NEW YORK—Matches between Venus and Serena Williams have traditionally been described as “awkward.” As their 27th meeting began, though, it had the air of a high-end celebration. A sellout crowd jammed the trains from Manhattan and swarmed across the grounds at Flushing Meadows, waiting for the gates in front of Arthur Ashe Stadium to open. Inside, it seemed that every other luxury suite contained a celebrity. While Venus and Serena warmed up, the big screens at the top of the stadium flashed images of Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, and Aziz Ansari in rapid succession (only Ansari's was greeted with applause).
“It was more unique, definitely,” Venus said of the see-and-be-seen vibe in Ashe. “Serena is going for the Grand Slam, and I think everybody is interested because she has to play her sister to get to that. People want to see, you know, how that’s going to come out.”
But as parties often do, this one soon turned a little, well, awkward. Venus came out with guns—i.e., serves and forehands—blazing, but that only put her sister on immediate high alert. Serena responded with some of her best tennis of the tournament, hammering down serves and pouncing on her returns with preemptive ferocity.
Through the 6-2 first set, in which she hit 15 winners and made just two errors, there wasn’t a hint of wasted motion, or emotion, in Serena's game. There was also, as the set progressed, barely a hint of a sound in all of Arthur Ashe Stadium. As New York Times tennis writer Chris Clarey said after the first set was over, “I’ve heard more noise at a piano recital.” People had come to see Serena play her older sister, not give her a drubbing in front of the nation.
According to Venus and Serena, though, it was all par for the course for them as tennis pros—nothing personal. Last night each of them said that the fact that they’re sisters fades from their minds as the match starts and the normal reactions to competition take over.
“When you go on the court,” Serena said, “you don’t really think about it.”
“There’s lot of things going on in my mind, but nothing different from when I’m playing anyone else.”
As for Venus, she said, “My main goal when I go out there is to hold serve. I think that’s her main goal, too. Then you have to look for a break. That’s what I’m looking at when I’m out there. That’s kind of a peek into my mind.”