Rivalry Record

Prime rivalry: Serena and Venus prepare for No.31

The Williams sisters meet for the 31st time in the second round of Lexington today. Look back on all of their previous encounters dating back to 1998 here.

01 /30
Venus and Serena first met in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open. World No.53 Serena, making her Grand Slam debut, had upset No.6 seed Irina Spirlea in round one, but fell 7-6(4), 6-1 to World No.16 and eventual quarterfinalist Venus.

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02 /30
In the 1998 Rome quarterfinals, World No.31 Serena had just upset Conchita Martínez for her first Top 10 win on clay in her WTA debut on the surface, but fell 6-4, 6-2 to Venus, who went on to her own maiden clay final.

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03 /30
The sisters' third meeting was the first ever all-Williams final at Miami 1999, where Venus successfully defended her title with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 defeat of Serena - ending the latter's 16-match winning streak that had garnered her own two first trophies.

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04 /30
Serena, fresh off her first US Open title, defeated Venus 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the final of the 1999 Grand Slam Cup in Munich, a non-WTA invitational event for the year's best Grand Slam performers that was retroactively awarded official status.

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05 /30
In 2000, Venus mounted a comeback from wrist injuries to become a Grand Slam champion herself, with a 6-2, 7-6(3) defeat of Serena in the Wimbledon semifinals paving the way to the elder sister's first taste of major glory.

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06 /30
Venus was a dominant force in the game by the time of the first all-Williams Slam final at the 2001 US Open, which the No.4 seed won 6-2, 6-4 over tenth-seeded Serena to claim her fourth major trophy.

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07 /30
Serena's first official victory over Venus was a 6-2, 6-2 rout in the 2002 Miami semifinals - part of a stellar title run without the loss of a set to claim the first of eight tournament crowns, and the sisters' shortest match to date at 49 minutes.

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08 /30
Serena's irresistible 2002 form continued onto clay, where both sisters reached their first Roland Garros final - and No.3 seed Serena triumphed 7-5, 6-3 over No.2 seed Venus to capture her long-awaited second Grand Slam crown.

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09 /30
A few weeks later, World No.2 Serena reprised the result with an almost identical 7-6(4), 6-3 scoreline to dethrone defending champion and World No.1 Venus in the 2002 Wimbledon final - the first Grand Slam at which the sisters were the top two seeds.

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10 /30
A dominant title run without the loss of a set at the 2002 US Open for No.1 seed Serena culminated in a 6-4, 6-3 final victory over defending champion and No.2 seed Venus as the younger sister began to take control of the rivalry.

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11 /30
Serena completed her first 'Serena Slam' at the 2003 Australian Open after defeating Venus in a fourth straight major final, this time by a 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4 scoreline to hold all four Grand Slam crowns simultaneously.

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12 /30
Serena took the lead in their official rivalry for the first time with yet another triumph over Venus in a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon 2003, the younger Williams defending a major for the first time with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Venus.

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13 /30
Both sisters would battle injury for several years, and in the 2005 Miami quarterfinals Venus snapped her run of six losses to Serena with a 6-1, 7-6(8) victory, saving two set points in the second set.

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14 /30
In their earliest Grand Slam meeting in seven years in the fourth round of the 2005 US Open, No.10 seed Venus - who had won her first major in four years at Wimbledon that summer - edged No.8 seed Serena 7-6(5), 6-2.

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15 /30
The first of three deciding tiebreaks the sisters have played came in the semifinals of Bangalore 2008, where Serena saved a match point serving down 5-6 in the third set to defeat Venus 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4), going on to win her 29th title.

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16 /30
Venus won her fifth Wimbledon title without dropping a set in 2008, levelling her head-to-head against Serena at eight wins apiece with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in the final - the second and most recent time she has beaten her younger sister in a major final.

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17 /30
Serena regained the World No.1 ranking for the first time in five years after winning the 2008 US Open, including a 7-6(6), 7-6(7) quarterfinal defeat of Venus in which she saved three set points in the first set and seven in the second.

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18 /30
Venus delivered the only bagel set of their rivalry in the round robin stages of the 2008 Doha WTA Finals, triumphing 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 over Serena in the round-robin stages and going on to lift her first trophy at the season-ending championships.

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19 /30
The sisters would play five times in 2009, more than in any other year, and Venus edged the first 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(3) in the Dubai semifinals - snapping World No.1 Serena's 13-match winning streak en route to one of the same number of her own.

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20 /30
A few weeks later, Serena took revenge 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the 2009 Miami semifinals to end World No.6 Venus's 13-match winning streak - but the World No.1 would lose the final to Victoria Azarenka.

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21 /30
Serena reversed the previous year's Wimbledon final result in 2009, dethroning defending champion Venus 7-6(3), 6-2 to claim her own third crown at The Championships.

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22 /30
At two hours and 41 minutes, Serena's 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) marathon win over Venus in the round robin of the 2009 Doha WTA Finals - in which she saved a match point serving down 5-6 in the third set - is the longest match the sisters have contested to date.

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23 /30
Four days later, Serena faced defending champion Venus again in the final of the 2009 Doha WTA Finals, but enjoyed a less gruelling 6-2, 7-6(4) win to claim her first year-end championships crown in eight years.

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24 /30
The sisters have played just three times on clay, most recently in the semifinals of Charleston 2013 - their only meeting on green clay - won by Serena 6-1, 6-2 en route to her 49th career title.

Photo by Volvo Car Open/Alice Keeney

25 /30
Ranked World No.26, the unseeded Venus battled to a 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 upset of defending champion and World No.1 Serena - her fourth three-set victory of the week - in the 2014 Montréal semifinals, but lost the final to Agnieszka Radwanska.

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26 /30
Top seed Serena defeated No.16 seed Venus 6-4, 6-3 in the fourth round of Wimbledon 2015, going on to complete the last leg of her second 'Serena Slam' with her 21st Grand Slam title and sixth Wimbledon crown.

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27 /30
The sisters' most recent three-set encounter was in the quarterfinals of the 2015 US Open, which Serena took 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

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28 /30
The first all-Williams major final in eight years, and most recent, was at the 2017 Australian Open, where Serena's 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Venus secured her a record 23rd Grand Slam title - while eight weeks pregnant.

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29 /30
Having played each other in the last event before Serena's maternity leave, the sisters also squared off in the first tournament of her comeback, with Venus claiming her most recent win over Serena 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of Indian Wells 2018.

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30 /30
The Williams sisters' 30th encounter was in the third round of the 2018 US Open, which No.17 seed Serena won 6-1, 6-2 over No.16 seed Venus en route to her 31st Grand Slam final.

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