WHAT HAPPENED EXACTLY ON THAT DAY
On this day, March 28, 1999, at the Miami Open, Venus and Serena Williams became the first sisters in the Open Era to face each other in a WTA final. Venus prevailed 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, but it was not the outcome that made that day memorable in tennis history. The final marked the start of a new era of tennis dominated by the Williams sisters – long predicted by their father, Richard, who had always claimed one day his daughters would compete for the world No 1 spot.
THE PLAYERS INVOLVED: VENUS AND SERENA WILLAMS
Venus Williams – seven-time major champion
Venus Williams was born in 1980. Coached by her father, Richard, she was heralded as a tennis prodigy since her first steps on the tour in 1994 – when the teenager made a strong impression, beating world No 59 Shaun Stafford, 6-3, 6-4, before leading 6-3, 3-1 against world No 1 Arantxa Sanchez (Venus eventually lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-0). However, it was not until 1997 that she broke into the top 100 by obtaining her first significant result at Indian Wells, reaching the quarter-finals after defeating world No 9 Iva Majoli 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. She drew a lot of attention to herself thanks to her powerful groundstrokes, mixed with her charisma and the heavy promotion made by her father.
Her younger sister, Serena, was also beginning a career in professional tennis, and their father had boldly predicted that one day they would face each other in a Grand Slam final. In September of 1997, Venus reached the final at the US Open, where she was defeated by Martina Hingis in the youngest final in the tournament’s history (6-0, 6-4). She claimed her first three titles in 1998 — in Oklahoma City, Miami, and the Grand Slam Cup, and in major tournaments she reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, and Wimbledon before making her way into the US Open semi-finals (defeated by Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 6-4). At the end of the season she was world No 5.
Serena Williams, born in 1981, is the youngest of the Williams family. Her older sister, Venus, at the start of her career in 1997 had declared that her main rival for world No 1 would be none other than Serena. At the time, the tennis experts did not know whether she was joking or just being provocative. They soon discovered how serious Venus was, as Serena made her first world-class performance the same year, in November, in Scottsdale.
At the age of 16 and ranked No 304, she came out of qualifying and went on to the semi-final by beating No 7 Mary Pierce 6-3, 7-6 and No 4 Monica Seles 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. In 1998 she beat several top 10 players – including world No 3 Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals of the Sydney Open (1-6, 7-5, 7-5). Serena also reached the quarter-finals several times to end the season as world No 20. But it was 1999 that became her true breakthrough year. In February she claimed her first title in Paris Coubertin at the age of 17, defeating local favourite Amélie Mauresmo 6-2, 3-6, 7-6. Two weeks later she triumphed at Indian Wells, beating former No 1 Steffi Graf in the final (6-3, 3-6, 7-5). She held the 16th spot in the WTA rankings heading into Miami.
