By the numbers: A look at the Williams sisters’ rivalry

Serena Williams, left, and sister Venus (Tim Ireland/AP)

Mark your calendars for something spectacular: Serena Williams and Venus Williams will face off in the Australian Open final, which airs at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT on Saturday morning.

It’s a dream matchup for tennis fans, whose reaction was likely something akin to Venus’s overjoyed celebration when she beat fellow American Coco Vandeweghe in the first semifinal on Thursday.

“No matter what happens, we’ve won,” said Serena in an on-court interview following her 6-2, 6-1 win over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the second semifinal. “A Williams is going to win this tournament.”

The occasion will mark the Williams sisters’ ninth meeting in a major final. Serena, 35, currently sits at No. 2 on the WTA Rankings, while Venus, 36, sits at No. 17. The elder Williams sister—whom Serena described as her “toughest opponent”—has not made a Grand Slam final since Wimbledon in 2009, when she lost in straight sets to Serena. The last time Venus made the Australian Open final was all the way back in 2003. She lost to Serena in that one, too.

Williams vs. Williams

In all, Serena and Venus have faced off 27 times. (The two were set to battle in the 2001 Indian Wells semifinal, but Venus withdrew shortly before the match was set to begin.) The younger Williams sister currently holds the lead in the all-time record with 16 wins and 11 losses.

Year Tournament Name Surface Round Winner Score
1998 Australian Open Hard Second Venus 7–6(4), 6–1
1999 Italian Open Clay Quarterfinal Venus 6–4, 6–2
1999 Lipton International Players Championships Hard Final Venus 6–1, 4–6, 6–4
1999 Grand Slam Cup Carpet Final Serena 6–1, 3–6, 6–3
2000 The Championships Grass Semifinal Venus 6–2, 7–6(3)
2001 Indian Wells Masters Hard Semifinal Serena Walkover
2001 US Open Hard Final Venus 6–2, 6–4
2002 NASDAQ-100 Open Hard Semifinal Serena 6–2, 6–2
2002 French Open Clay Final Serena 7–5, 6–3
2002 The Championships Grass Final Serena 7–6(4), 6–3
2002 US Open Hard Final Serena 6–4, 6–3
2003 Australian Open Hard Final Serena 7–6(4), 3–6, 6–4
2003 The Championships Grass Final Serena 4–6, 6–4, 6–2
2005 NASDAQ-100 Open Hard Quarterfinal Venus 6–1, 7–6(8)
2005 US Open Hard Fourth Venus 7–6(5), 6–2
2008 Bangalore Open Hard Semifinal Serena 6–3, 3–6, 7–6(4)
2008 The Championships Grass Final Venus 7–5, 6–4
2008 US Open Hard Quarterfinal Serena 7–6(6), 7–6(7)
2008 Sony Ericsson Championships Hard Round Robin Venus 5–7, 6–1, 6–0
2009 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships Hard Semifinal Venus 6–1, 2–6, 7–6(3)
2009 Sony Ericsson Open Hard Semifinal Serena 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
2009 The Championships Grass Final Serena 7–6(3), 6–2
2009 Sony Ericsson Championships Hard Round Robin Serena 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(4)
2009 Sony Ericsson Championships Hard Final Serena 6–2, 7–6(4)
2013 Family Circle Cup Clay Semifinal Serena 6–1, 6–2
2014 Rogers Cup Hard Semifinal Venus 6–7(2), 6–2, 6–3
2015 The Championships Grass Fourth Serena 6–4, 6–3
2015 US Open Hard Quarterfinal Serena 6–2, 1–6, 6–3

WTA Rankings

Here’s a look at the sisters’ year-end WTA rankings over the course of their careers thus far.

Venus Serena
1995 205
1996 216
1997 22 99
1998 5 20
1999 3 4
2000 3 6
2001 3 6
2002 2 1
2003 11 3
2004 9 7
2005 10 11
2006 46 95
2007 8 7
2008 6 2
2009 6 1
2010 5 4
2011 102 12
2012 24 3
2013 49 1
2014 18 1
2015 7 1
2016 17 2

Venus has never won the Australian Open, and she hasn’t won a Grand Slam title in almost nine years. Serena, on the other hand, has won the tournament six times. Should she take the victory on Saturday—as she’s favoured to—she’ll have earned her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, an Open-era record.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.