With the current suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours, we are opening up our US Open vault to bring you full match videos of classic encounters through the years in New York.
Watch on YouTube: Venus Williams vs. Mary Joe Fernandez, 1999 US Open fourth round
Venus Williams and Mary Joe Fernandez met just once on the singles court. Fittingly for the American women, that encounter came at the US Open in 1999.
Williams, then 19, was playing in her third US Open, having reached the final in her 1997 debut and the semis in 1998. Fernandez, then 28, was on the opposite end of her career, competing at the US Open for the 13th and final time. Unseeded, she upset No. 13 Dominique Van Roost (now Monami) in Round 3 for what would be her last career WTA singles win.
Looking to knock off the third-seeded Williams, Fernandez took the opening set in commanding fashion, before the youngster took over in sets two and three. Williams ultimately reached the semifinals, falling in three sets to world No. 1 Martina Hingis. Serena Williams then defeated Hingis in the final to claim her first major singles title.
Venus and Fernandez also met in the US Open doubles draw in 1999, Venus with sister Serena, and Fernandez with Monica Seles. The Williams sisters won that all-American quarterfinal battle and went on to claim the doubles title in New York, the second of their 14 Grand Slam doubles crowns. Fernandez split four career doubles meetings against the Williams sisters, playing with four different partners.
The complete Williams-Fernandez showdown will premiere Sunday on the USTA YouTube channel.
