Happy 40th, Venus Williams! Celebrating her 10 most impressive stats
Among them: The American, who turns 40 today, became the first African-American player, male or female, to reach No. 1 on February 25, 2002, and she has the most wins of anyone against sister Serena.
Venus Williams has had an absolutely phenomenal career, and with today being her 40th birthday, here are 10 of the seven-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1’s most impressive stats:
A 14-year-old Venus made her professional debut on October 31, 1994 at the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, Calif. In her first match, she beat the No. 58-ranked player in the world at the time, Shaun Stafford, 6-3, 6-4. Even more amazingly, she nearly beat No. 2-ranked Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the second round, racing to a 6-2, 3-1 lead before the Spaniard rallied to win, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
“I always believed in myself,” Venus recently told the Mercury News about that loss to Sanchez-Vicario. “I always believed that I could win any match. But I didn’t know how to win that match.”
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Venus seems ageless—she’s been everything from teenage prodigy to thriving thirty-something. And it shows in her Grand Slam results: as a 17-year-old at the 1997 US Open, she played a 16-year-old Martina Hingis in the youngest major women’s final in the Open Era; and as a 36-year-old at the 2017 Australian Open, she played 35-year-old sister Serena in the oldest major women’s final in the Open Era.
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Having captured her first two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2000, Venus successfully defended both crowns in 2001 to make it four out of six. Only Jennifer Capriati’s wins at the Australian Open and French Open that year broke up Williams’ domination of the majors.
“I’ve almost done my personal best,” Venus said after beating Serena for the 2001 US Open title. “I would have loved to win some more Grand Slams, but someone else was more deserving.”
Venus fell to Hingis in the semifinals in Melbourne and to Barbara Schett in the first round in Paris.
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After making her first 14 major finals between the 1997 US Open and 2009 Wimbledon, Venus waited seven and a half years before her next one at the 2017 Australian Open. It broke Amelie Mauresmo’s record—she waited seven years between her first two at the Australian Open in 1999 and 2006.
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Venus has played 20 Australian Opens, 22 French Opens, 22 Wimbledons and 21 US Opens for a total of 85 career majors, the most for a man or woman in the Open Era. Roger Federer has played the second-most majors in the Open Era, appearing in his 79th in Melbourne earlier this year.
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It’s not Venus’ record alone, but it’s so good it had to make this list. Her 14-0 record in major doubles finals with Serena is the greatest unbeaten record in major finals across all disciplines, all-time, male or female. They’ve won four Australian Opens, two French Opens, six Wimbledons and two US Opens.
Asked about their perfect record in finals, Venus pointed to a few specific things.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the serve,” she said. “Serena and I both put so much pressure on our opponents with our serves, and our returns are very good. I think that has something to do with it.
“We also just stay really relaxed when we play, because we believe in each other so much.”
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Serena has a winning head-to-head record against Venus, 18-12, but Venus’ 12 wins are more than any other player’s ever gotten. No one else has even hit double digits. And given Serena’s generally regarded as the most accomplished tennis player in the Open Era, that’s a gargantuan feat.
“She’s beaten me so many times. I’ve taken a lot of losses off of her, more than anybody,” Serena said of Venus at the US Open a few years ago. “She’s a player who knows how to win, knows how to beat me, and knows my weaknesses better than anyone. So it’s never an easy match at all.”
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On February 25, 2002, Venus became the first African-American player, male or female, to reach No. 1 since official computer rankings began in the 1970s—ATP rankings started in 1973, WTA rankings in 1975. It came after a 12-month stretch that saw her win 56 of 61 matches and nine tournaments.
“You don’t aspire to be No. 3 or No. 2. Normally you do your best to become the best,” she said. “At this point I’m the best player in the world, so that’s exciting, and it’s going to be mine at least a week.”
A few months later on July 8, 2002, Serena would become the second African-American No. 1.
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Venus has five Olympic medals: she won gold in singles and doubles in Sydney in 2000; gold in doubles in Beijing in 2008; gold in doubles in London in 2012; and silver in mixed doubles in Rio in 2016. She’s tied with Serena for most gold medals (four), and with Kathleen McKane Godfree for most overall medals (five), and she’s the only player ever to win medals at four different Olympics.
“I grew up watching the Olympics,” Venus said. “My dad really loved the Olympics, and the first time I played in Sydney was because he loved the Olympics so much. Obviously, I had some great results there—after that, I began to love the Olympics because of that.
“But I never show anyone my medals unless they ask. I don’t want to boast. The ultimate boast is Olympic gold. I want to be modest. If someone asks and they come to my house, I’ll show them. Of course, I show them my whole Olympic pin collection first. They have to look at the whole pin collection, then I’ll show them my medals.”
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After missing the first four months of the 2000 season due to wrist tendonitis, Venus went 6-3 in her first three tournaments back, all on clay. But as soon as the tour switched to grass and hard, she took it to a whole different level, going on a massive 35-match winning streak that brought her six straight titles at Wimbledon, Stanford, San Diego, New Haven, the US Open and the Olympics, as well as to another final at an indoor event in Linz, where Lindsay Davenport snapped the streak, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
It’s still the longest women’s winning streak since 2000. Overall, men and women, Venus is tied for third-longest winning streak since 2000: Novak Djokovic won 43 matches in a row from 2010 to 2011, while Federer won 41 matches in a row from 2006 to 2007, as well as 35 matches in a row in 2005.
