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Venus and Serena: Sisters, Rivals, Icons, and a Lasting Legacy

By Brandon Daniels

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 31: Serena Williams of The United States is congratulated by her sister and opponant Venus Williams of The United States following their ladies singles third round match on Day Five of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 31: Serena Williams of The United States is congratulated by her sister and opponant Venus Williams of The United States following their ladies singles third round match on Day Five of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 22: Venus Williams (L) raises the arm of her younger sister Serena Williams (R) after their second round encounter at the Australia Open in Melbourne 21 January. Venus defeated Serena in straight sets 7-6 (4), 6-1. (Photo credit should read GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 22: Venus Williams (L) raises the arm of her younger sister Serena Williams (R) after their second round encounter at the Australia Open in Melbourne 21 January. Venus defeated Serena in straight sets 7-6 (4), 6-1. (Photo credit should read GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images) /

Venus and Serena: The Beginning

It was almost three years before the Williams sisters took the court against each other. A 17-year-old Venus and a 16-year-old Serena caught major headlines during their second-round matchup. While it ended up nothing more than a routine Venus win ( 7–6(4), 6–1) and was described by media as ‘subpar’, the building blocks were there. The two girls were not only extremely marketable but showed signs of a major potential shift in the WTA as people knew.

Their second matchup, this time at the ’98 Italian Open quarterfinals, was met with the same results. The tides would soon turn one year later

March 28th, 1999 – Lipton Championships – Final

"“Today could be the first of many all-Williams finals,” one report claimed prior to the 1999 Lipton Championship finals."

The first of their singles finals matchups came at the Lipton Championships (now the Miami Open). No one was quite sure of what was to come, especially given the rather one-sided victories Venus had put together the year prior. This match was different. After years of their talk of becoming the greatest, which was, prior to this day, nothing more than speculation, the Williams Sisters had arrived.

I was pure domination up to the final match. Some of the tour’s top stars were wiped off the court. The sisters’ game was hard, faster, and more powerful than anything they’d ever faced before. #1 seed, Martina Hingis, was swept off the court by Serena in the semifinals (6-4, 7-6 (3)). Venus had done the same to one of tennis’ all-time greats, Steffi Graf, in even more dominating fashion (6-2, 6-4).

"“With their power and their groundstrokes, they have a tough combination,” Monica Seles said after getting beaten by Serena 6-2, 6-3 in the Round of 16."

The hype was surely too much for a simple match and given their astounding 107 unforced errors combined, it wasn’t the best of starts to their incredible decades facing off against each other. Whether it was nerves over the extremely high standards that the tennis world had put on them it surely wasn’t the dream start the sisters wanted.

What can be said is that, in the benefit of hindsight, this match isn’t anything more than a sputtering start. They were set to change the world of tennis forever, and I don’t even think they knew how much so.

Rivalry Update (as of year-end 1999):

Venus leads Serena 3-1

Serena – 1 GS title (0 wins over Venus)

Venus – 0 GS titles

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