Revisiting Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams: Here’s who has the edge in the legendary sibling rivalry

As Venus Williams makes her return to professional tennis, there’s only one thing that would make her comeback even sweeter — if Serena joins her. The sisters who dominated the women’s game for nearly two decades with 30 combined Grand Slam titles met 31 times on the court, beginning with the Australian Open in 1998, and it would appear there’s a remote chance we could see them again.

“She can take six months off and she clocks it clean,” Venus said her younger sister ahead of her July appearance in the D.C. Open. “You can’t teach that kind of talent. She’s just so good.”

Serena is 19-12 all-time against Venus, including 11 wins in majors and a 7-2 mark in Grand Slam finals. There was a stretch from 2002-03 where the Williams sisters played each other in the championship round of five straight majors, including twice at Wimbledon. 

Billed as the “Serena Slam,” she won all five titles across those two seasons during the stretch. Serena holds the all-time record for singles majors titles in the Open era with 23, one more than Steffi Graf.

Known for her raw power with an intense forehand and wicked serve, Serena stepped away from professional tennis in 2022 but said she was not retiring in a traditional sense. Building an empire with husband Alexis Ohanian — the founder of Reddit — and family time with the couple’s two kids was the goal.

Here’s a look at the pair’s head-to-head battles on the court:

Serena vs. Venus career matches

Venus is a seven-time Grand Slam champion and previously had received a wild-card entry for BNP Paribas Open in February 2025 before not committing to play in the event. 

Venus and Serena have also won 22 doubles titles together, highlighted by 14 majors and three Olympic Gold medals. 

Women’s tennis is now carried by Iga Światek, Aryna Sabalenka and others. Światek is a six-time majors champion, her latest coming at Wimbledon this summer. Sabalenka has three Grand Slam titles, including the US Open and Australian in 2024. 

Current world No. 2 Coco Gauff, an American, won the US Open in 2023 and took home the crown on clay at the French earlier this year for her second major. Gauff previously said the Williams sisters were her two idols in tennis and she grew up with a photo of the pair on her bedroom wall.

“If it wasn’t for the Williams sisters, Coco would not be a tennis player,” Candi, Coco’s mother, said before Wimbledon in June. “And if it wasn’t for Richard (Williams), my husband would not have studied tennis in that format. He’s patented himself off (the family) and used their roadmap.”