As the women finished off their quarter-finals with the sun shining brightly and the temperature soaring, the two women who have been the dominant Wimbledon women's figures over the last eight years stepped forward. And, for the time being at least, they restored order to an event sorely in need of it.

Four-times champion Venus Williams cast aside an obstinate yet over-matched Tamarin Tanasugarn 6-4, 6-3 despite not being at her best. It's obvious she can raise her level a notch. It's like Roger Federer playing at 50% of his abilities and still managing to win the key points. 

Following Venus was her sister Serena, a two-time former champion, who was much more convincing in accounting for Agnieszka Radwanska, prevailing 6-4, 6-0.

So the Williams sisters - who have claimed six of the last eight singles titles on the Centre Court - moved one step closer to their first final round collision at a major since Wimbledon of 2003, when Serena came from behind to beat Venus in three sets.

That was at a time when the sisters were dominating the major events almost ceaselessly. Starting with the 2001 US Open and ending with that Wimbledon showdown, Serena and Venus confronted each other in six of the eight Grand Slam tournament finals in that span. Venus had won the first of those meetings and Serena took all the rest.

Now, of course, circumstances have changed. Since that golden stretch for the sisters in the 2001-2003 period, they have seldom been at the top of their games simultaneously. Serena came through to win the Australian Open in 2005 with gritty wins over Maria Sharapova (saving three match points in that one), and Lindsay Davenport.

Two years later, she triumphed Down Under again, this time coming into the event at No.81 in the world and ousting six seeded players, culminating with a 6-1 6-2 win over Sharapova in the final.

As for Venus, she has won two majors across the last three years as well. At the 2005 Wimbledon, she saved a match point in an epic final round clash with Davenport, winning that exhilarating battle 4-6, 7-6 (4), 9-7. Last year, she was magnificent here again when she garnered her fourth crown. Seeded 23, she included among her victims No.2 seed Sharapova, No.5 Kuznetsova and No.6 Ivanovic. She was stupendous on that run, and deserved that title without any question.

It is fortunate for all of us that Venus and Serena are in opposite halves of the draw this year. Both sisters have played seven tournaments and their commitment has made a difference. The fact that both are entrenched in the world top ten is evidence of a high standard of play for most of the year. They have been similarly motivated. They have both seemed to realise that they need to work hard now and make the most of themselves; Venus is, after all, 28, and Serena will be 27 in September.

When they are in the right frame of mind, and as highly charged as they need to be, and they are in the best of condition, no one else in the women's game can surpass them on grass. I fully expect Serena to defeat Jie Zheng, and I would be very surprised if Venus did not topple Dementieva.

The view here is that they are primed for this occasion, and ready to earn the right to meet each other in the championship match on Saturday. And I believe Venus is going to win this tennis tournament despite Serena being more convincing so far. I have felt that way all along, and nothing that has happened here has changed my mind. Her attitude at the moment is excellent.

After all the upsets so far, I can't think of a better way to end this fortnight than to have Serena and Venus stage a contest very much like the one they had in Bangalore.