"If I were playing a different opponent, I'd be a lot more joyful" - When Venus Williams opened up about beating Serena Williams in US Open final
Serena Williams and Venus Williams locked horns in a Grand Slam final for the very first time at the 2001 US Open.
Venus Williams entered the tournament as the defending champion and was seeded fourth. She reached the final following straight-set wins over Lenka Dhlopolkova, Meilen Tu, Lisa Raymond, Sandrine Testud, Kim Clijsters and Jennifer Capriati.
Here, she was up against her sister Serena Williams, who was seeded tenth and had eliminated the likes of Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis in her previous matches. This marked the very first Grand Slam singles final to feature both Williams sisters.
Venus Williams produced a fine performance to win the match 6-2, 6-4 and successfully defend her title at the US Open without dropping a single set.
Speaking after the match, Venus Williams claimed that she would have felt happier had she been the younger sister instead of Serena Williams. The then-20-year-old also stated that while she was happy to win the tournament, she would have been more joyful if her opponent in the final was someone other than her sister.
"If I was the younger sister, maybe I'd feel more joy,'' Venus Williams said. When you're younger, you're used to finding a way to get in and out of things.If I were playing a different opponent, I'd be a lot more joyful. But I'm happy I won. There's nothing like winning a major.
The Williams sisters also competed in the women's doubles event at the 2001 US Open. Seeded ninth, the pair reached the third round of the competition before losing 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 to Chanda Rubin and Els Callens.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams locked horns six times at the US Open
The sisters faced each other six times at the US Open, with Serena Williams winning four times and Venus Williams coming out on top in the other two matches.
A year after the 2001 US Open final, Serena Williams avenged her loss by beating her sister 6-4, 6-3 to win the New York Major in 2002. Their next meeting at the tournament came in the fourth round in 2005, with Venus Williams winning 7-6(5), 6-2. That was the only time the two sisters met at the US Open when neither of them ended up reaching at least the semifinals.
Serena Williams went on to win the next three meetings between her and Venus Williams at Flushing Meadows in 2008, 2015 and 2018.