Interestingly, it will be the sixth time the Williams sisters will face each other at Flushing Meadows, USOpen.org looks back on a rivalry like no other.
Here is the recap of the previous meetings between the two sisters with Serena leading her elder sister, Venus 17-12.
*Australian Open 1998 Rd of 64: Venus wins 7-6, 6-1.
A singular sibling rivalry is born in Melbourne, with a 17-year-old Venus claiming the somewhat awkward first-time all-in-the-family matchup between loving sisters. “If I had to lose in the second round, no better than to Venus,” says Serena, who was 16 at the time.
“I tried to keep thinking of her as someone else, but I guess Venus has a little more
experience than me.”
*Rome 1998 quarterfinals: Venus wins 6-4, 6-2.
Playing the very first clay-court tournament of her career, Serena struggles to find her footing in a straight-sets loss to Venus.
*Miami 1999 final: Venus wins 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
Venus remains undefeated in her head-to-heads against little sis, claiming their first-ever meeting in a final in three hard-fought sets. “Serena wanted to win this title. She always wants to win,” said Venus. “That's her personality.”
*Grand Slam Cup 1999 final: Serena wins 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
On the heels of becoming the first Williams to claim a Grand Slam trophy (1999 US Open),
Serena gets her first win over Venus, the event’s defending champion. “I've never actually beat Venus,” says a surprised Serena. “I didn't know how it feels. It's actually kind of tough to take this win. I actually have had a win over everyone in the Top 10. I never had a win over Venus.”
*Wimbledon 2000 semifinals: Venus wins 6-2, 7-6.
Venus upsets her favored sister en route to her first Grand Slam title. They would later team up for the doubles title and, later that summer, Olympic gold. “I know Serena lost,” Venus tells reporters. “She's a real competitor, probably even more than what I am as far as when it comes to losing. She hates to lose. That really hurts her deep.”
*US Open 2001 final: Venus wins 6-2, 6-4.
The highly-anticipated US Open final — the first major final contested between sisters in the Open Era and the first prime-time women’s final — is a somewhat anticlimactic one, as Venus cruises to an easy win. “This is our first Grand Slam final together, and really that's the way we'd like it to be,” said Venus. “Then both of us win in a way. I just hate to see Serena lose — even against me. I think that's the harder part. If anything, it would be easier for her to beat me. Then I'd maybe be happier.”
*Miami 2002 semifinals: Serena wins 6-2, 6-2.
Venus came into the semis riding a 22-match win streak, but it was Serena who would walk off with the trophy, her first win over the elder Williams since 1999. “This definitely is a very big milestone for me and all the younger sisters and brothers out there,” quips Serena. “This is just one of many. This just sets us as a great rivalry, for sure.”
*French Open 2002 final: Serena wins 7-5, 6-3.
Venus and Serena, clinching the Nos. 1-2 spots in the rankings, respectively, just as their father had predicted, face off in the Roland Garros final, with Serena claiming her first Slam crown in three years.
*Wimbledon 2002 final: Serena wins 7-6, 6-3.
In the second of three major finals contested between the Williamses in ’02, Serena raises her first ironically-titled Venus Rosewater Dish and leapfrogs her sore-shouldered sister to claim the world No. 1. “My dad always said that one day we'd be playing in the finals of Wimbledon, in the finals of the US Open, just the big ones,” Serena reflected. “And here we were 10, 15 years later. It's really amazing if you think about it because my dad and my mum, it's hard to get one champion, but now he has two.”
*US Open 2002 final: Serena wins 6-4, 6-3.
If their first US Open final came off as somewhat of a dud, this one saw a dazzling display of tennis, the Puma catsuit-sporting Serena pulling even in the family head-to-head at 5-all.
“If anything, I prefer to play Venus because that means that we have reached our maximum potential and that we'll both go home winners,” says Serena. “I always want to ee Venus do well. I never want to see Venus lose. For me, I'm happy to play her in the final.”
*Australian Open 2003 final: Serena wins 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
Lil' sis puts the finishing touches on the “Serena Slam,” becoming the first player since Steffi Graf in 1995 to hold all four major titles at the same time. “I wouldn't say I'm more mentally tough than Venus,” she says. “Most of my ideas and everything I actually get from her. Most of my fight and courage I've gotten from Venus.”
*Wimbledon 2003 final: Serena wins 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
With her sister nursing an abdominal injury, Serena pulls it out in three in this rematch of
the ’02 SW19 final. On the awkwardness of facing her sister, Serena said, “I was just telling
myself, "This is Wimbledon. God knows if I would get this opportunity again.' I just kept
telling myself that. I think if anything, I fought harder.”
*Miami 2005 quarterfinals: Venus wins 6-1, 7-6.
In their first meeting outside of a final in three years, Venus gets back on the winning side.
“We’ve played some huge matches,” says Venus. “This one definitely is a highlight.” After
falling behind 5-0 in the opening set, Serena smashes her racquet. “Her racquet is actually
fragile,” adds Venus. “It's powerful but fragile. Mine is not fragile, so I can tap mine a bit
harder. But hers goes no matter what. She is definitely a little bit more fiery than I am. I
kind of keep an even keel. It's just the way I am.
*US Open 2005 Rd of 16: Venus wins 7-6, 6-2.
Their earliest encounter at a Grand Slam since ’98 sees Venus pull out a tight first-set
tiebreak, then cruise to victory. “Probably she just needs to be a little more consistent,”
explains Venus. “She has every shot. When she comes to the net, her volleys are quite
good. Even in practice, she gets so many volleys. It's pretty deceptive. Like her coverage at
the net, you think she's not going to get it, but she does. She definitely is on the verge of
more great things.”
*Bangalore 2008 semifinals: Serena wins 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.
Facing each other for the first time in nearly three years, Serena ekes out a third-set
tiebreak.
*Wimbledon 2008 final: Venus wins 7-5, 6-4.
Venus claims her fifth title on the grass courts of the All England Club. It remains her last
Grand Slam title. “Five titles! Just five titles! It's the first thing that popped into my head,”
said Venus. “[But] at no point am I ever able to forget that it's Serena, because I have the
ultimate respect for her game and I have a lot of respect for her serve. If I was playing
anyone else, I wouldn't have to face what I had to face today, so it's impossible to forget.”
*US Open 2008 quarterfinal: Serena wins 7-6, 7-6.
It will be remembered as the most competitive matchup between the sisters in Flushing
Meadows, one that sees Serena pull through in a pair of tight tiebreaks. “I think Venus has
gotten a lot better with fooling me. She has an incredible second serve that I wasn't
expecting at all. It was just really throwing me off, so it took me a while to get used to it,”
observes Serena.
*WTA Championships 2008 round-robin: Venus wins 5-7, 6-1, 6-0.
Venus caps her round-robin victory at the year-end championships with a bagel, the first
shutout set in their historic head-to-head series. “It wasn't the happiest match,” laments
Venus. “There's nothing I can do. I think she just has to go through it, and figure out in her
head what went wrong in the match. I think she'll just take some time and come out even
stronger.”
*Dubai 2009 semifinals: Venus wins 6-1, 2-6, 7-6.
Venus jumps into 2009 with a thrilling three-setter in Dubaithe second straight time
they’ve gone the distance. The quality of the sister-sister rivalry has perhaps never been
higher.
*Miami 2009 semifinals: Serena wins 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Advancing to her seventh Miami final, Serena takes yet another three-set matchup
between the Williams sisters, although ankle and quad injuries would cost her in a one-
sided final against Victoria Azarenka. “I'm excited because I was thinking that I would love
to remain No. 1, so I was really excited about that,” says Serena. “I think I was more
happy about that than winning the match.”
*Wimbledon 2009 final: Serena wins 7-6, 6-2.
“I didn't think about Venus at all today,” insists Serena. “I just saw her as an opponent.
After the first set, I looked on the side of the court at the stats, and it was, like, ‘Williams,
Williams.’ I couldn't figure out which was which.” Claiming her first Wimbledon title in six
years, Serena claims the all-American, all-Williams final on the Fourth of July, the 11th
Grand Slam title of her career.
*WTA Championships 2009 round-robin: Serena wins 5-7, 6-4, 7-6.
Serena saves a match point in the first of two meetings at the ’09 WTA year-ender. “I just
kept saying, ‘I want to end this year No. 1, so I better lift up the level of my game,’” she
says.
*WTA Championships 2009 final: Serena wins 6-2, 7-6.
Her fourth straight win over Venus gives Serena the 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships
title and secures the year-end No. 1 ranking. She now leads the career head-to-head, 13-
10. “Venus, she was getting every ball back. I was running down a lot of balls, too. We were
just doing the best that we could do. It was high-quality tennis.”
*Charleston 2013 semifinal: Serena wins 6-1, 6-2.
Despite coming out on the losing end of their first on-court encounter in four years, Venus
says of her sister, “It’s great to see her at Number One and just fulfilling every dream.”
*Canadian Masters 2014 semifinal: Venus wins .6-7, 6-2, 6-3
Venus, 34, scores her first win over her sister in more than five years, returning to the Top
20 after three seasons of injury and illness. “What's so unique about the situation is that
we're both very good players. Typically, you may have some siblings, one is quite good, one
is not as good, so you kind of know what the result is, or the one that's better knows they're going to win. We both know when we walk out there, it's not like you're guaranteed a win.”
*Wimbledon 2015 Rd of 16: Serena wins 6-4, 6-3.
Following a straight-sets decision over Venus, world No. 1 Serena asserts, “It’s never easy
to play someone you love and care about. You just play for the competition and enjoy the
moment.”
*US Open 2015 quarterfinals: Serena wins 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
Streaking toward the calendar-year Grand Slam, Serena prevails in three sets, only to fall to unheralded and unseeded Italian Robert Vinci in the semis. “I will always be the older sister. That's never going to change,” says Venus. “We have always taken care of each other, but that also goes for the rest of my family and other sisters. We have always taken care of each other no matter what.”
*Australian Open 2017 final: Serena wins 6-4, 6-4.
Serena surpasses Steffi Graf as the Open Era’s all-time Slam queen, and now holds 23
major titles. “It's such a great feeling to have 23,” says Serena, who also secures the No. 1
ranking. “I've been chasing it for a really long time. When it got on my radar, I knew I had
an opportunity to get there, and I'm here. It's a great feeling. My first Grand Slam started
here, and getting to 23 here, playing Venus, it's stuff that legends are made of. I couldn't
have written a better story.”
*Indian Wells 2018 Rd of 32: Venus wins 6-3, 6-4.
Playing her first tournament since giving birth to Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Serena falls in straight sets. It’s their earliest confrontation since meeting in the second round of the 1998
Australian Open. “She's going to be speeding back to the seedings and to winning
*2018 US Open third round: Who wins, Serena or Venus?
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Caption: The Williams sisters, Serena (left),
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