With US tennis legend Serena Williams retired from the game for over two years and sister Venus Williams not actively playing on the WTA Tour, the younger sister (Serena) is speculating on what could have been with their careers had they not played each other.
Tennis fans know that neither Serena nor Venus traditionally played well when they faced each other. A combination of nerves and a strong sibling relationship made tennis more difficult on those days.
Serena Williams now believes she could have won 30 Grand Slams had she not faced Venus. Under the same scenario, she further speculates that Venus Williams would have won 15 Grand Slams. Serena ended her Hall of Fame career with 23 Grand Slam singles titles while Venus, who has not officially retired, has 7 singles titles out of 10 finals appearances. The other three finals losses were to Serena.
Serena mentions that the sisters had a rule that if they played each other before the final, the one who won the match had to win the tournament.
Serena Williams says if she and Venus didn’t have to face each other, she would’ve won 30 Grand Slams and Venus would’ve won at least 15:
“We had this rule that if we played against each other before the final, we had to win the title. I think Venus would have had a minimum of… pic.twitter.com/rvxnI81TXE
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) December 19, 2024
Is Serena Williams Correct?
It is hard to attempt to rewrite tennis history between two great champions. Arguably, one of the reasons both were such great players was because they grew up playing each other. Competing each other over the years made them better. Only when they got to the latter rounds of Grand Slams did their emotions sometimes wreak havoc with their tennis games.
📆 On this day in 2000
Venus and Serena Williams won their first Olympic gold medal in doubles at the Sydney Olympics.
It was the first of three gold medals they would go on to win together.
— Luis. (@serenapower_) September 28, 2023
One thing is for sure, when they were on the same side of the court playing doubles, they were virtually unbeatable. Serena Williams and Venus Williams won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and 3 Olympic gold medals together.
