After beating her older sister, Venus in straight sets and trouncing Russian Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3, at the U.S. Open on Friday, Serena Williams is now just two small sets away from capturing yet another U.S. Open title.

But her run at the title hasn’t been without background distractions from the peanut gallery. Wednesday the Women’s Tennis Association [WTA] announced new rules that would make both Serena and Venus face suspension if they follow through with their yearly boycott of the Indian Wells tournament.

The sister’s boycott stems from a would-be 2001 semi-final match at the tournament in which the siblings were to play each other. 5 minutes prior to the match, Venus mysteriously pulled out citing a a knee injury causing some to think she she pulled out to help her sister.  Throughout Serena’s final match with Belgian Kim Clijsters she was viciously booed.  However the true heart of a champion always overcomes and she won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 taking home the title.

“I don’t play that tournament,” Serena told reporters at the U.S. Open Wednesday following her victory over Venus in a quarterfinal match. “I guess there are a lot of tournaments you have to play next year or you get suspended.”

Of the new WTA rules Venus said: “The WTA is a good place. All of us live in a free country. We’re able to make a choice whether we want to play or not. Players don’t like suspensions. It’s tough for the top players. It’s a lot of give and not necessarily a ton coming back. If it’s best for the sport I guess we all have to contribute.”

Despite the threat of suspension under the new rules, the sisters have reportedly told WTA chief executive Larry Scott that they’ll continue to forgoe the tourney despite the threat of losing bonus money and  ranking points as long as they remain in the world top 10.

Shelia from BlackTennisPros.com “truly believes thes [the sisters] underwent racist behavior” at Indian Wells.  “I’m glad that my sistas are already multi-millionaires and can make that decision purely on principle. The WTA thinks that they can bully them into playing with the threat of suspension. PLEASE! They’re just giving Serena more time to go to some of the other stuff she goes to.”

Ultimately the Williams Sisters bring eyes to the TV sets and open Tennis to a whole other market, black viewers that won’t be interested (as much) if they’re not around.  The WTA will be aggresive but in the end they’ll realize they’ll have to tread lightly.