Tuesday, September 8^th, in the quarter finals of the U.S. Open, the Williams sisters played their 5^th U.S. Open match against each other. Serena, the younger of the two, is the stronger, higher ranked player in the match up, but playing her sister added a new mental component into the match.

Although Venus was by far the underdog, she fought hard and did not give Serena any easy points. After losing the first set to Serena, she came back strong to win the second set. Serena then dominated the third set with an overall match score of 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. Serena took her win with class saying, “It’s really a great moment, the toughest player I’ve ever played in my life and the best person I know” in an interview after the match. She added, “It’s going against your best friend, and at the same time going against the greatest competitor in women’s tennis for me, so it was really difficult today.” It was clear neither sister was showing mercy towards the other, staying intense the whole time, and even questioning line calls. Venus comments, “When I’m playing her, I don’t think of her as my sister.” They both gave it everything they had and showed no mercy towards the other, Venus just could not keep up with number one in the world.

Although this could be one of the best Williams matches, it is certainly not the first. The sisters met for the first time professionally in 1998, at the Australian open. Venus easily won this match in straight sets. Serena now has a winning record over Venus (16-11), but this did not make playing her older sister an easy match up for Serena.  She said, “The only player in the draw I don’t want to play, not only because she’s my sister, but for me she’s the best player… she’s beaten me so many times.” She also adds, “She’s the player that knows how to win, knows how to beat me, and knows my weaknesses better than anyone.”  Before their professional career, the sister’s trained together under the coaching of their parents and faced each other in many junior tournaments.

The Williams sisters are an overall incredible duo, both holding number one in the world ranking during their careers, holding the number one rank together in doubles, and both earning medals for the United States in the Olympics.