[mysterious music playing]
[Serena Williams] I think it's very hard
to be the youngest sometimes
[camera shutter clicks]
when you grow up with a sister
that's older and that's taller
and that's so strong
and such a great athlete.
[overlapping voices]
[man] Venus Williams.
[Serena] Everyone bought into
the greatness of Venus, including me.
[commentator] This is one
that will go down
in the annals of history.
The Williams sisters are playing today.
Hi. I'm Venus Williams.
And I am Serena Williams.
Now I play her.
And she plays me.
[Serena] Trying to beat your best friend
and to play someone
that you really cared about
[yells indistinctly]
[court announcer]
Game. Set. Match.
it's the craziest emotional feeling
that I've ever had.
You're out there doing
something you don't wanna do,
but you have to do it.
[commentator] Venus is the winner.
6-1, 4-6 and 6-4.
[Serena] No matter what I did,
I couldn't get over the hump
of being able
to beat Venus Williams.
[music continues]
[court announcer]
Game, set, and championship, Williams.
[cheers and applause]
6-4, 7-6.
[reporter] If you watched it,
it had you in a trance.
What were the chances Serena could go
from the public courts
of Compton, California,
to center court at the U.S. Open
and walk off a winner in her first try,
something her big sis, Venus,
could not do against Hingis
two years ago.
[Serena]
After I won the Open in '99,
I felt like people
started to see me as
obviously a threat.
They saw me as a threat already
'cause I had been winning tournaments,
but when you win a Grand Slam,
people see you differently.
Even if it's just one time,
people and players
want to say that they beat
a Grand Slam champion.
[yelling indistinctly]
[commentator] Serena Williams,
the U.S. Open champion of 1999,
is out of the 2000 Australian Open
[Serena] 2000 was definitely
a lot more pressure.
And when you're performing with people
trying to g*n at you
with an "X" on your back,
you have to always perform better.
-[grunting]
-[court announcer] And game.
[commentator] Serena needs to get back
to the practice courts
and get better for next week.
I think I had just turned 18.
[laughing] So
it's pretty young
to be all of a sudden, like,
thrust into the spotlight.
The fact that I had won a Grand Slam,
and maybe people saw so much potential,
they were just like,
"Oh, she should be winning everything."
[commentator] Up next for Serena,
her big sister, Venus Williams.
[Serena]
After I won the U.S. Open,
people were very concerned
about how was Venus.
I felt the same way.
I was concerned about how is she
because she's the phenom.
It was all about Venus.
[commentator] Venus still in search
of her first Grand Slam
while Serena won
the U.S. Open last year.
[Serena] But I do believe that
it was an opportunity for
Venus to look inside herself
and say, "I should be doing better.
I can be doing better,
and I will do better."
[grunting]
[crowd cheering]
[commentator]
Serena double-faulted to end things,
and Venus is the winner in Singles.
[Venus] When I lost that match
at the U.S. Open,
I made up my mind that
it didn't matter what it took,
I was going to do
the right thingto win.
I wasn't gonna be afraid
or whatever it was.
[crowd cheering]
I was like, this is
the last time in my life
I'm gonna let this happen.
[crowd cheering]
I immediately wanted more
and better for myself.
Immediately.
[commentator]
Championship point.
[grunts]
[cheers and applause]
[Serena] I think I was
probably happier than her
when she won Wimbledon,
because then I felt like,
okay, I'm not stealing anything.
[commentator 2]
Making her way to family and friends
to share the moment.
[Serena] I think she was
so motivated to win.
She was so motivated to say,
"I'm better than Serena,"
which, quite frankly,
I think she was at that time.
After she won Wimbledon,
Venus started basically winning a lot.
[Venus] I'd made up my mind.
I'd put in the work,
and I was ready to go.
I felt like I was the best player.
-[grunts]
-[crowd cheering]
[court announcer
speaks indistinctly]
[yells indistinctly]
[crowd roars]
I was still intense
and still winning matches,
just not winning Grand Slams.
[announcer]
Davenport took Serena out,
and then Venus got ticked off
and took Hingis out.
So that's what we have.
We have Davenport taking on Venus.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Match point
coming for Venus Williams.
She's got it. It's sister, sister
in the 21st century.
[Serena] I think everyone expected Venus
to win a Grand Slam before me,
so things for me felt out of balance.
Then, when she won the Open,
it felt like,
okay, this is the order it should be in.
Venus has two Grand Slams.
Serena has one.
This is how it should be.
I didn't know that the balance
wasn't there, so [laughs]
I was just trying to get the best
out of myself the whole time.
Serena has a lot more
emotional intelligence than I do,
so I can see how she would
see things different
or perceive them different than I would.
[reporter] Venus has agreed
to a five-year
$40 million endorsement deal
with Reebok,
richest endorsement deal ever
for a female athlete.
[Venus] I think Serena
actually helped me to get
to the level I needed to get to.
[court announcer]
Game, set, match.
Ms. Williams, two sets to one.
[reporter] Venus Williams
successfully defends
her Wimbledon title,
defeating Justine Henin.
[commentator] Now Venus Williams has won
two Wimbledons in a row.
She won the U.S. Open last year.
[interviewer]
What kind of advantage is it
for you all to be traveling
together on the tour,
to have a built-in best friend
who's, oh, by the way
[Venus] Built-in best friend,
built-in hitting partner,
built-in alarm clock,
built-in doubles partner.
Everything is built-in
[laughs] so it's great.
[serene music playing]
[Serena] Venus and I
ended up moving out
of mymy dad's house at that point.
We built this house,
and she had her side,
and I had my side,
and then the middle was
the kitchen and
the living room and the TV,
and it was everything.
[laughter]
We spent so many amazing moments there.
[screams and laughter]
It was a funhouse.
I keep finding my things
in her closet. [laughs]
[screams and laughter]
We had fun. We did everything together.
We had the best time,
and I think during that time,
we were so similar,
even though we were very different,
because we spent so much time together,
so it made us, like,
like the same things,
like the same music,
or she was just copying
the music I liked. I don't know.
If it wasn't for them,
I would have never picked up a guitar.
-Are you sure?
-I'm positive.
You did because I started
taking lessons.
No, I-I got because of them, and then
[Serena] We literally did
everything together.
[laughs]
It made me grow this intense
relationship with Venus.
She was my best friend.
To be that young, like,
living with your sister
was like a dream come true.
It was really fun.
I have to say, it was really fun.
She works way harder than I do.
We'll be at our house,
and she'll just be
working on this and working
on that, and I'm like,
"Venus, why don't you just
watch TV with us?"
And she's working, and so I really
sometimes it really
annoys the heck out of me.
[Serena] When I was not really on tour,
I would just watch TV all day. All day.
And I remember one day,
Venus coming home
'cause she started
to go to Art Institute.
She's like, "You know what?
I signed you up for school."
And I'm like, "What?"
And she's like, "Yeah,
I signed you up for school
'cause you're not gonna
sit in front of the TV
and waste your life away." [laughs]
[Venus] I ended up getting
this letter in the mail,
and it said, "Come to fashion school."
And so I wanted to go.
I told Serena, and I also
loved interior design,
but she liked fashion,
so we could do fashion together,
so I chose to do fashion, too.
[Serena] Growing up,
I've always loved fashion.
My mom used to make our clothes,
so I kind of learned how to
sew at a very, very early age.
I'm talking, like, three, four,
I was knew how to sew already.
[Venus] I would correct her garments
because she'd cut her patterns
too fast and they wouldn't be correct.
So then I would sew it to make it fit,
and then she would put my zipper in.
And so we had an exchange. [laughs]
[Serena] I think that was really
important for me to feel like
I wasn't missing out on too much
and kind of have a little bit
of dose of reality
before going into something
that was so unbelievably intense.
[exciting music playing]
[reporter] It's always great
if the winners
of the past two U.S. Opens
meet each other in the Final.
It would be even sweeter
this year, considering
the last two winners
of the U.S. Open are sisters.
[Serena] Going into the U.S. Open
of 2001,
we were on opposite sides of the draw,
so there was chatter of, like,
okay, this can happen. This can happen.
People wanted to see this face-off of
Venus and Serena in the Finals,
but not just any final.
Like, we want the best
and the biggest stakes.
We want it to be at a Grand Slam.
[crowd shouting]
It was something that we
always knew would happen,
and we were kind of
working towards that.
[racket hits ball]
[commentator] Venus Williams has won 18
of the last 19 matches.
She is cruising
[court announcer] Venus Williams
into the quarterfinals,
joining her sister Serena.
It would definitely mean a lot.
We'd get a monopoly on
the U.S. Open, so [giggles]
we're trying to do that.
[court announcer]
Game, set, match, Williams.
[Roberts]
Sisters Serena and Venus Williams
are both one victory away from meeting
in the primetime Final at the U.S. Open.
[Serena] A lot of people
didn't realize about myself
and Venus is that we actually stayed
in the same house for that tournament.
And not only that, like,
we practiced at the same time.
-We hit with each other.
-[crowd cheering]
[court announcer]
Game, set, match, Williams.
[commentator] And that's it.
Serena Williams
and Venus Williams will meet
for the U.S. Open
Women's Singles title
[Venus] I probably would
have done things different.
I think I would have
warmed up separately
to try to separate some of that.
[reporter] The Williams sisters have
advanced to the Final.
They're the first set of sisters to play
in a Grand Slam championship final
since Maud and Lilian Watson
in the 1884 Wimbledon Championships.
No matter the winner,
the U.S. Open title will belong
to the house of Williams
for a third straight year.
[wondrous music playing]
[Serena] Going into the final,
I was excited.
I was like, okay, I'm back in the final,
and I want to win, but, man, this was
It was such a big moment.
I feel like the U.S. Open never had
a moment like that for a final.
[crowd cheering]
And they created,
like, a whole show around us.
[commentator] We welcome you
to this big night in history.
You can see a sellout crowd,
23,000 fans
They had it moved to primetime,
which was crazy in itself
because never have
women's tennis been primetime,
going against, like, football matches
that were huge, you know?
And then they had us.
It was like, wow, like, whowho are we?
[playing fanfare]
Diana Ross performed.
It was such a crazy, crazy, big moment.
[fireworks squealing and popping]
[commentator]
Pyrotechnics from above.
This is like the World Series.
[Serena] A lot of my friends
were coming,
and I remember, like, thinking about
like, oh, my God,
will there be enough tickets?
I just remember Venus
being more focused than me
and not worrying
about tickets and stuff.
Personally, too much hype for me.
I don't need all that hype.
I didn't like it.
So, yeah, that part,
that wasn't what
I was necessarily there for.
[commentator]
At one point earlier this week,
Serena Williams said, "It seems like
it's everyone against us,"
uh, and that's a burden
to carry for these two,
but now it's each of them
against each other
for the Open championship.
Serena Williams to serve first.
[exciting music playing]
[grunts]
[cheers and applause]
[Venus] For me, it wasn't
about playing my sister.
It was about me having
the best performance possible
and winning a Grand Slam.
[grunts]
[cheers and applause]
It's very difficult to play
your best friend
and to play someone
that you really cared about
and that you live with,
for crying out loud.
-[horn sounds]
-[commentator] No.
Double fault by Serena Williams,
and so Venus leads 5-2 in the first set.
[Serena] I don't see or feel much
about whatever's going on around me.
It was all very insular for me.
[grunting]
-[wails]
-[crowd roars]
[court announcer]
Game, Venus Williams.
[crowd cheering]
[Serena] And she's seeing,
like, everything 360.
[grunting]
[crowd cheering]
I guess it shows how we're different,
even though we're very much the same.
[grunting]
[Serena] It was mental.
[yells indistinctly]
Honestly, I never believed
I could beat Venus.
-[grunts]
-[crowd cheering]
[court announcer] Game, set, match,
Venus Williams [indistinct]
6-2, 6-4.
[commentator] The first primetime
Women's Grand Slam final
goes to Venus.
Her second straight Open.
Fourth Grand Slam.
I can't say I enjoyed it.
I did what I had to do.
[chuckles] I won one against her, um
but it wasn't, like, that much fun.
It was just, like, crazy.
[commentator] Tough moment
for Serena Williams
as she'll sit down next to her sister.
Does your shoulder hurt?
I'm just falling apart.
I wasn't happy, but it was okay.
ItIt almost felt better
at that time for her to win
because she should win. She's Venus.
She was the phenom. It was never me.
-[crowd cheering]
-[commentator] The 2001
U.S. Open Women's Singles
champion, Venus Williams.
[Serena] As right as it felt
for Venus to win the U.S. Open,
like, as content as I was,
I needed to figure out a way
to make that feeling not feel right,
but I wasn't ready yet.
I have a lot of room for improvement.
Um, you guys just
you haven't seen anything yet.
[reporters chuckle]
[commentator] Venus Williams
is just a year older
than her sister Serena on paper,
but in championship countenance,
Venus is light-years ahead.
[roaring]
A few days after the U.S. Open final,
I'm in D.C. with my sister.
I see this guy that I'm dating,
so-and-so,
and I stayed at his house
for a couple of weeks.
It was the first relationship
I had ever had.
But, um, I was in my 20s,
so, you know, whatever.
That was that, and then I go home and
[inhales sharply] he ghosts me. [laughs]
I got ghosted.
[phone line ringing]
And it wasn't even that serious,
but it was like I used that,
and I made it way more serious
than what it was.
So when he ghosted me,
I used that as an opportunity to say,
he's gonna regret this
for the rest of his life.
That was just the motivation I needed,
just the excuse I used
to go the extra mile.
I'm gonna make sure that
this person never forgets me,
and I'm gonna make sure that this person
sees me everywhere
for the rest of their life.
[grunting]
I can be vengeful.
[commentator]
And look at that.
To finish this tournament
without the loss of a set.
[Serena] All the energy and time
that I was wasting in,
you know, a young,
like, thing, you know,
I put into tennis.
[grunts]
I'm very emotional on the court
and very moody and very, like, extra.
I can sometimes feel down,
and I just need that little push
just to make me go all the way.
I used that tiny, tiny,
tiny, tiny inspiration
to just say, I'm gonna go
the extra mile.
[yells indistinctly]
[crowd cheering]
It was just that motivation
at that time that I needed,
and I'm grateful and thankful for it.
So, thank you. [laughs]
[commentator] Fourteen career
singles titles for Williams,
third of the year,
and French Open begins
one week from tomorrow.
[Serena] I entered into the French Open,
ranked third in the world,
and Venus was ranked number two.
[commentator]
It is a terrific day today.
Welcome, everyone,
to the 2002 French Open,
from the Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
[yells indistinctly]
[commentator] This is what
springtime in Paris is all about.
[Serena] When you are
on opposite sides of the draw,
it's almost as if you're
in a different tournament.
I didn't see Venus at all
'cause every day she was playing,
she was at the site all day.
[commentator] Wow ending with
a drop shot and return of serve,
Venus Williams comfortably through.
And I'm practicing,
and I'm coming home and focusing.
And then when she has
a day off, I'm playing,
so I'm at the site all day.
[court announcer]
Mademoiselle Serena Williams.
[yells indistinctly]
[court announcer] Jeu, set et match,
mademoiselle Williams.
So, it's two different worlds,
and it wasit was great
'cause it was an opportunity for me
to find something different,
so it wasn't always
being in this pressure zone
of being Venus and Serena
and always on the same courts
and hitting with each other.
I think it was my opportunity
just to, like,
just get a different perspective
just by focusing on me.
[yells indistinctly]
[commentator] Wow, Serena Williams
with another winner.
[yells indistinctly]
[court announcer] Jeu, set et match,
mademoiselle Williams.
[Serena] I just spent a lot of time
just perfecting my craft
and really just putting myself
in a bubble.
[commentator] Hang on
to your hats or your chapeaus
or whatever in the heck
you want to hang on to,
because when these two play,
it is fantastic drama.
[grunts]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[crowd applauds]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[crowd cheering]
[court announcer] Jeu, set et match,
mademoiselle Williams [indistinct].
[commentator] Venus Williams,
she was ranked number two
and seeded number two
coming into this tournament,
she will leave it number one
no matter what happens.
[yells indistinctly]
[crowd applauds]
[soft music playing]
[crowd applauds]
[yells indistinctly]
[court announcer] Jeu, set et match,
mademoiselle Williams.
[commentator]
And Venus Williams has a chance
to win her first French Open title,
but to do so, she needs to go
through her younger sister.
[sportscaster] Venus and Serena
poised not only to meet
in their second Slam final
in nine months at the French,
but to become the first
siblings ranked one, two.
Serena's two will be
her highest ranking ever.
The question, who will enjoy that
ranking as the French Open champion?
For the second time in nine months,
the Williams sisters are meeting
in the final of a Grand Slam event.
[applause]
[Serena] There's this one
really close friend of the family,
and he said,
"You know you can beat Venus, right?"
He said, "You have to believe
that you can beat her.
You have to just believe
that you can do it."
He started talking about the importance
of accepting that it's okay.
It's okay to be better.
And he said, "You probably
won't be better every day,
but if you're better in that moment,
you're going to regret
not leaning into that."
So, the key to that final was
coming to some sort of belief,
not that I would beat her,
but that I could maybe possibly win.
[commentator] For the second time
in nine months,
the Williams sisters are meeting
in a final of a Grand Slam.
[energetic music playing]
[applause]
[Serena] I never looked
at Venus that entire match,
and that was the start of me never
looking at Venus when we played.
[grunts]
[court announcer]
[indistinct] Serena Williams.
[Serena] I would always go around
the opposite way,
so I wouldn't see her.
[indistinct yelling]
[commentator] Gosh, you could
just feel the energy here.
[grunts]
[Serena]
Do not connect with your opponent,
which is totally opposite
of what I would normally do.
[grunting]
[commentator 1] She gave that away.
[commentator 2] Yeah.
[commentator 1] And there's
the break for Venus Williams,
and now 4-2 in the first set.
[Serena] I'm gonna pretend that
I'm not playing Venus Williams.
I'm playing someone else.
[both grunting]
And it was so simple,
but it was genius for me,
and it really worked.
[grunts]
I didn't think about winning.
I didn't think about losing.
I just focused on just one point.
[grunts]
And if I won that point,
I focused on the next point.
I didn't focus on games.
I just focused on points.
I just focused on this point
this ball
next point.
Oh!
[court announcer]
Jeu, Serena Williams.
[Serena] I just thought,
what do I do best?
I felt at that time that I was
more consistent than Venus
in terms of getting more ba*ls over
and making less errors.
[court announcer]
Jeu, Serena Williams.
I knew that that was
one of my strengths.
[grunts]
[commentator] There it is.
Serena Williams takes
the first set, 7-5.
[Serena] Even though
I won the first set,
I felt like not thinking about winning,
that was the key.
[court announcer]
Jeu, Serena Williams.
[Venus] At the time,
it was extremely difficult to beat her.
Her game got better,
and her serve got better,
but she just couldn't miss.
[yells]
It wasn't even that she couldn't miss.
She was just so good.
[yells indistinctly]
[commentator]
And Serena, one game away
from a French Open championship.
[cheers and applause]
[grunting]
[crowd gasps]
[Serena] At some point,
I had a match point,
and I just remember saying,
okay, this is just another point.
Okay, I'm gonna win this point.
[grunting]
[commentator]
It's all over in Paris,
and Serena has defeated
her older sister, 7-5, 6-3,
to pick up her second
career Grand Slam title.
What changed? I think Serena
was a lot more focused
in that final than I was.
I think it was
a missed opportunity for me
'cause I never made
another French Open final.
[court announcer]
Serena Williams.
[cheers and applause]
[Venus] But it was great
that Serena won.
If there was anyone else
who's gonna win,
she's the only player that
I care if she wins or not.
[cheers and applause]
[camera clicks]
[Serena]
Now I've won the French Open,
my second Grand Slam since '99.
Now I'm not just
a one Grand Slam wonder.
I'm actually pretty good.
I can back it up.
And she still has more
Grand Slams than me,
so it was all okay.
We were finally one and two
in the world,
which was unbelievable.
Venus, number one. I'm number two.
And something clicked
that was like, she got that.
I wantI want
That's what I want.
I was like, I gotta be number one.
[wondrous music playing]
[Serena] Wimbledon, I had a chance
to be number one.
I just had to get to the finals.
[grunting]
I felt like, I gotta have it.
[continues grunting]
That's what I need in my life.
[crowd cheering]
I want to be number one.
Becoming obsessive is just an extension
of who I always was.
Even as a child, I was obsessed
with always being perfect
and always being the best.
[commentator]
Serena has not dropped a set
on the way to her first ever
Wimbledon Final.
As Thanos said, I was inevitable.
[laughs]
[commentator] It's the third
all-Williams Grand Slam final
in ten months.
Get to know my name ♪
I am the best in the game ♪
[cheers and applause]
[court announcer]
Game, set, Miss Serena Williams.
[Venus] The hardest part is knowing that
any other player
I felt like I could win.
Thiswhen I went into that match,
I didn't really know if I could.
[grunts]
I thought she played incredible.
[yells indistinctly]
[crowd roars]
I played my best.
She was really hard to beat.
[commentator]
The championship point.
[court announcer]
Game, set, match.
[cheers and applause]
I couldn't stop it.
I couldn't stop the roll.
[commentator 1] Serena took Wimbledon
from her sister Venus.
The Williams sisters are now
combined for seven majors.
[commentator 2]
For the longest time,
I thought Venus was the better player
and the better athlete of the two.
Yesterday, uh, you saw differently.
[commentator 3]
Serena is the future.
She's gorgeous,
she's smart, she's funny.
-And guess what? She wins.
-[horn blows]
[commentator 4]
It's all Serena all the time.
I am the best in the game ♪
[Serena] I feel like the spotlight
definitely changed a little bit.
By then, I had beaten everybody.
I was there, I hadI went
In tennis terms, I had made it.
[commentator 1] Ted, it's been
the year of Serena Williams
on the tennis circuit.
She's got the French.
She's got Wimbledon.
She's got number one.
[commentator 2] Have you seen
her outfit out there tonight, Ted?
She's got the pink shoes on
and the tight little shorts.
She's looking stylin'.
[camera shutter clicking]
[commentator 3] Meanwhile,
Serena Williams' catsuit.
That cat outfit, I think, is painted on.
[commentator 4] You know
what I'm saying, though?
[reporter] Tell us a little bit
about your outfit tonight.
It's like a little catsuit, you know.
It makes me run faster and jump higher.
It's a really successful design.
It's really sexy, so I like it.
[Serena] The catsuit,
it was definitely a step
into where my outfits would be
for the rest of my career,
just out there and different,
and I didn't look like
anyone else playing tennis.
The last thing I want to be seen as is
just kind of blending in, whether
that's with my personality or my style.
I stood out,
so it was about time
that my outfit stood out, too.
[Venus] At that time, she was the best
player in the world legitimately.
She deserved to wear that catsuit
because she was playing unreal.
[commentator] The Williams sisters
meet in the shadows of Shea Stadium
for the U.S. Open Championship again.
[announcer] For the fourth time
in five Grand Slams,
it's Venus against Serena in the Final.
[commentator] Now this is
what we've all waited for.
They are not backing down
from each other.
Serena Williams has taken
the opening set.
At this point in my career, I was ready
and used to the pressure.
I was used to being the favorite.
As long as I don't look at her,
I'm going to win.
[commentator]
Serena, championship point.
Serena Williams, the seventh player
in tennis history
to win three consecutive
Grand Slam titles.
She is the 2002 U.S. Open champion
and remains the number one player
in the world.
I am the best in the game ♪
[wondrous music playing]
[Serena] Even though
I had won four Grand Slams,
at that time, I really only was able
to cherish one,
and that was the Grand Slam that I won,
the U.S. Open 1999,
when I beat Martina Hingis.
That was the only one
that I was really able
to enjoy and to cherish,
and the rest were
just notches on my belt.
It was very, very business-like.
It was very matter of fact.
That person you care about
the most in the world,
you have to watch them have
their lowest point in their life
every frickin' Grand Slam.
And I cried.
I really cried a lot about that.
[announcer] All signs pointing toward
a rematch among the women,
where the co-favorites
are the sisters supreme.
[Serena]
At the 2003 Australian Open,
it was a chance to win
four Grand Slams in a row.
No one had won four in a row
since Steffi,
who, of course, did it in one year.
And I'm thinking about winning
what I would later dub as a Serena Slam.
It's when you win
four Grand Slams in a row,
not in a calendar year.
[commentator] If you win
four Slams in a row,
I don't care if they're
all in the same year or not.
It is a tremendous achievement,
and that's what Serena Williams
is trying to do.
[Serena] This is a chance for me
not only to win four in a row,
but to really solidify being number one.
[commentator 2]
And through for the first time
in Australia to a semifinal
and another step in her quest
for a Serena Slam.
Historic. Like, this is
your place in history.
Can you do it? Can she do it?
Like, can she really win four in a row?
Can you stay focused
to win four in a row?
It's not easy to do.
[commentator 3]
Venus wins 6-4, 6-3,
shows she is into the semis
and is one win away
from a potential
finals meeting with Serena.
"All Williams, all the time
in Grand Slam finals
isn't what the people want,"
says Justine Henin.
"The crowd likes also
to see the other players,"
opines the sixth seed at Wimbledon.
Amélie Mauresmo added,
"I can't count how many people told me
we don't want a Williams final."
[Serena]
It was us against the WTA.
We didn't have people,
like, talking to us.
People were avoiding us.
We were literally winning every week.
People were saying, "This is boring,
to see another Williams final."
[commentator 1] For the first time ever,
the same two women
will stare across the net
from one another
in a fourth straight Grand Slam final.
[commentator 2] If they really get into
some good hatred, some real dislike
for each other and some good tennis.
They have played lousy tennis when
they've played each other in finals.
Venus and Serena Williams
have won six Grand Slams
and have become so dominant that
former Grand Slam winners
like Gabriela Sabatini
are actually saying
they hit the ball too hard.
[Serena] What Venus and I did
was beyond unprecedented.
[commentator]
Look at what she's done.
A 76-6 record, three Grand Slam titles,
10 of 16 in tournament wins
and 27 match Grand Slam win streak.
That is complete dominance
of the women's tour.
[announcer] Coming into this final,
Venus has been
by far the steadier player.
She hasn't dropped a set
in her matches to this point.
[sportscaster] This story has
become somewhat familiar,
maybe even a little bit predictable,
but that should never detract
from just how extraordinary it is.
Two siblings, 15 months apart,
completely dominating a sport
and competing face to face
for the titles they each covet most,
and the titles that will
define their legacy.
This will not only break the tie
in terms of Grand Slam titles
held at four,
but also the head-to-head,
which is 5-5
[Serena] Playing back
to back four times in a row,
it was just history being made.
The fact that it was sisters
and the fact that it was
two Black sisters
and the fact that it was
two Black sisters
from Compton, California
it was the most powerful thing
that ever happened in sports.
[crowd cheering]
[Venus] Who wants to lose
four in a row?
That's not what I trained for.
When you have a Grand Slam
next to your name
[applause]
no one's gonna remember
if it was your sister
or your best friend
or your mom or your dad
or someone from around the way.
All that happens is
that Slam goes to your name.
[applause]
[Serena] This final was
the toughest final,
and I think one of the best finals
Venus and I ever played.
It was very intense.
Honestly, I think Venus
was playing better than me.
[screams]
-Out!
-[crowd applauds]
You have to play so good to beat her.
You have to run faster.
You have to hit harder.
You have to be more aggressive.
[commentator] We're headed
for a first set tiebreak
in the Women's final
of the Australian Open.
You have to play the best tennis
whenever you play,
or else you're gonna lose.
[grunts]
[court announcer]
7 to 6, Serena Williams
I was barely able to win the first set.
I squeezed it out. I don't know how.
'Cause at this point,
she's outplaying me.
[court announcer]
Venus Williams.
[cheers and applause]
She's definitely outplaying me,
outclassing me.
The whole tournament,
she was outplaying me.
Honestly was thinking
that there's no way
I'm gonna win this match at one point.
Venus was serving so well.
She was moving so well.
[grunting]
I played to win.
Like, if I felt like, oh, this
is a particular weaker point,
then I tried to play that.
She didn't really have any weaknesses,
so I don't think
there was really any strategy
against Serena except for, like,
hopefully you play your best,
and hopefully she doesn't play as well.
[crowd cheers]
And you have to come like
the Incredible Hulk to beat her.
[court announcer] Game in 7 sets,
Venus Williams.
After Venus wins the second set,
I genuinely don't think
I'm gonna win this match.
And then I started to think,
"Serena, in 20 years,
you'll regret not winning.
You'll regret that you didn't do better.
You'll regret that you weren't
able to play at your best."
I had to somehow put her feelings aside,
and I had to somehow go out there
with the motivation to say,
right now I can't care about you.
I have to care about me,
and it is the hardest thing
I've ever done in my entire life, um,
and I would never wanna do it
again if I didn't have to
because I hated playing Venus.
I really did.
It was It was absolute t*rture.
[Nina Simone]
Isn't it a pity? ♪
[man] Out!
[court announcer]
Game, Serena Williams.
[applause]
Isn't it a shame? ♪
She was my best friend.
She was everything
and is everything to me, like
How we break each other's hearts ♪
[court announcer]
Game, Serena Williams.
And cause each other pain ♪
It's difficult to beat the person
that you grew up next to
Some things take so long ♪
the person that you share beds with
'cause you didn't have
a bed of your own,
you know, that you guys had dreams,
and she's influenced me
in so many ways still.
When not too many people can see ♪
I think that's why
it's so emotional out there.
You're out there doing something
you don't want to do,
but you have to do it.
Isn't it a pity ♪
Isn't it a pity ♪
Every stroke of the racket
you hope that she wins,
but you're hoping that she doesn't.
It's theit's the craziest
emotional feeling
that I've ever had, and I-I hate it.
When not too many people ♪
It's horrible, actually,
and it's exhausting.
But there's no other way around it.
All the same ♪
Because we cry so much ♪
Our eyes can't ♪
Can't hope to see ♪
That's not quite true ♪
The beauty that surrounds them ♪
Maybe that's why we cry ♪
[commentator]
Double championship point for Serena.
Lord, it's a pity ♪
Lord knows ♪
It's a pity ♪
[court announcer]
Game, set, match, Serena Williams.
7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
The Serena Slam is hers.
Isn't it a pity? ♪
[Serena] I think it's wonderful
that I had that Serena Slam.
I think that's great.
Now I have the Serena Slam.
But it's almost at the cost
of the happiness of my sister,
and that truly, royally, utterly sucks.
I gave it my best shot.
My best shot wasn't
good enough at that time,
or I didn't do enough
or whatever it was, and that was it.
Any other player, do I hug? No.
'Cause their happiness is not
wrapped up in my happiness.
The difference is Serena's happiness
is wrapped up in mine,
so if she's happy, I'm happy.
SoI doubt I would have lost
to anyone else, though.
If I would have played
anyone else in those finals,
I would have won those five. [laughs]
So [laughs]
You know, I wish I could
have been the winner today,
but of course, you have
a great champion, Serena.
And now she's won, you know,
allall four Grand Slams,
which is something
I would love to do one day.
So, yeah, just trying
to be just like her, and
-[crowd laughs]
-Thank you.
[cheers and applause]
This young lady
last year enjoyed success
at the French Open,
at the Wimbledon Championship,
and the U.S. Open, and now she's opened
the new tennis year with an
Australian Open championship.
We're calling it the Serena Slam.
Our champion, Serena Williams.
[cheers and applause]
I truly love my sister
with every bit of being in me,
and I am definitely by far
her number one fan.
But after that final,
I kind of learned about the importance
of accepting that it's okay.
It's okay to be better.
I finally gave myself
permission to be great.
I gave myself permission to be Serena.
[wondrous music playing]
[closing instrumental music playing]
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01x02 - Into the Light
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Follows Serena Williams, the key figures throughout her life, and the events of her legendary career told from her own perspective, giving us an intimate and compelling approach to her life.
Follows Serena Williams, the key figures throughout her life, and the events of her legendary career told from her own perspective, giving us an intimate and compelling approach to her life.