Serena v Venus Williams: a final of great complexity

Whatever about the outcome, all of the things you might associate with a Grand Slam final, passion, determination, aggression and a willingness to destroy your opponent, the Australian Open's Rod Laver Arena may not have them.

A unique moment in tennis history, Serena and Venus for all their tennis greatness and durability have never felt hostage to the idea of entertainment at the expense of each other when they are faced across the net. For that overarching sensibility they can't be faulted.

The two sisters doing battle for the ninth time in a major final, Serena seeking her 23rd title and going one better than Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22, is all set to the back drop of her older sister Venus, making an unlikely run for an eighth Grand Slam title at 36 years old.

The meeting has all the grandeur of history and back stories, of the illness of both that threatened their careers, the death of their sister Yetunde shot dead in a drive-by in Los Angeles and which probably drove them closer together.

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Their finals have always had the undertow of sibling rivalry, made more complex because of the bond of friendship and love the two evidently share.

In the theatre of an Australian Open final, that closeness is also shot through with a professional desire to be ruthless and to tear down your opponent. The sting is and always has been of hurting someone closest to you and in those stakes the younger sister, 35-year-old Serena, leads 16-11.

The sympathetic figure

For that reason Venus has usually come across as the sympathetic figure to the more waspish Serena.

The health of Venus was also harder hit because of an autoimmune disorder called Sjogren's syndrome, diagnosed in 2011. It sapped strength and endurance and, according to a report in the New York Times, when hackers breached the World Anti-Doping Agency's databases last year, it was revealed that Venus had needed 13 therapeutic-use exemptions for drugs in recent years.

“I always like to win. But I’m the big sister. I want to make sure she has everything, even if I don’t have anything,” said Venus, who has always reacted to her younger sister’s greater success with generosity. “It’s hard. I love her too much. That’s what counts.”

But the matches themselves, the ones seen by The Irish Times at the 2000 Wimbledon semi-final, the 2002 French Open final, and four Wimbledon finals in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009, have not been spectacles and have not added up to the sum of their parts and that too is understandable.

The parts are two of the greatest tennis players that ever lived but it is only when either of the sisters momentarily forget themselves and develop an edge that their meetings find a spark and gain energy.

The matches have always given the sense that the fans are unwanted intruders and they are vulnerable, that although the match is live on television screens all around the world there is something deeply personal and uneasy between the two.

Mixed emotions

After the 2000 Wimbledon semi-final, their first meeting on grass, which Venus won 6-2, 7-6(3), a conspiracy theory was born that they decide outcomes beforehand. But that too is to misunderstand the mixed emotions they face.

In 2000 Serena, then 18, was the red-hot favourite to win the showpiece after displaying world-beating form in the earlier rounds. Venus, then 20, was still recovering from a long lay-off due to tendonitis.

But Serena lost in two straight sets with 49 unforced errors and a high number of double faults, including one on the final point. Their father Richard seemed the happiest man in the house and was dancing in the aisles on Centre Court as the sisters consoled one another.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion, Chris Evert, once spoke of facing her sister Jeanne Evert.

“It was the worst feeling ever,” said Evert. “We were both very competitive and Jeanne wanted to kill me. We couldn’t even look at each other. We just played the balls and wanted to win and then get off the court and not deal with it.”

The fascination lies in the dynamic of being sisters and emotionally close and that Serena is now rightly recognised as one of the top athletes in world sport as well as a dignified advocate for African American issues.

Determination

While there is little celebration from either if they hit a winner, or clean out the set or the match, while there may be a lack of reaction and a determination not to express joy, the single most noticeable standout feature is that they are still here, pushing boundaries, breaking records.

They have not played since the 2015 United States Open, when Serena won, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. It was a quarter final in which Venus successfully went on the attack but had no answer in the end for Serena’s first serve, probably the greatest to have come into women’s tennis.

We have now become used to Serena, particularly, raiding the trophy cabinets around the world. A heavy favourite on Saturday in their 28th meeting, they may be more relaxed than when Serena lost at 18 years old in 2000.

But Graf’s Open-era record is one match away from being broken. The person, who most intimately understands the import of that for Serena will be standing across the net from her. It is her closest friend, her sister and for more than 15 years her biggest rival.

Even for the great Williams sisters how can that be anything but deeply complex.