Special Tennis Feature: The Rivalry between Serena and Venus Williams Part IX
This is the ninth and last installment of the Special Feature detailing the professional rivalry and working relationship between sisters Venus and Serena Williams.
The case of these sisters is almost entirely unprecedented in the tennis world. While siblings such as the Watson sisters, or Chris and Jeanne Evert have played against each other in the Open Era, the possibility of two Grand Slam champions and World Number
1 position holders emerging from the same family are incredibly minute. However, the Williams sisters have met each other at Grand Slam singles finals eight times, with the first match at the 2001 US Open and the latest one at the All England Club in 2009.
What changes the work dynamic between the two sisters is the fact that they are extremely attached to each other. They are known for supporting each other in matches quite often, even if one of them has been knocked out of the event.
This feature has focused on honouring one of the most unique and respected rivalries of all-time. The first part was an introduction of the respective and joint careers of the sisters, while the ones following spanned their career titles, matches and performances
from 1999 to 2009. Let’s take a look at their performances in 2010.
2010
This year, the Williams sisters won the Australian Open doubles title for the fourth time in their careers. The doubles team also won their second title of the year at the Madrid Open, and were consequently ranked as World Number 2 for the first time.
At the same time as this achievement, former World Number 1 Venus Williams made it up the Women’s Association Ranking charts due to her consistent performance all throughout this year. With her steady success, she managed to make it to World Number 2 right
behind her little sister Serena Williams. The Williams sisters occupied the top two slots on the WTA rankings for the first time since May 2003, with Serena in the top slot. They also seemed to be on a relentless winning streak as doubles players, winning
their second Grand Slam doubles title of the year at the 2010 French Open. This is their fourth consecutive doubles victory at Roland Garros. With this victory, the players rose to World Number 1 on the WTA doubles chart for the first time in their careers.
At the same time, they were also World Number 1 and 2 on the singles rankings.
However, this year was not a progressive one for the rivalry between the two sisters. Serena and Venus did not play against each other in singles at all this season, mostly because both the players were struggling with injuries almost on and off and did
not compete in many tournaments in 2010.
Serena participated in only six tournaments this year. It was still a successful year for Serena, who won both the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Open. She was unable to participate in the US Open to defend her title. However, she still ended the year
as World Number 4, followed closely by Venus as World Number 5. This is impressive, especially considering Venus herself only played in nine tournaments this year.
Recap
While the Williams sisters had a very successful doubles run in 2010 with victories at the Australian Open, the Mutua Madrid Open and the French Open as well as securing the World Number 1 spot, their singles run suffered considerably due to injuries. They
have been forced to drop out of multiple tournaments, and fans have missed the competition which they bring to the sport. They are expected to return in 2011, and will surely not disappoint their following.
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