U.S. OPEN 2010: The William Sisters - Friends or Foes?
Who are considered to be the most acclaimed duos in tennis, Serena and Venus Williams, aged 29 and 30 respectively, hail from the United States of America. The siblings share a coach, namely their father Richard Williams. Apart from their coach, the William sisters also share 12 grand slam Women's doubles titles, two Olympic gold medals and 5 ATP doubles titles.
Serena and Venus came together for the first time in the 2001 Australian Open. The sisters faced Lindsay Davenport and Corina Morariu in the final match making it an all-American match. After winning the first set 6-2, the disappointment continued for the sisters. They lost the second set 2-6 and pressure mounted on the sisters to perform at the highest level. However, they made a remarkable comeback in the final set, winning it 6-4. In 2003, not only did the sisters team up once again, but were also confronted by each other in the 2003 Australian Open Women’s Singles event. Ultimately, Serena outshone Venus by defeating her 7-6, 3-6 and 6-4. Even though Venus had to face defeat at the hands of her sister in the singles final, she won the 2003 Australian Open women’s doubles title to comfort herself. Moreover, the dynamic duo won their third and fourth Australian Open women’s doubles title in 2009 and 2010.
No matter how successful a duo the two sisters’ form there is marked professional animosity between them. Serena and Venus have come against each other in eight Grand Slam singles finals till date. The William sisters opposed each other on clay in the 2002 French Open Women’s singles final. Serena took the title by a straight set win. Moreover, the siblings made it to the 2002 Wimbledon Women’s singles final in the same year where yet again, Serena came out as the victorious lady in the end. Venus was beaten 6-7, 3-6 in straight sets once again. 2002 turned out to be a horrible year for Venus largely because it was Serena who ruled the roost. She defeated Venus in the 2002 U.S. Open Women’s singles final with a score of 6-4 and 6-3. Moreover, playing singles on the Wimbledon grass courts clearly was not working out for Venus. She was thrashed 6-4, 4-6, and 2-6 by Serena in spite of winning the first set in the 2003 Wimbledon Women’s singles final for the second year in a row.
In the year 1999, the Williams sisters partnered up for the Roland Garros once again. Upon making it to the French Open Women’s doubles final, they were encountered by the legendary Swiss player Martina Hingis and Russia’s Anna Kournikova in the doubles event. Serena and Venus took the first set 6-3 with a comfortable win. However, Hingis and Kournikova reciprocated in the second set by winning it 7-6. The last set was taken to 8-6 by the Williams sisters, bagging another title for themselves. A good 11 years later, Serena and Venus played at the Roland Garros Women’s doubles final once again winning it 6-2 and 6-3 against Czech Květa Peschke and Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik. Other than playing doubles, the two were concentrating on their singles career as well. Serena bashed Venus 7-6, 6-2 in the 2009 Wimbledon Women’s singles final to gain her 4th Wimbledon singles title. Apart from the 1999 U.S. Open Women’s doubles title, the William sisters also won the 2009 U.S. Open Women’s doubles final 6-2 and 6-2 defeating Liezel Huber from the States and Cara Black from Zimbabwe.
Currently, Serena Williams has the upper hand on sibling, rival and friend Venus Williams. Serena leads 13 games to 10 over sister Venus. The rivalry is largely because the William sisters are known to produce quality tennis as both of them have held the world no.1 title on different stages in their career on more than one occasion. Collectively, Serena has 27 singles and doubles grand slam titles to her name. On the other hand, Venus has 21 singles and doubles grand slam titles to her name. In spite of the complex relationship the two share on court, their fans will anticipate heaps of action from the charismatic William sisters in the U.S. Open this year.
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