The end of an era, or just a brief interruption?

Yesterday, defending champion Venus Williams was sent home from Wimbledon after the third round when she lost to Jelena Jankovic, 6-7, 6-4, 4-6. The thriller, which featured moments of brilliance and moments of anxiety from both players, also featured 54 unforced errors from Williams, including three double-faults in a row toward the end of the match.

The loss marks the first time since 1999 that a Williams sister will not be in the finals at Wimbledon. In the last six years, one of the sisters has won every Wimbledon except the 2004 contest, in which Maria Sharapova defeated Serena. Serena is not playing in the 2006 Wimbledon tournament because of multiple injuries. She expects to be back later in the summer.

Janikovic, for her part, continued to come out of a tremendous slump with her upset of Williams. A top-20 player last year with a "phenom" stamp on her for some time, Jankovic had problems with her shoulders, which caused her to miss a lot of the tour. Then she had a two-month virus, and on top of that, she attended university and became involved with studying and taking exams. Her ranking went from 17 to 40. Until recently, she was losing in the first round at every tournament she entered, and it looked as though she might be on her way out.

It is easy, but not wise, to count the Williams sisters out. Venus was counted out by most people last year, and she won Wimbledon in a stunning final against Lindsay Davenport. (It was the back injury that developed in that match that has kept Davenport out of this season's competition so far.) While it's true that other players have come along and figured out how to beat the Williams sisters, that is a phenomenon to be expected, and doesn't take away from Venus's and Serena's talent, only their dominance.

Venus's forehand has always been prone to collapse on her, and on a bad day, an opponent can take advantage of that. It has to be an opponent with a lot of grit, like Jankovic, who is willing to do what Jankovic did--bounce back from the breaks, make shots from a position on her knees on the court, and continue blocking Venus's powerful serves. Or a player with enough game savvy, like a Davenport or a Henin-Hardenne, to systematically break down Venus's game. But beating Venus Williams, even on a bad day, is never a walk in the park, especially on grass.

Both sisters are often accused of being involved in too many off-court activities. Serena is into acting and the club scene and is a fashion designer (and, sadly, major wearer of fur), and her fur-bearing sister Venus owns an interior design firm. Their father and coach, Richard Williams, has said frequently that he believes it is in bad taste for an athlete to play after age 25 (Lindsay Davenport, Mary Pierce, Jennifer Capriati, Lisa Raymond, and especially Martina Navratilova--consider yourselves insulted), so there is a clear message from the father for the sisters to hang up their racquets.

But will they? Venus is 26; Serena is 24. Between them, they have 59 career titles, 12 Grand Slam singles titles, and 21 Grand Slam doubles titles. They are legends, no matter what they do from now on. Serena is currently in intensive training at one of the world's best academies. The sisters will not hang around for the prize money; they will play to win, or they won't compete.

The end of an era? It's hard to say, but if I had to guess, I'd say "not quite."