There is a story that Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena, once rang a tennis coach in New York and tried to persuade him to fly to Los Angeles to help further the career of his two supremely gifted children.
"Look, I can't afford to pay for your air fare, I can't pay for a hotel, but I can guarantee you one thing while you're in the city. You won't get shot." This tale may be apocryphal; the chances are it is not. As the New York Post journalist Jay Greenberg wrote: "Every time Richard Williams opens his mouth his daughters get good practice hitting into the wind."
The Australian Open, which started on Monday, is further confirmation of the changing of the guard in women's tennis. Steffi Graf, still recovering from knee surgery, will not be in Melbourne; nor will Monica Seles or Jana Novotna. This looks likely to be the year of the teenager.
Last year Martina Hingis, then only 16 years old, won her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne, to which she later added Wimbledon and the US Open. Just beneath her swarms an eager cluster of wannabes: Anna Kournikova of Russia and Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, and the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena.
Three times last year, including the final of the US Open at Flushing Meadows, Hingis put the inexperienced Venus firmly in her place, but then this week the American, three months older than the youngest No 1, dramatically turned the tables in Sydney.
When the two first met during the Lipton Championships in Miami last year (a match Hingis won 6-4, 6-2), Venus was asked if she saw it as the start of a long rivalry. "Until my sister gets here," she replied laconically.
Well, Serena is on the circuit now, announcing herself flamboyantly in Chicago in November with victories over Mary Pierce and Monica Seles. Both sisters won impressively last week to reach the Sydney International semi-finals. Venus crushed Magdelena Maleeva 6-2, 6-2; Serena, playing only her sixth tour event, recovered two match points to beat the world No 3 Lindsay Davenport 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a match lasting over two hours. She took on Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the semi-final. When the two met on Tuesday in the second round of the Australian Open at Melbourne, Venus, older than her 16-year-old sibling by just 15 months, used her greater tournament experience to emerge triumphant by 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.
Afterwards Venus predicted the Florida duo would be battling for the number one in the world spot in coming years. "This was definitely the first of many matches between us," she said. "After the match I told her I was sorry to take her out, but I had to. I told her `let's just make sure we meet in finals from now because then we won't have to care about the title'. We will be number one and number two seeds interchangeably.
"Serena hates to lose and her reputation is that she doesn't lose to anyone twice, so I'm definitely going to be practising secretly if I want to win the next one."
Serena, in turn, said: "I was more nervous before my first match. Playing Venus, it was a nolose situation for both of us.
"I tried to treat it as a normal match and in the end it was. I think we handled it well and in the future we will be able to handle it even easier."
The rise of Venus (aged 17) and Serena (aged 16) has hardly taken anyone by surprise. They have been tennis prodigies since they could barely walk. Who says so? Dad says so.
Williams senior puts out a newsletter referring to himself as King Richard. He writes that his daughters were tennis superstars almost from the minute they first stepped on court. Of Venus he says: "I don't know anyone who's done what Venus did. She should go right to the Hall of Fame now. She's going to be there anyway, so why waste time?" Such hyperbole is routine from Williams, who has largely been responsible for coaching Venus and Serena himself. The US in particular, and world tennis in general, had to temper its anticipation with caution, for neither girl was allowed on to the junior world circuit, with Richard Williams apparently determined not to let his daughters burn out like Jennifer Capriati. True, Venus and Serena turned professional when they were 14, but it was not until last year that Venus played outside the US.
Nobody doubted Venus's longlimbed athleticism, or the power of her shots, but many believed her lack of competitive experience might weigh heavily against her once she stepped on the professional circuit.
This was answered in part at Flushing Meadows when she reached the final at her first attempt. Now everybody is eager to see whether she can reproduce this form in Melbourne and challenge Hingis for the No 1 spot.
Serena's emergence has been a little quicker, but this is probably to allow them to travel the world together and share companionship in a sometimes hostile world.
Jealousies and personal friction abound in any sport, but there is no doubt the celebrity that attached itself to Venus before she had hit a ball in earnest caused problems. In the green eyes of many professionals it was unearned - and they resented it.
This thinly disguised resentment spilled over during the US Open when Irina Spirlea barged into Williams at a change-over during a tense semi-final and later admonished the young American. Venus made little of it but back home her father responded by calling Spirlea a tall white turkey.
The Romanian was duly fined, but Richard Williams's response was disproportionate and a worrying sign of what might lie ahead - worrying for tennis and his daughters.
Richard Williams tells extravagant stories of inner-city LA: how Venus and Serena, two of five daughters, were shot at by gang members while they practised; how he was beaten up several times before he single-handedly led the same young hoods back on to the straight and narrow.
It is difficult to separate fact from fiction, hype from reality. For example, Williams claims he did not want Venus to turn professional at 14. "You can't really say no to kids these days," he explained, and then a minute or so later emphasised that "she was taught to obey her parents". Such contradictions are commonplace.
Both sisters have braided hair with beads that swing spectacularly on every shot, to the obvious delight of newspaper and magazine picture editors throughout the world. The hair was apparently their father's idea.
He never misses a trick to market his daughters. "The only thing that can stop Venus from becoming the No 1 by 18 is by accident. Do you know she gets more media attention than anyone in sports except Michael Jordan? And Serena will be even better." Certainly the women's game would be greatly enriched if the Williams sisters were to succeed. Tennis is notably short of black athletes.
In an ideal world Venus and Serena would now be allowed to develop free from hype and hindrance. If they are good enough they will get to the top without their father screeching to the world that his "Cinderellas of the ghetto" are already champions.