It’s safe to say that no sister act has ever been a bigger hit on the New York Stage than Venus and Serena Williams. The two marquee-topping champions have combined for a total of eight US Open singles titles, with Serena capturing six and Venus, two. In the weeks leading up to the 2022 US Open, Hall of Fame tennis writer Steve Flink will be recounting each of those remarkable title runs. In this installment, Flink takes a look at the way Serena raised her game to raise the trophy in 2002.
At the tail end of the 1990s and the outset of a new decade, there was no more arresting story in tennis—and arguably in all of sports—than the growing stature of two sisters who rose from meager beginnings in California to the highest levels of their profession. Venus Williams led the way at 17 in 1997, surging into the US Open final when she was ranked No. 66 in the world, establishing herself as the first unseeded woman to reach the title round in the Open Era, and as the first woman since Pam Shriver in 1978 to get that far at Flushing Meadows in her debut. Two years later, her younger sister Serena came through to take the title magnificently when she was 17 in 1999. Venus secured her first US Open singles title in 2000 to cap a scintillating summer.
And then in 2001, the two dynamic sisters found themselves on opposite sides of the net in the first ever prime-time women's final in New York, with Venus deservedly claiming the crown.
The most renowned siblings in the world of sports had been front and center at four of the five previous US Opens. But now, in 2002, they loomed even larger over the field. For the first time ever, they were the two top-seeded players at their country’s Grand Slam showcase event. At the Australian Open that year, Serena had been injured and absent, while Venus was upended in the quarterfinals by a resurgent Monica Seles, suffering her only loss in 10 career showdowns against the great left-hander.
Thereafter, the Williams sisters took over unwaveringly at the majors. Serena toppled Venus in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. They were the pace setters on both the clay courts of Paris and the lawns of Wimbledon. Over the summer on the hard courts in the U.S., Venus was the victor in three WTA tournaments en route to the US Open at Stanford, San Diego and New Haven.
Serena did not win any hard court tournaments in that span and played very little, losing a hard-fought quarterfinal to Chanda Rubin in Los Angeles. But her self-belief was soaring after her exploits at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. While Venus was dominating the hard court summer circuit and raking in titles left and right, Serena had one central objective: to save her best for the one event that counted irrevocably, to make certain she was ready to secure a second US Open and a third consecutive major title.
Top-seeded Serena swept through her first five matches on her way to the semifinals without a hint of hesitation, conceding only 14 games across 10 immaculate sets. In the penultimate round, she knocked out No. 4 seed and 1998 US Open champion Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-5 as they clashed for the fourth year in a row at Flushing Meadows. In eclipsing her countrywoman for the third time in those four contests, Serena was unstoppable after building a 3-0 first set lead, but she trailed 2-5 in the second set as Davenport thoroughly found her range. With typical resolve, Serena captured five games in a row to avoid a third set, willfully taking eight of the last 10 points to finish the task and make it to another final.
Venus was tested comprehensively by the No. 14 seed Chanda Rubin before prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the fourth round. After accounting for Seles in straight sets, Venus then had a riveting semifinal duel with the gifted Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo. Serving for the match at 5-4 in the final set, Venus was down 0-40, but she called on her potent first serve to get her out of danger, taking five points in a row to close out the account on her terms 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Venus was not at her best throughout that encounter but she was not found wanting when she needed to summon her signature shots at pivotal moments. Venus was unshakable when the stakes were highest.
And so the two best players in the world would indeed play each other in a third straight Grand Slam final and a second Prime Time women’s final in a row at the US Open. Not since 1987— when Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf battled in the Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open finals—had the same two players met in three consecutive women’s Grand Slam tournament finals.
But clearly a role reversal had taken place. Venus was essentially the same prodigious player she had been in 2000 and 2001 when she won four majors and back to back Wimbledon and US Open titles. But Serena had improved decidedly since 2001 and she was playing the most disciplined, diversified and dazzling tennis of her career. She had not dropped a set against Venus in either the Roland Garros or Wimbledon finals. Moreover, she had also defeated her big sister in their first encounter of the year at Miami 6-2, 6-2. That string of triumphs had altered the rivalry decidedly and now Venus held only a 5-4 lead in their career series.
After her semifinal victory at the US Open, Serena looked ahead to her appointment with Venus and admitted that she had been too sure of herself the previous year when she lost to her sister. As Serena explained, “I think I was overconfident coming into that match because I had just beaten Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport. I’m not overconfident this year at all. Venus has been playing great all summer so I know she might have a bit of an edge coming into the final. Let’s see what happens.”
Serena’s modesty and sensible caution may have made a significant difference. She was taking nothing for granted and giving Venus the respect that her sister deserved. In sharp contrast with the 2001 final when Venus was more sound from the backcourt and served much better under pressure, this time around it was Serena who was unmistakably superior in both departments. In many ways, the 2002 final was as one-sided as the 2001 title round duel, but in this case it was Serena who was in control of the contest. Serena returned with much more authority because she could read her sister’s toss regularly and then pound the ball deep down the middle, or into the corners, unrelentingly.
Serena broke Venus five times across two sets and lost her own serve only once. She served only one double fault, 10 less than Venus. Venus was fully aware that Serena was prepared to hit scorching second serve returns every chance she got and her eleven double faults were largely caused by the realization that Serena would expose her most glaring weakness. Venus also made 14 more unforced errors than her sister and that statistic may have been the most telling. When the two sisters went forehand to forehand in the blazing baseline exchanges, it was Serena who prevailed more often than not.
Victory went to Serena—6-4, 6-3. She was simply too good in every facet of the game. It was a first rate performance. As Venus said accurately afterwards, “Serena was the best player the whole tournament this year. I have to give it to her for that. My game went down after the fourth round and I just couldn’t do a thing to bring it back up.”
That comment from Venus was heartfelt and valid, but the fact remained that Serena had taken four matches and eight sets in a row on three different surfaces over her sister. Venus had fought ferociously in every match with an undiminished spirit, but a sea change had occurred.
Now Serena was a different player, the greatest in the game by far. She could go toe to toe with her sister, and then some. Her shot selection had improved immeasurably. Her serve was better located than Venus’s and she could find the corners with uncanny regularity when it mattered most. Still only 20 at the 2002 US Open, Serena had matured immeasurably. She had the world at her feet and the sport at her beck and call. It seemed entirely possible that Serena would be almost unbeatable for years to come at the US Open.
That would not be the case. She did overcome Venus at the 2003 Australian Open to complete what many playfully called a “Serena Slam,” and, after losing in the semifinals at Roland Garros, ruled at Wimbledon again with another triumph over Venus in the final. They had met in five of the last six major finals at that time, with Serena winning every one of those skirmishes.
But, for a multitude of reasons, times would change and Serena would not win the US Open again for longer than she could ever have imagined. But at the 2002 US Open, she was invincible—collecting the title without losing a set in seven matches, raising her game automatically for the big points, and unleashing a brand of tennis that was better than anything she had produced before.
