Serena and Venus Williams Set to Meet in Australian Open Final

But the serve which had proved such a weapon until now was not bothering Williams as much as it had her previous opponents, and by contrast, Williams upped the ante on her own, particularly the second serve, to counteract Vendeweghe’s powerful return.

When the 34-year-old Croatian comeback, whose last grand slam quarter-final appearance was in 1999, beat American qualifier Jennifer Brady for a spot in the quarter-finals on Sunday, she shared a special message for the haters.

Though the draw certainly broke her way, this final comes out relatively nowhere for Williams after just one major semifinal in the last six seasons (Wimbledon 2016, lost to Kerber), a time span that coincides with her diagnosis of Sjögren’s syndrome. “Even the matches I’m not winning, I’m still in control almost of every match that I have the opportunity to play in”.

It all started at the Australian Open.

Venus is yet to drop a set at this year’s tournament. 17-year-old Venus was seeded No. 16 and defeated Serena 7-6 (4), 6-1. It was only the beginning of a sibling rivalry that would span 19 years and across the globe.

“A total inspiration”, Serena said of her sister during the post-match interview.

Venus’ run to the Australian Final in the twilight of her career is the Cinderella story of the tournament. How incredible are these two sisters?

“I believe she did give it to me but it took two matches to push through the crowd and get one”. This time, the sisters got trophies in New York City after a hard-fought U.S. Open match.

Venus plays fellow American Coco Vandeweghe in the other semi-final.

2003: The only time Venus and Serena pulled off such a feat in Australia, with Serena winning the title 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4.

The unseeded Vandeweghe was in impressive form as she eliminated seventh seed Muguruza 6-4, 6-0 in one hour 23 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Williams didn’t reach the quarterfinals at any of the Grand Slams from 2011 until the 2015 Australian Open.

Serena has won nine Grand Slams since turning 30, including four of the last eight.

Henin is long retired but Serena is still going strong and plays her quarter-final, against Johanna Konta, on Wednesday, with an all-Williams title match still on the cards. Serena came out on top 7-6 (3), 6-2 against Venus. It was Venus who ended the match more fallible, though, going off for an injury time-out before Serena served out the match.

The Russian led 3-1 before it all fell apart.

It’s the next chapter in the Serena versus Venus story and we can not wait to see how it plays out!

With the dream women’s final already in place, it was over to the men, and fan favorite Roger Federer didn’t disappoint.