So the seemingly impossible has happened: Eight years after their last major final, at ages 36 and 35, respectively, Venus and Serena Williams will meet in the Australian Open title match. Two weeks ago, it may have been hard to imagine that this is how the tournament would end; Venus hasn’t reached the final Down Under in 14 years. But Rod Laver Arena is a fitting place for the Williams sisters to stage a last hurrah—or a late hurrah, anyway. This is the court where they played their first professional match against each other, in 1998.
Venus won that second-rounder in straight sets, but a lot, obviously, has occurred in the intervening 19 years. Serena long ago passed Venus in their head to head, and she currently leads it 16-11. Unlike the rest of her competition, though, Serena has never left her older sister behind. How could she? Not only are their matches psychologically painful, but Venus knows Serena’s game like no one else, and can still run down her shots like almost no one else. Since 2008, a pattern has developed between them: Serena wins two matches, and Venus wins one. If that holds true again, Venus should be the favorite here, because Serena has won their last two meetings. The most recent of them, in the 2015 U.S. Open quarterfinals, was a three-setter. Venus wasn’t far off that night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.