Williams, Serena and Venus

▪ 2001

      The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, emerged in 2000 as the most formidable duo in women's tennis. The year was particularly special for Venus, who won the first Grand Slam singles title of her career at Wimbledon—after having beaten Serena in the semifinal—and went on to triumph at the U.S. Open and the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Venus became only the second player to capture Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Olympic singles titles in the same year. Together, she and Serena also made history in the doubles event; their resounding 6–1, 6–1 Olympic finals victory over the Dutch team of Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans made them the first sisters to win a gold medal in doubles.

      Venus was born on June 17, 1980, in Lynwood, Calif. Serena was born on Sept. 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Mich. Each was introduced to tennis at age four by their father, Richard, whose stated goal was to raise them to be champions. The sisters' unlikely ascent began on shoddy public courts in Los Angeles. By age 10 Venus had attracted national media attention, and both sisters played exhibition matches against leading professionals before they reached their teens. In 1991 the family moved to Florida, where Venus and Serena were enrolled in a tennis academy.

      Venus turned professional in 1994, shortly after her 14th birthday. Her first big performance was in 1997, when she became the first unseeded U.S. Open women's finalist in the open era, but she lost 6–0, 6–4 to Martina Hingis. Serena's professional debut came in 1995, and in 1997, in only her fifth professional tournament, she upended Mary Pierce (ranked number seven) and Monica Seles (ranked fourth) at the Ameritech Cup in Chicago to become the lowest-ranked player (304) ever to have beaten two top-10 players in the same tournament.

      Expectations for the sisters began to grow quickly. Richard made brash statements to the media about his talented daughters, who both signed multimillion-dollar endorsement deals. Not until late in the 1999 season, however, did the promise become reality. Serena, much to the private dismay of her older sister, took the U.S. Open singles title—the first Grand Slam win for a Williams. While there was no animosity between the siblings, Venus felt that she had failed by not being the first to win a big tournament. Although Richard hinted early in 2000 that Venus might be ready to retire from the sport, her triumphs later in the year seemed to indicate that she would continue to play tennis competitively.

Anthony G. Craine

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