In a disrespectful, abhorrent and ignorant statement made on Friday’s edition of PTI, Jason Whitlock, subbing in for Michael Wilbon, made the offhand remark that Monday’s fourth-round Wimbledon match between Venus and Serena Williams would be determined by their father Richard, leading to Serena winning in “a cakewalk.” If Whitlock was joking, he gave absolutely no indication of it (you can listen to the full podcast here), speaking with complete seriousness and continuing his misguided thoughts without pause.

That’s so discourteous to both sisters that it’s galling — an ignorant statement by someone who probably watches the sport peripherally, at best.

Sadly, the accusations are nothing new. From the first time Venus and Serena played as professionals at the 1998 Australian Open, they were dogged by rumors that their Svengali father and coach predetermined the outcome of each of their matches. This chatter was specious, at best, and slanderous, at worst, but it continued for years, hitting a crescendo when fellow player Elena Dementieva suggested that such a rigging would happen in the semifinals of Indian Wells in 2001. (That led to the ugly incident that kept the sisters away from the tournament until Serena returned this year.)

Venus and Richard walk to their seats to see Serena play in the controversial 2001 Indian Wells final. (AP)

The rumors didn’t die for two reasons. The first was that the sisters’ early matches were listless, emotionless affairs — something we’ll get to later in this post. The bigger reason was that Richard was a larger-than-life tennis presence who controlled everything about his daughter’s lives, controversially holding them out of junior tennis, obnoxiously holding up signs during matches and garnering criticism from some of the tour’s top players.

Whether the rumors were ever true or not, only the Williams know. Most never believed them — Venus and Serena were talented enough and played enough matches against others that they could stand on their own. Some did — saying Richard’s undue influence would be used to garner the sisters better endorsement deals and improve their standing in the sport. I side with the former opinion. I’m skeptical it ever happened.

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The reason the matches stunk because the sisters hate playing them. Imagine facing off in a tournament final against a sibling you love and have spent so much time with on the tennis court and traveling the world together? It has to be impossible. It’s unprecedented in sports history. (When Eli and Peyton Manning play, for instance, they’re not on the field together.)

But here’s the thing: No matter what happened back in the late nineties and early aughts, when the Williams sisters were still girls (both were teenagers at that 1998 Aussie Open), their tennis careers have long outgrown Richard’s influence and they are now 33- and 34-year-old women respectively — strong and independent 33- and 34-year-old women, it should be added. He hasn’t coached them in years, has been an infrequent attendee at matches over the past decade and was across the Atlantic when Serena and Venus played in the 2008 Wimbledon final and wasn’t in attendance when they played in the 2009 final too.

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“His job has been done,” Venus said, six years ago today. That had been true for years before too.

Monday’s match will likely still be the unfortunate, spiritless affair their previous 25 meetings have been (Serena leads 14-11, though Venus won their last meeting at the 2014 Rogers Cup in perhaps the best match of their rivalry). It has to be unimaginably hard for Serena, knowing that it’s perhaps her sister’s last shot at a major title while she herself is going for the Grand Slam. Reverse that for Venus. But one thing is for certain: The only influence Richard Williams will have on the match is what he taught his daughters years and years ago, when they were defying the odds to become two of the greatest champions their sport has ever seen.

His job is done.

(Getty Images)