WASHINGTON. July 6: The father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, facing each other in today's historic Wimbledon semifinal, said lie had not slept all night because <>1 nerves and did not think he would watch them play, reports Reuters.

"It was too hard to sleep. I didn't go to sleep last night thinking about it. I think it will be too hard to sit there and watch it." Richard Williams said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show. "I wish the wife was here to see it with me." he added.

Williams said before they left for Wimbledon today, he had told Venus. 20. and Serena. 18. that whatever happened on the court the family was more Important.

"I said ... let's get back to being a family right away." said Williams, who is their coach and manager.

It will be the first time two sisters have met In the semifinals of a Grand Slam event and only the third time in Wimbledon history that sisters have met in the tournament. On each previous occasion the older sister has won.

Whichever daughter lost the match. Williams said he would tell her she had "given it her best shot and let’s move forward." to the next game.

Venus has won three of their four previous encounters including a second round win at the Australian Open in 1998.

Asked who would win, Williams predicted Serena would apply pressure from the beginning to deter Venus from her game plan. Venus, he said, had the tendency to let her opponent play the game, feel relaxed and then snatch it away.

Williams, who has said many times his tennis player daughters were destined for stardom, told NBC he felt very emotional about them both reaching the Wimbledon semifinal

The emotion that comes behind It Is unbelievable. 1 can't explain It." he said.

The sisters have played tennis since they were toddlers and Williams said his most Important advice was to make tnem believe in themselves.

It Ju®t goes to show what can be done when a family pulls together." said Williams, who has three other daughters aside from Venus and Serena