Lindsay Davenport has been in three Grand Slam finals and won them all. Venus Williams has been in one, the 1997 US Open which she lost to Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-0. In that light it is interesting to listen to Williams try to erase the past.

Declaring that all other matches between herself and Davenport are obsolete is a bit like the way despots air-brushed their enemies out of the history books and photographs. Venus has a passing interest in Russian history. Perhaps the thinking of some of its main figures has rubbed off on the 20-year-old.

"I think on this occasion, it is something totally different. Any advantage that I have had or she might have had is not really going to be a factor," said Williams yesterday after she had partnered her sister Serena into the doubles final having been given a wildcard entry.

"A lot of factors in the past are really going to be obsolete because the circumstances are so different. Any advantage that I might have had or she might have had isn't really going to be a factor."

In the first all-American final since Martina Navratilova won her record ninth singles title against Zina Garrison in 1990, the percentage career Wimbledon records of both players are, however, exactly the same.

Davenport has played 28 matches and won six, while Williams has played half of that number and won three. It will also be the third time a black American has reached the Wimbledon final. Williams follows in the footsteps of Althea Gibson, who won the 1957 and 1958 titles, and Garrison.

The promising factor for the final is that both players appear to be moving towards peak form, Williams winning through two tough matches, against her sister Serena in the semi-finals and Martina Hingis in the quarter-finals.

While Davenport has had a smoother ride, her domination of Jelena Dokic and her overpowering of Monica Seles has shown that not only is her forceful serving very difficult to break down but she also has the big game to resist powerful ground strokes coming at her.

Seles did as much and took a set. But she had punched herself out by the third and subsequently collapsed 6-0. Williams will hit her with everything and will make a number of errors doing so. Oddly, though, while Williams has the fastest serve recorded this year in the women's draw of 119 m.p.h. with Davenport in fourth with a 111-m.p.h. delivery, Davenport has hit more aces.

Her 45 aces from six matches to Williams 33 aces from the same total suggests that while power might favour Williams, accuracy is certainly in Davenport's favour.

One of the observations made during the week by Navratilova was that both of the Williams need to cut down on their number of unforced errors and they don't need to hit everything with such venom all the time.

"I've played Venus a lot of times," said Davenport. "I found the key was to find a way to get her serve back, get them deep so that she obviously doesn't have put-away shots."

"I'm going to have to be the one putting balls deep so she doesn't have a lot of time. You can't let her step inside the baseline and hit the shots because she hits them so hard and on grass that might be hard to handle."

Clearly Williams is combining confidence and a crusade mentality. She doesn't want to beat her sister without going on and doing the whole job. But Davenport can see it from both sides with no blanking out of the past. And she thinks more tactically.

Brains or brawn. Take your pick.