VENUS SERENA WILLIAMS IN THE COMMUNITY TEENAGE STARS It was a mark of the Williams sisters abilities that they did not wait long to turn professional Both were just 14 when they played their first professional matches Success wasn't instant for the Williams sisters but when it came few were surprised The sisters had long been thought of as future Serena on the court at the 1999 TIG Tennis Classic By then there were few tennis rivals who could respond to either of the sisters big serves and powerful
THE WILLIAMs SISTERS STORY greats At the age of 17 Venus reached the finals of the 1997 U S Open Two years later Serena won the U S Open her first Grand Slam singles success By the time Serena was crowned U S Open champion in 1999 the Williams sisters were a dominant force in women's tennis Together they won doubles titles at the French Open and U S Open In July 2000 Venus won her first Grand Slam singles tournament at Wimbledon The era of Venus and Serena Williams's domination of women's tennis had begun STAR STATS Between 1998 and 2002 Venus Williams won 22 consecutive matches at the Miami Masters tournament a record equaled only by all time great Steffi Graf SAN ANTONINKaiser Permanent UN HN 9
VENUS SERENA WILLIAMS IN THE COMMUNITY TOTAL DOMINATION By the early 2000s the Williams sisters were simply unstoppable Close off the court they became fierce rivals on it as they battled to win titles especially the four Grand Slams every year Time and time again Venus and Serena found themselves playing each other in the finals of major tournaments with father Richard looking on from the stands Venus and Serena first faced each other in a Grand Slam final at the U S Open in 2001 In tennis matches are made up of games and sets STAR STATS In January 2003 Serena won the Australian Open By doing so she became the fifth female tennis player in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time IO
THE WILLIAMS SISTERS STORY As of February 2014 Venus Williams has won 7 Grand Slam singles titles with her younger sister winning an amazing 17 Only five female players Margaret Court Steffi Graf Helen Wills Moody Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have won more A player must win at least six games to win a set and women players must win two sets the best of three to win the match On this occasion Venus retained her title by beating Serena two sets to none A year later the situation reversed when Serena defeated Venus for her first French Open title and then went on to beat her sister at both Wimbledon and the U S Open II
