Serena Williams has expressed the belief that her sister Venus would have accumulated many more Grand Slam titles if their careers hadn’t overlapped. Serena, who retired with an impressive 23 major singles titles—the most by a woman in the Open Era—feels that the fierce competition between the two has prevented Venus from reaching even greater heights in the sport. Venus, with eight Grand Slam singles titles to her name, remains active in tennis despite playing only two matches in 2024. Serena, however, maintains that Venus hasn’t officially retired yet.
Throughout their careers, the Williams sisters met 16 times in singles matches at Grand Slam tournaments between 1998 and 2022. Serena leads the head-to-head with an 11-5 record, with nine of those encounters taking place in finals, where Serena dominated with a 7-2 advantage. Their first Grand Slam final meeting occurred at the 2001 US Open, where Venus emerged victorious. However, Serena would go on to win five consecutive major finals, including two at Wimbledon and one each at the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open.
Reflecting on their rivalry, Serena remarked that their head-to-head matchups at the majors likely cost both sisters additional Grand Slam titles. “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 15 Grand Slams if we didn’t play. I would have had 30,” she explained during an appearance at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
Together, the Williams sisters revolutionized tennis, shattering barriers and dominating the sport. Both reached No. 1 in the WTA rankings and are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on the all-time career prize money list in women’s tennis.
Over the years, Serena and Venus met 31 times in top-level tennis, with Serena leading the head-to-head 19-12. The last of their encounters took place in 2020, where Serena claimed the victory. Despite the competitive nature of their matches, their bond as sisters remained strong throughout their careers.
Serena opened up about their close relationship, saying, “There was no separation at all. Looking back, I don’t know how we dealt with that. We were so close, we grew up so close. My family was like, ‘No fighting, you girls are always going to be sisters and that’s that.’”
Serena added that the closeness between them was reinforced by living together for most of their lives. “We actually lived together until I got married, which wasn’t that long ago. We just always lived together. I think that helped our relationship,” she said.
Their journey together wasn’t without its challenges, but it was their ability to communicate and support each other that became the cornerstone of their success. “We had to figure out a way to work it out. We had to communicate, you know, we had to have those difficult conversations. I think we just, without even realising it, leaned into that. As long as I was winning,” Serena humorously concluded.