Twirling On

No one has to ask Venus or Serena Williams to twirl. They’ve been doing it after every win, with grins as wide as their faces, for years now. Yet it still comes as a bit of a surprise: After spending an hour and a half looking stony and serious (in Venus’s case) or formidable and desperate (in Serena’s), these two 30-somethings suddenly turn back into ecstatic young girls and show us how much winning a simple tennis match continues to mean to them.

Yesterday, Venus and Serena had a chance to do their celebratory whirls within the same hour. First, Venus came back to beat Camila Giorgi 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1; not long after, Serena followed her big sister’s lead and came back to beat Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. Serena said she saw Venus’ score in Laver Arena and was motivated.

“I thought, Wow, she’s been through so much with her illness, with everything she’s had to do," Serena said. "Gosh, if she can do it, I’m perfectly healthy, I’m fine. I should be able to do it, too.’”

Whether Serena’s thoughts went exactly that way on court, we’ll never know. But we do know that Venus has been inspiring her younger sister for three decades now. And in their matches yesterday, we got a glimpse of their careers, and the results of their relationship, in microcosm.

Venus, 15 months older, was the first to love tennis, and the first to become a star because of it. In Venus and Serena, the 2012 documentary on the sisters, there’s a scene of the two being interviewed as kids. A towering Venus is asked what she wants to be when she grows up. She says, “Tennis player.” Then Serena, much shorter and younger-looking, is asked the same question, and she gives the same two-word answer in the same tone of voice: "Tennis player." Venus always wanted to play tennis; Serena, who has called herself the “ugly duckling” to Venus’ “fierce swan,” always wanted to do what her sister did, and have what her sister had.

Has there ever been a greater example of a pure, lasting love for tennis than the the 34-year-old Venus’ win over Giorgi on Saturday? It was the first time Venus had faced the monumentally streaky 23-year-old, and it showed; the American looked surprised by the take-it-on-the-rise pace the Italian generated. Ten years ago, not many women could hit the ball past either of the Williams sisters at the baseline; it was a point of pride that they were the ones who always dictated play. Now, in part because of their influence on the women’s game, that’s no longer true. There’s point-winning power up and down the Top 30, and Giorgi and Svitolina surprised Venus and Serena by routinely smacking the ball out of their reach.

But while the women have increased their power, few, if any, have matched the sisters' mix of offense and defense. Late in the second set, Venus stunned Giorgi by using her 6’1” wingspan to reach out and flick a forehand pass crosscourt. Giorgi, who thought the ball was going down the line, nearly broke her ankles trying to reverse direction. The shot came with a message: Venus wasn’t finished yet. She never is, until the last shot has been hit.

Even on her worst physical days, Venus never lets herself look beaten, and she has always made her opponents keep working to put her away, made them grind through the entire match. Giorgi couldn’t do it. Serving at 6-4, 5-4, she froze; the rockets that had gone for winners began to veer dangerously off course. Venus still has her stubborn competitive streak, and she still has her aura.

“She played amazing,” Venus said of Giorgi. “Thought she played awesome and just so aggressive. It’s challenging to get a rhythm against her. Just kind of kept trying to get games on my board so hopefully I would get an opening at some point.”

This is one thing that has changed over the years: Venus and Serena, their battles to reach the top already won, have mellowed enough that they can give their opponents due credit when they play well. Still, Venus was mainly, and rightfully, happy for herself. The win put her into the fourth round at a major for the first time since 2011, and the first time since she announced that she had Sjogren’s syndrome. On the sideline afterward, she giggled and did a half-embarrassed little dance with her friends in the stands. When she was asked on court her how she had managed to come back, Venus said, with an even wider smile than usual, “Well, this old cat still has some tricks.”

Afterward, Venus essentially closed the book on the issue of age in tennis.

“When you walk on that court, there’s no such thing as age, height, any of that stuff," she said. "It’s really an even playing field. It’s a matter of, Can you get the ball in? Can you win the point or not?”

A few minutes before Venus said those words, her sister had won the final point—an exclamation point, really—in her win over Svitolina. Serena, as she tends to do, started slowly and ended quickly; after giving her opponent hope early, she left her with the bitter taste of a final-set bagel.

Serena couldn’t explain her shaky opening; “I need to figure that out,” she said, though it’s hardly a new phenomenon. For the first 30 minutes, she appeared ready to go—to borrow an Aussie term—walkabout. She was flat-footed, slow to react, and appeared to want to be anywhere other than a tennis court. As she lined up for one serve, she nearly fell over. What was next, a repeat of last year’s Wimbledon doubles meltdown?

The 20-year-old Svitolina, a ball of positive energy by comparison, took advantage. But in taking advantage, she also brought out the first signs of life from Serena. After breaking serve with a ground-stroke winner, Svitolina pumped her fist and looked to her box as she walked to the sideline. On the other side of the net, Serena, her eyes narrowed, was watching her. Is it a coincidence that, by the time she had crossed over for the next game, her sluggishness had vanished?

If Venus plays for the love of the game, Serena plays for the love of winning—for beating other players. She’s at her best when she can make a match personal, and she doesn’t seem fully engaged until she’s fist-pumping in her opponent's face. Svitolina, fiery and unintimidated, offered the personal challenge that Serena needed. Even when she was up 4-1 in the second set, Serena shot the Ukrainian a look after one of her winners, and answered with a winner of her own.

None of that should be surprising, because Serena’s desire to play tennis has been personal from the start. She did it because she wanted to be like, and be better than, her “fierce swan” older sister. So maybe it’s good news for her that she can make her next match, against Garbine Muguruza, very personal. The young Spanish player beat her at the French Open last year.

Asked about the rematch yesterday, Serena started calmly.

“It was the best loss I had all year,” she said, “[because it] made me realize what I need to work on.”

Soon, though, Serena didn’t seem to be remembering that day so fondly.

“She didn’t miss a shot,” she said of Muguruza. “She didn’t miss a forehand. She miraculously got every ball back. I believe she has the potential to want to do that again against me. So I’m going to be ready for that.”

Notice that Serena didn’t say Muguruza has the potential to do that to her again; she said she has the potential to want to do it.

Something tells me we haven’t seen our final twirl on Rod Laver Arena.