There wouldn't be Serena Williams if there wasn't Venus Williams, but where would Venus be without Serena?
In a recent appearance on the Boardroom: Out of Office podcast, Jill Smoller, Serena Williams' long-time agent, heaped praise on Venus Williams. Smoller suggested that Serena Williams would never have got to where she is today if Venus had not paved the way for her younger sister.
The host, Rich Kleiman, echoed a similar sentiment, recollecting how in the beginning tennis fans predicted Venus would have the better career of the two sisters.
Kleiman also added that Serena benefitted tremendously, not only from the support of her family, but also by being able to train with Venus.
More than the Richard aspect, I think what I liked about #KingRichard most is how it served as a love letter to Venus Williams.
Venus really paved the way for Serena (and other African Americans) and I’m so glad she’s getting her due. 🐐 https://t.co/HiWO5bFr8u
Which brings us to a fascinating question - where would Venus be without Serena?
The Serena Williams - Venus Williams rivalry in Grand Slams
In the Grand Slam race, the gap between Venus and Serena WIlliams is huge. While Serena has the most Majors in the Open Era with 23 to her name, Venus languishes way behind with just seven.
There are five players with more Grand Slam titles than Venus - Steffi Graf (22), Chris Evert (18), Martina Navratilova (18), Monica Seles (9) and Billie Jean King (8), while two players have the same number of Slams - Evonne Goolagong and Justine Henin.
Despite reaching 16 Grand Slam finals, Venus has only seven Majors to her name. Between the 2002 French Open and Wimbledon in 2003, Venus reached five of the six finals to be played and lost in every single one of them. The winner on every single occasion... Serena Williams.
Venus has beaten Serena only twice in a Grand Slam final. Apart from finals, the Williams sisters have faced each other six times, with Serena winning three of those.
That makes it a grand total of 10 Slams that Venus Williams has been denied by her sister. In a hypothetical scenario, where Venus beats Serena every time, she would have 17 Grand Slam titles to her name.
“what do you have to do to win a point against Venus Williams?” twitter.com/vee16queen/sta…
In this scenario, she would have had 13 Slams at the age of 28. At the same age, Navratilova had 12, Evert had 14 and Graf had 21.
Eveything Venus Williams did, Serena Williams followed
Serena Williams has always been hot on her sister's heels. Venus was adjudged the 1997 WTA Newcomer of the Year; the award went to Serena in 1998.
In 1998, Venus Williams was awarded Tennis Magazine's Most Improved Player award. The very next year, it went to Serena.
Venus was the WTA Player of the Year in 2000. Serena won the award in 2002. Venus won the 2001 Best Female Tennis Player ESPY award and the 2002 Best Female Athlete ESPY award, both of which Serena won in 2003.
In 2005, Tennis Magazine published a list of the best players of the past 40 years. Venus Williams was ranked 25th; Serena was ranked17th. In June 2011, Time Magazine published '30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future'. Venus was ranked 17th; Serena was ranked 16th.
Venus Williams has been challenged, overshadowed and outperformed every step of the way by her sister. While there is no doubt the rivalry has made better players out of them both, it has certainly served Serena more than it has Venus.
For starters, Serena is the younger of the two. Therefore, Venus had to be the one to pave the path. She had to face all the unwarranted criticism the exceedingly homogenous tennis society at the time threw at her.
This is in no way an attempt to downplay the achievements of Serena Williams. Serena would have been great no matter what, but without Venus it would have been much, much harder for her to make it to the top
Could Venus Williams have won more Grand Slams without Serena standing in the way? All we can do is speculate.
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