Serena and Venus Williams play on less-prominent Court 2 at Wimbledon -- is it a sports and gender issue?

On Day 2 at Wimbledon, defending champion Serena Williams managed to defeat Aravane Rezai after much time off the tennis court dealing with blood clots in her lungs and injuries to her feet. On Wednesday, Venus Williams beat Kimiko Date-Krumm, returning to form after withdrawing from the Australian Open in January due to injury.

As blogged Monday, Serena (and now sister Venus) provided strong evidence that for top-tier athletes, mental toughness matters as much as, maybe even more than, a physical edge. Theirs are the sorts of stories that makes for great TV.
And yet, as Serena noted Thursday, the sisters have gotten placed on the smaller Court 2 once each thus far. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and other male tennis players always seem to be on Centre Court or Court 1, which are far more prominent venues. (Centre Court seats about 15,000; Court 1 seats more than 11,000; Court 2 seats a mere 4,000.) Are top male players being favored over the equivalent female stars?

Officials say no, but it may speak to the problem of women and sports coverage. A 2010 study coauthored by USC's Michael Messner found that after women's share of local TV sports news rose from 5% 1989 to its peak of 8.7% in 1999, coverage has plummeted to a paltry 1.6%.

Think even the Williams sisters' star power can't overcome such gender issues in sports, or that it's merely unfortunate coincidence? Post your thoughts below.