During the 1998 Australian Open, older sister Venus Williams met her sister Serena in the second round of the tournament. After a tight first set, the older sister pulled away to close out Serena in straight sets. But among the few who suspected the Williams would be great, very few expected the younger sister to be better.
Serena would eventually surpass her sister Venus but it was a seesaw of a road to get there. She defeated Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis to win her first major at the 1999 US Open. The next two years, Venus accumulated four major titles which included an all-Williams showdown at the 2001 US Open. At that time, Venus looked like she was on the road to having the better career.
The Sisterly Rivalry Continues
But then, starting at Roland Garros next year, Serena took the entire tennis world by storm. She completed what was known as the Serena Slam as she consecutively won all four majors, capping off at the 2003 Australian Open. In each of those four major finals, she defeated her sister Venus, the only three setter being at the Australian Open. At the beginning of 2002, Venus lead their head-to-head series 5-1, at the end of 2003, it stood at 7-5 Serena.
Since the start of the Serena Slam, the head-to-head rivalry has heavily favored the younger Williams sister. After 2003, injuries and intermittent apathy played into the careers of the Williams which affected their dominance in the game. Nevertheless, they have continued to challenge each other and push each other to better heights. Their most notable Grand Slam matches since then were their Wimbledon and US Open meetings in 2008. The Wimbledon final was a very high quality affair with Venus coming out on top to win 7-5 6-4. Their US Open quarterfinal was an opportunity missed for Venus as she squandered 10 set points across two sets to lose 7-6 7-6. Serena would go on to capture her third US Open title following that match.
The most recent victory for the elder Williams sister came in Montreal last year where she recovered from losing a tight first set, and turned it into a 6-7 6-2 6-3 victory. This match meant so much to Venus as she confirmed her 2014 resurgence by winning that match, even with a straight set loss to Agnieszka Radwanska in the final.
Now on Tuesday, the greatest sister rivalry in all of sport will find itself back on stage for the 27th time; this time it will be of Grand Slam proportions. Serena has the 15-11 head-to-head edge which includes a 7-5 edge in Grand Slam play.
The most important keys to the match involve the serve and forehand of Venus Williams. While arguably possessing the most powerful first serve in the women’s game, her second serve is known to be a weakness as it lacks pace and is prone to breaking down in the crucial moments. This was best evident in her first round match against Monica Puig in which Venus got the yips on serve in the second set and even double faulted on set point to give the second set away. The forehand of Venus is another key part to the game because while one of her most powerful strokes, it is often the groundstroke that will break down under pressure. We have seen in the past two years she has made an effort to tweak her forehand motion to make it better under pressure and the results have shown. Will it be enough to make it past her sister as she tries to go for history?
The biggest factor for Serena here is undoubtably her nerves. We have seen flashes in this tournament where we see that if all factors of her game are on, she’s virtually unbeatable. But we’ve also seen the nerves creep into her game as she knows she’s getting close to completing the Calendar Grand Slam and catching Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam titles. And if anybody can take it to Serena Williams, it’s her older sister Venus. Many times this year, Serena has come out slow and lethargic; she cannot afford to do that against Venus, especially if the latter comes out swinging. Although they are sisters, Venus will not just bow out and let Serena complete history. She will be there to win.
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