Serena Williams and Venus Williams are professional Tennis players. Taken together, they are the Williams sisters that have dominated the Tennis World for almost 15 years, having won 121 titles combined. While Venus has won 49 singles titles, Serena has won 72. Notably, both of them have been ranked World no. 1, Venus for a total of 21 weeks and Serena for a total of 316 weeks. Serena has often described her elder sister as her toughest opponent.
Serena vs Venus has been the most enduring and exciting rivalry, and significantly a sibling rivalry in professional sports. The siblings are the only two women in the open era to face each other in four consecutive Grand Slam finals. Serena won four of all these finals. They have faced each other 30 times in professional tournaments and the younger sister, Serena holds the lead in the all-time head to head record with 18 wins and 12 losses. While Serena owns 23 Grand Slam titles, Venus owns seven titles.
The sisters are doubles partners as well and they have won 22 titles playing together, including 14 Grand Slams and 3 Olympic Gold medals. After winning the 2001 Australian Open women’s doubles title, they became the fifth pair to complete the Career Doubles Grand Slam and the only pair to complete the Career Doubles Golden Slam. At that time, Venus and Serena were only 20 and 19 years old, respectively. As a duo, they have completed the Career Grand Slam twice
The siblings’ recent Grand Slam encounter was at the 2017 Australian Open final. Serena defeated Venus 6-4,6-4 to win her 23rd Grand Slam title overall. In 2018, they met twice at the US Open (3rd round) and BNP Paribas Open (3rd round). While Venus won the Paribas Open match, Serena won the US Open match.
The Williams legacy has inspired the increased representation of African Americans among tennis professionals. Among the sisters, Serena has commanded and played her game much higher on the International Circuit. Age is just a number for both of them as they continue to prove themselves with the best performances in whichever tournament they play. Their rivalry is an inspiring display of healthy competition, fueled by love.
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