Wimbledon 2009 Williams Sisters Final: I Am Not My Sister's Keeper

In 1997, Venus Williams announced her arrival into the world of professional women’s tennis. She made the finals of the U.S. Open, facing Martina Hingis, and women’s tennis was transformed forever. 

Venus was unseeded and it was her first attempt at the U.S. Open. She lost.

At the time she was 17 years of age and Hingis was 16. In very short order, Venus would make the Hingis game appear obsolete. In fact, the Williams sisters would soon make most of the top players fade to the back of the pack.

They introduced power and speed in lethal combination into the women’s game. The serve became their primary weapon of choice. During the Zurich Open in 1998, Venus hit a serve at 127 mph and broke the service speed record for women.

The Williams sisters not only dominate the women’s game in singles, they hold multiple records for their combined doubles play, including two Olympic gold medals. That means they also have excellent skills at the net and tremendous touch and anticipation.

It was Serena, however, who won the first major when she defeated Hingis at the 1999 U.S. Open. She was 17 years of age at the time. Venus would capture the Wimbledon championship for the first time in 2000—her first major. 

The sisters began dominating the women’s game and soon began facing each other in finals. The first major final featuring the Williams sisters was held at the U.S. Open in 2001. 

It became the impetus for the debut of the U.S. Open Women’s Final Night Match shown on CBS. That match beat out all competition including a football game between Nebraska and Notre Dame. The sisters remain immensely popular with U.S. audiences.

It was a lack-luster performance, with Venus winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Peter Bodo described it as a "pretty lousy match even though it was a great performance by the winner."

The sisters have played each other 20 times and their record stands at 10-10. Before the final on Saturday, Venus and Serena met seven times in grand slam finals. 

Currently ranked No. 2 (Serena) and No. 3 (Venus), the sisters have both been ranked No. 1 in the world, Venus for 11 weeks and Serena 66 weeks. 

In the beginning, as the sisters began facing each other, the matches were generally less than competitive. It seemed for a time that Venus was too sensitive to her sister’s feelings to defeat her, although the earliest matchups were generally won by Venus.

Public suspicion about the competitive nature of their matches came into sharp focus in 2001 at Indian Wells. Venus withdrew shortly before her scheduled match with Serena and drew severe criticism. 

The Williams family was openly accused of match-fixing but most argued that such a supposition was ridiculous. When Serena won the final at Indian Wells against Kim Clijsters she was greeted with boos and jeers all during the match and at the trophy award ceremony.

The Williams sisters have boycotted the event since then and steadfastly refuse to play at Indian Wells regardless of the sanctions.

After the Williams sisters began their dominance, the newest players on tour seemed to be tall, large and powerful servers like Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova or hordes of Russian women who came in waves all with booming serves and wicked ground strokes.

The total mastery of the sisters from 1999 through 2003 was complete. Soon, it seemed, the world tired of one or both of the sisters being in the finals, especially of the majors, even as their matches became more competitive.

But in 2004 as injury and illness and personal tragedy drew them away from the game, the Williams sisters began to develop other interests. 

Intermittently the sisters would return to win a major, such as Serena’s win as an unseeded player at the 2007 Australian Open and Venus' win at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.

Currently, they are the defending champions of all majors except the French. Venus is defending her title at Wimbledon on Saturday while Serena holds the championships at both the Australian and the U.S. Open.

Since 2008, the sisters have recommitted to tennis. Both are looking to win the singles and the doubles championships at Wimbledon. 

One of them will do just that. We predict Venus will win because her play at Wimbledon to date has been stellar. She allowed Dinara Safina, currently world No. 1, one game in their semifinal contest.  

Venus no longer gives in to her sentimentality and sternly faces the task of defeating her sister whenever required. At age 29, she is playing some of the best tennis of her career, especially on her favorite surface, grass. 

Expect Venus to win the singles title, and the Williams sisters the doubles. 

The stranglehold on women’s tennis that began in 1999 continues a decade later. Whenever they are part of the tournament, the Williams sisters still dominate. They still bring the best weapons and the most complete game to the table. 

The Williams sisters still dominate and will continue to do so until they decide they have had enough...