Arguably the most successful sisters not only in the history of tennis, but perhaps world sport, the Venus and Serena Williams will reignite a long-standing sibling rivalry when they clash in the women’s final of the 2017 Australian Open this Saturday night.
Serena vs Venus live scores, blog
In one corner is Venus, who has defied her age, a near career-ending illness earlier this decade and those who believed she was past her best, to return to her first major final since 2009 and first at the Australian Open since 2003.
In the other corner is the all-conquering Serena Williams, who has also come back strongly from a career-threatening injury, in this case a serious foot injury which put her out of action for nearly twelve months between July 2010 and July 2011.
Both sisters have clearly shown over the past fortnight why they deserve to be battling it out for the title this Saturday night, with only one set lost and three seeds faced between them in the run to the final.
The only seed Venus had to face was 24th-seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her quarter-final, while the only set she lost was the first one in her semi-final against compatriot Coco Vandeweghe.
Serena, on the other hand, repeated her feat of not dropping a set en route to the final for the second consecutive year (which she eventually lost to Kerber) and only had to face two seeds, 16th-seeded Barbora Strycova in the fourth round and ninth seed Johanna Konta in the quarter-finals.
The younger of the sisters has also won most of her sets in straight-forward fashion, only being taken beyond ten games in the first set of her match against Strycova, where she required eight set points before taking it 7-5.
The 35-year-old put in her most dominant performance yet in her semi-final match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, dropping just three games. That followed her 6-2, 6-3 dismissal of Konta in the quarter-finals.
History is on the line for the younger sister, who by claiming a 23rd major singles title will not only move into outright second on the all-time Grand Slam leaderboard (and therefore close in on the record of 24 held by Margaret Court) but also reclaim the world number one ranking from dethroned champion Angelique Kerber.
However, in what could be a case of friendly fire, 36-year-old Venus will be out to prevent that from happening as she attempts to end a major drought dating back to Wimbledon 2008, in which she beat her younger sister in the final.
Her illness and injury woes in recent years have been well-documented, but that has not prevented her from returning to the form that saw her win seven major titles, as well as the gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
At age 36, she also becomes the oldest ever female finalist at the Australian Open, proving that age is indeed no barrier and only just a number.
But does she have what it takes to win her ninth major title, or will Serena close in on history and reclaim the top ranking she rather carelessly lost (by double-faulting to lose her match against Karolina Pliskova) at the US Open last September?
All is set for what will be an intriguing battle between the Williams sisters to decide the first major champion for 2017. Here is the all-important information you need to know entering Saturday night’s Australian Open women’s final.
[13] Venus Williams (USA) versus [2] Serena Williams (USA)
Saturday, January 28
Not before 7:30pm
Rod Laver Arena
Head-to-head
All matches: Serena 16-11
At Grand Slams: Serena 9-5
In Grand Slam finals: Serena 6-2
At the Australian Open: Tied, 1-all
In all finals: Serena 8-3
Last meeting: Serena won 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, quarter-finals, 2015 US Open
Last meeting at the Australian Open: 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4
Venus Williams’ road to the final
Round 1: defeated Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
Round 2: defeated [Q] Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 6-3, 6-2
Round 3: defeated Duan Yingying (CHN) 6-1, 6-0
Round 4: defeated [Q] Mona Barthel (GER) 6-3, 7-5
Quarter-finals: defeated [24] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
Semi-finals: defeated Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-3
Serena Williams’ road to the final
Round 1: defeated Belinda Bencic (SUI) 6-4, 6-3
Round 2: defeated Lucie Safarova (CZE) 6-3, 6-4
Round 3: defeated Nicole Gibbs (USA) 6-1, 6-3
Round 4: defeated [16] Barbora Strycova (CZE) 7-5, 6-4
Quarter-finals: defeated [9] Johanna Konta (GBR) 6-2, 6-3
Semi-finals: defeated Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 6-2, 6-1
Stats that matter
* This will be Serena Williams’ eighth Australian Open final and 29th Grand Slam final, while for Venus Williams this will be her second Australian Open final and 15th Grand Slam final overall, but first since Wimbledon 2009.
* Williams has won six of her seven previous Australian Open finals, with her solitary loss coming last year when she lost to Angelique Kerber in three sets.
* This will be the ninth time the Williams sisters have met in a Grand Slam final, and the fifteenth in any Grand Slam match. Serena leads both categories 6-2 and 9-5 respectively.
* This will be their twelfth meeting in any final, but first since the 2009 WTA Tour Championships. Serena leads this category 8-3.
* This is the first Grand Slam final between the two sisters since Wimbledon in 2009 and first at the Australian Open since 2003. Moreover, this is also the first all-American Australian Open final since 2005.
* This will be just their third meeting at the Australian Open. They are tied 1-all; Venus winning a second round match in 1998 and Serena winning the final in 2003 to complete the “Serena Slam” at just 21 years of age.
* Venus Williams is the only player to beat Serena Williams more than once in a Grand Slam final. Her victories came at the 2001 US Open, and at Wimbledon in 2008, which stands as her most recent Grand Slam title; as such, she will be attempting to end a major drought of eight-and-a-half years.
* Despite her dominance at the Australian Open, Serena has never won the title here without dropping a set. The last woman to do this was Maria Sharapova in 2008; that year, she was taken to 7-5 just once, in the final against Ana Ivanovic.
* Should Serena prevail in straight sets, she will win her first Grand Slam tournament without losing a set for the first time since the 2014 US Open. Victory would also see her regain the world number one ranking from Angelique Kerber.
Prediction
Serena in three sets.
Meanwhile, Roger Federer is the first man through into Sunday night’s men’s final following his five-set victory over Stan Wawrinka in last night’s men’s semi-final.
The Swiss won the opening two sets, but then produced what commentators Todd Woodbridge and Lleyton Hewitt described as “his worst ever set of tennis” before also dropping the fourth to ensure the match was to be decided in a fifth set.
A crucial break in the sixth game of the final set proved enough for the 17-times major champion to advance to his sixth Australian Open final, but first since 2010, and his 28th major final overall.
He now awaits the winner of the other semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov and will have the edge of a 24-hour advantage over his potential opponent.
If it is Nadal whom Federer faces, then the retro takeover of this year’s Australian Open will be complete, given the Williams sisters will be contesting tomorrow night’s final.
The extra day’s break will not mean anything, given Federer did lose to Nadal in that epic 2009 final which didn’t finish until just after midnight. It remains his only defeat in an Australian Open final, having won on his other four attempts.
Match to watch on Day 12
Rod Laver Arena
Not before 7:30pm
[9] Rafael Nadal (ESP) versus [15] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Rafael Nadal has hailed the brilliance of Alex de Minaur, calling him "a great player" after the Australian forced the Spanish legend to say…
The clay season promises to be one of high level and tight margins. With the Monte Carlo open just around the corner, it will…
In incredible scenes, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz's quarter-final clash with Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells was halted abruptly due to a "bee invasion." Less…
Marathon man Jordan Thompson has finally clinched his first ATP Tour title, with the Australian upsetting Norwegian Casper Ruud to lift the trophy in…
Alex de Minaur has earned the perfect 25th birthday present, booking a place in the final of the Rotterdam Open with an emphatic revenge…
While watching the recent Australian Tennis Open I became obsessively fixated on the same thought. Why has no one done a television biopic or…
