The Hindu : Serena wins the Sister Act at Roland Garros

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 09, 2002

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Serena wins the Sister Act at Roland Garros

PARIS, June 8. Serena Williams made the most of her older sister's shaky serve and beat Venus 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to win the French Open in their second sibling Grand Slam final in nine months.

Serena won seven straight games at one juncture and broke Venus' serve six straight times to win the first set and go up 4-1 in the second during an error-filled match at Roland Garros.

Venus beat Serena 6-2, 6-4 to win her second U.S. Open last September, but on the slower clay, she couldn't find the consistency against her sister, who at age 20 is 15 months younger.

After holding serve to go up 5-3, Serena pumped her fists, knowing she was one game away from winning her first Grand Slam since capturing the 1999 U.S. Open.

She then broke Venus for the eighth time to complete the victory, holding her arms aloft, bending over at the waist and then going to the net to hug her sister.

``I just want to thank Venus for supporting me all the way and just being the best sister in the whole world,'' Serena said, while addressing the crowd at the trophy presentation.

It was a sloppy match, perhaps because of the emotion that comes with playing a family member.

Venus had nine double faults and 47 unforced errors. Serena double faulted five times and made 54 unforced errors.

``I think that both of us wanted to win so much we were a little tight out there,'' Venus said after picking up a camera and taking pictures of Serena in the post-match ceremony.

Serena broke to take a 6-5 lead in the first set when Venus missed a running forehand volley at the net. Serena fought off two break points in the 12th game, finally capturing the first set with a strong serve and then forehand put-away.

``If I had not held my serve there, it would have been a tough tiebreaker,'' Serena said.

The first set took 63 minutes, the second 28 minutes.

``It was a tough match and I think the best player won. I did my best,'' Venus said.

Venus will be No. 1 when the rankings are released next week and Serena will move up to second, making Saturday's match-up even more intriguing.

Venus, who has won the last two Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles, practised with her sister just hours before the match. So they know each other's games as well as anyone could.

Venus leads the overall series 5-3, but Serena has won the last two.

Their match at the U.S. Open was the first Grand Slam final meeting of siblings since Maud Watson beat sister Lillian at Wimbledon in 1884

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