At the 2017 Australian Open the tennis world will be treated with the first all-Williams Grand Slam final in eight years and now it’s sister Venus standing between Serena and an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam title. This will be the ninth time that the Williams sisters are meeting in a Grand Slam final, with Serena now leading 6-2.
The first to make the final was Venus Williams, as the American fought off a stiff challenge from unseeded Coco Vandeweghe. The world No.35 Vandeweghe won the long opening game on Williams’ serve, but the experienced American broke back right away and from that point on both players firmly held on to their serves, so we had a tiebreak in which the first-time Grand Slam semifinalist Vandeweghe established dominance and won 7-3.
In the second set, Vandeweghe’s level dropped considerably, especially midway through the set when a series of serves missed the service box and the 13th-seeded Williams quickly got a 5-1 lead which soon translated into 6-2. The 25-year-old Vandeweghe’s bad patch continued early in the third set and even though she remained competitive, her veteran opponent moved into her first Australian Open final since 2003, 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3. Vandeweghe, who had eliminated world No.1 and defending champion Angelique Kerber from the competition, converted just one of 13 break points in the match!
SHE IS SOOOOOOO HAPPY #Venus #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ctv0IJmwve
— Break Point (@BreakPointBR) January 26, 2017
In the second semifinal, second seed Serena Williams needed only 50 minutes to end Mirjana Lucic-Baroni’s fairy tale, 6-2 6-1.
It will be the 28th meeting between the Williams sisters, with Serena leading 16-11. The last time they encountered each other was in the quarterfinals of the 2015 US Open, when Serena won in three sets. Their sole meeting at the Australian Open was in the final in 2003 and Serena won the title 7-6(4) 3-6 6-4.
I’m excited for the final. I’m rooting for Venus actually. Her reaction during the SF win was priceless! Legend!!!
I have never seen Venus so elated to be here. I am happy for either one but hope it’s Venus as it will be harder for her to put herself in this position again and her joy is infectious!
Happy for Lucic-Baroni to go as far as she did..but Serena was just too good and was not going to be denied. The Venus-Vandeweghe match was a good one..methinks Coco will be great on hard courts and grass, but she is a little clumsy on the clay (can’t slide).
After all these years, the Williams sisters are still making history, defying the odds against them, holding it down for America (Serena’s always the last American standing, male or female, no matter what), and shining bright like the rare diamonds they are. What they’ve accomplished and are still accomplishing is simply astounding! Just read the historical facts and stats flashing at the bottom of the screen during this championship match. Simply amazing!
SERENA WILLIAMS=THE GOAT! #23 and more to come!