By Chris Oddo | Tuesday September 8, 2015
Serena and Venus Williams locked horns for the 27th time on Tuesday in New York, and it was so worth the hype.
Photo Source: Al Bello/Getty
Serena and Venus Williams’ 27th career meeting was every bit as glorious as their first meeting 17 years ago in Australia—and in many ways, more so.
Tennis Now Podcast: Is Roger Ticking off Opponents with SABR Return?
Not necessarily because of the tennis, though that did play a massive part, but because of the emotions that their meetings stir in us, and the way that the dominoes of history have fallen. Few of those dominoes are left to fall, with Venus Williams now 35 and Serena not far behind at a soon-to-be 34, but there was mystery in the New York air tonight as the pair of siblings settled in for another high-stakes battle for all the world to witness.
With Serena Williams three steps from the coveted Calendar Slam—a would-be crowning achievement that has caused the tennis world to collectively hold its breath for two months—Venus Williams starred as both villain and sentimental favorite on this night. She played both roles to a tee, but she could not find a way to squeak past her obstinate sister and eventually fell, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, leaving her sister to shuffle on towards history after an emotional hug and handshake with her and a quick wave to the crowd.
“When you’re in the moment you don’t really think about it,” said Serena, when asked about the challenges of facing her sister by Mary Joe Fernandez on court after the match. “We trained all our lives to be on this court and to play in front of you guys and for us it’s a real great honor.”
Not thinking about or being limited by the back story enables the sisters to display the bedazzling, revolutionary athleticism that they have become known for, and it also ensures that they demonstrate a laudable degree of professionalism. The way that the Williams sisters can put aside the dynamics of their close-knit relationship and switch on their game faces to become stone-cold competitors is a testament to the amount of respect that they have for the integrity of the sport that they have single-handedly changed the landscape of.
”You know, when you get in the tournament, you want to win the match, you want to win the tournament,” Venus said after the match, “so that's both of our focus when we get out there, is to try to be our best.”
Venus showed no trepidation about taking a shot at her sister and all that her historical run to the Grand Slam represents, and in the early going her power and intensity forced Serena to elevate her game—which she did with aplomb. Despite Venus’ intensity and fine play (there was a particularly jaw-dropping forehand winner in the third game that sent a big message), Serena muscled herself into the lead by breaking for 3-2 and did not drop another game for the rest of the set.
It was sublime tennis from the onset, the type of quality that encouraged former World No. 1 Andy Roddick to tweet “This is seriously high-level stuff.”
Roddick wasn’t the only one impressed. Venus and Serena trended worldwide on Twitter and sports and entertainment celebrities from Lebron James to Lindsey Vonn to MC Hammer all chimed in with heavy praise for the sisters.
In set two, faster than spectators could utter “Venus looks cooked,” the elder sister took advantage of Serena’s ill-timed bout with nerves (something that we’ve seen with increasing regularity as her quest for the Calendar Slam has rounded the bend) to reel off five consecutive games to force a third and deciding set.
It was an unconvincing second set for Serena, who looked rattled and tossed in a double-fault on break point to fall behind 3-1, then added another to give Venus the break point that would allow her to move ahead 5-1, but the World No. 1 gathered herself to start the decider and conquered her nerves and her sister to march to a resounding triumph.
She closed the match with her 12th ace and headed to the net for one of the most touching post-match encounters that tennis may have ever seen.
Will we ever see it again? That’s a question that Venus isn’t prepared to ponder. “I don't think like that,” she said. “I feel that, you know, luck and chance and blessings from God and we stay healthy, we'll play again.”
The victory improved Serena’s record in third sets to 18-1 on the season, proving that while nerves are most certainly part of the equation during her historical bid for her 22nd Grand Slam title, they aren’t likely to get in the way of Serena’s insane knack for delivering in the clutch.
She toppled her older sister Venus for the 16th time on Tuesday night, in front of a crowd dotted with A-list celebrities and screaming fans, and now there are only two players standing between Serena Williams and a date with destiny that many feel she has long deserved.
She’ll face Italian Roberta Vinci in the semifinal next. Though she owns a 4-0 record against her and has never dropped a set, Williams knows that this is no time to take an opponent lightly.
“She has nothing to lose, and I don’t either, so we’re just going to go out and have a lot of fun,” she said.