"If Serena Williams were to twist her ankle, I'd be concerned" - When Venus Williams got candid about playing her sister in 4th straight Slam final

At the 2003 Australian Open, Serena Williams and her sister Venus Williams met each other in the final of a Grand Slam for the fourth Major in a row. The previous three times, in the 2002 French Open, Wimbledon and US Open, Venus had finished second-best to the younger Williams.

One would understand if, going into their Melbourne clash, the elder sister had a sense of frustration. Serena was the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Venus was the No. 2 seed. In the first semifinal, the latter took down former World No. 1 Justine Henin in a straight-sets demolition.

Speaking at her press conference afterwards, Venus Williams was asked about the possibility of playing against her sister once more, especially in the context of the previous three Slam final losses and the mood between them.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion insisted that regardless of the opponent, she was a competitor on the court. While she admitted that she would be concerned if her sister twisted her ankle in their match, she had no qualms asserting that the moment would not stop her from thinking about the next shot.

"Yeah, on the court I'm a competitor. No matter who it is, I hate to lose. The same with her - maybe her even more. Off the court, we're sisters again. If she were to twist her ankle on the court, of course I'd be concerned but I would still have to go out and hit the next shot, you know. That's the way it is," Venus Williams said.

The American, previewing the match, was confident in her own abilities in the upcoming final, saying:

"I think there's times maybe I'm more confident than at another time, but I always feel confident, even if I'm not playing well. I feel confident as a competitor that I'm going to go out there and really compete, and even if I do lose, my opponent's really, really, really going to have to play."

Serena Williams, shortly later, beat Kim Clijsters in the second semifinal to reach the summit clash. For the fourth straight time in a Major final, she then beat her sister Venus Williams to complete the 'Serena Slam' for the first time in her career.

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"If I lose my family, I don't have anything" - Venus Williams on her relationship with her sister Serena Williams and parents

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At the press conference before the 2003 Australian Open, Venus Williams also spoke about her relationship with Serena Wiliams and her family in general, shedding light on why they were very close. Venus pointed out that without their family, she would have nothing, as she did not have many people beside other than them.

Therefore, the former World No. 1 felt it was more important to maintain a cordial relationship with them, regardless of what happened on the tennis court.

"I think the key is first, you know, our religious beliefs. Really believe in God and we realize that, sure, this is a game, but there's so much more things important in life. All I have is my family and my best friends are my sisters, my mom and my dad. Other than that, I don't really have any people that are around me. That's the first thing," Venus Williams said.

"So if I lose them, I don't have anything. Second is it's how we were taught to really be a family and stick together. We weren't allowed to fight or do those kinds of things. It was just out of the question. So we all just banded together and hold each other up," she added.

While Serena Williams hung up her racket in 2022, Venus Williams continues to remain an active part of the WTA Tour and will be playing her first match of the 2025 season soon.