her since 2003, before the No. 1 seed won any Grand Slams.

“She’s definitely improved,” Venus said. “She’s done what she can with her game. But I feel like I’ve seen her play quite a lot and I know what to expect.”

And the Open knows what to expect from Venus. The 27 year-old won Wimbledon and will play as hard as she can come out victorious in the Open for the third time.

“I’m going to go for it,” she said. “I feel like I’ve done it before, know what to do, so I am going to do it.”

And that’s a far, far better attitude than her sister had the night before.

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