If you heard Serena Williams in her post-match interview last night, you know she’s not exactly looking forward to having to play her older sister Venus in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night. “It,” as Serena told Michael Barkann of USA, “sucks.” This pretty much sums up how most of the tennis world, inside and outside of the Williams family, has viewed the sisters’ 16 match-ups over the last decade.
Serena may not be happy about it, and I don’t blame her—Venus is a tough opponent—but are we still that bothered, from a psychological standpoint, about having to watch them play? Or have 10 years of hearing Mary Carillo say that she feels like she’s intruding on a family fight made us feel that way? While it may not be fun for Venus and Serena, it seems to be a fascinating spectacle for casual tennis fans. The all-Williams quarterfinal is guaranteed to garner higher ratings than any match at the Open, outside of the two finals. And I would argue that while the Williamses love each other and want the best for each other, they also want to beat each other as much if not more, than anyone else. Playing a family member must be hard, but it must be that much harder to lose to one. “Sibling rivalry” is not a common term for nothing. Serena’s personality seems to have been developed in the first place as a way to get out of her big sister’s shadow, to one-up her. When she lost to Venus at Wimbledon this year, Serena didn’t seem particularly overjoyed for Venus. She looked annoyed at herself for losing a match she thought she should have won.
Yes, there are drawbacks to a Williams vs. Williams match. First and foremost is the scream factor; I typically opt for the mute button. There is also, for obvious reasons, not a lot of stylistic contrast, though there’s more than you might think at first, considering that Serena’s specialty is attacking and Venus’ is running balls down—they just happen to do these things with similar techniques. I’ve always thought a bigger reason for their matches being scratchy from a quality standpoint is that, speedy players that they are, each sister tracks down balls that their other opponents don’t. This means fewer winners, and, eventually, more errors.
But this doesn’t mean it can’t be as compelling as any other match. What will Serena do differently? How will she counter the body serve Venus used at Wimbledon? Will Venus’ flat, counterpunching shots have the same effect they had on grass? Who can make the mental leap required to temporarily ignore the identity of their opponent and go for the throat? And if one does, will the other have the will to respond, rather than saying it just wasn’t her day. Despite how evenly matched these two are, only five of their 17 matches have gone to three sets. You get the feeling neither has wanted to prolong the agony.
