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The 2001 US Open will go down as one of the most momentous occasions in sporting history. Although it took a week for the tournament to warm up, it sizzled with the top stars in action during the second week of the event, and concluded with a showdown between two of the most enigmatic and feted personalities in sports today – the Williams sisters.
The Williams sisters had been much maligned for their on-and-off-court bravado, their predictions about being #1 and #2 in the world before accomplishing anything in the tennis world, their predictions about dominating the Grand Slams and the professional tennis tour for that matter. Perhaps they foresaw something very early on that the tennis world couldn’t. Or perhaps the tennis world was in disbelief that two African American girls raised in Compton, California, coached by their parents and who had barely played in competition tennis as children, could make it onto the grandest of stages. That time has come. The critics are eating their words and the Williamses are running all the way to the bank – quite literally too, as the sisters pocketed over $1 million for their efforts over the fortnight. The days when they boldly predicted they would be meeting in Grand Slam finals seem like an eternity ago but have fully come into fruition as Venus and Serena Williams created history by reaching the a grand slam singles final at the 2001 US Open – the only siblings to do so in the Open era. Both sisters charged through the draw like leopards out for prey. As the draws were established, the possibility and the likelihood of an all-Williams final was strongly touted around, and the early rounds were an ominous sign that this was bound to happen. Venus charged through to the final without losing a single set while Serena fought her way through a tough draw, beating the higher ranked players Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis in consecutive demolishing displays. Onlookers wanted a good match but history foretold that the likelihood of that occurrence was rather minimal. Both sisters, understandably, produce more nerves and more psychological pressure than against any other player on the tour. Nevertheless, the quality of the match was a lot higher than previous encounters, with Venus playing a smart, steady power game throughout the match while Serena made it her choice to be the aggressor. Serena’s tactic opened a quick start for her as she held serve comfortably and then proceeded to obtain a break point against her sister’s serve. After Venus held her opening service game, Serena’s game faltered as her power baseline shots became erratic. She produced too many errors as she pressed, burdened with the task of trying to combat her sister’s superior speed, reach and power. It was not enough as Venus played a tactically superior match, allowing her sister to make the mistakes as she kept on the steady, consistent pace reminiscent throughout her entire title run. Go To Page: 1 2
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