Venus Williams stands between Serena Williams and grand slam history in Australian Open final
Younger sister is out to match Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 23 grand slam titles at Melbourne Park on Saturday
Serena Williams is on the cusp of making grand slam history, 19 years after her first appearance at the Australian Open, with only her greatest rival and sister Venus able to stop her.
The 35-year-old American made her grand slam debut in Melbourne way back in 1998 and won the first of her major titles at the US Open a year later.
She has since accumulated 22 over an astonishing career, matching Steffi Graf’s Open-era record, and one more on Saturday it would be her seventh in Australia and she will hold the record outright, with only Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 left to achieve.
Williams has refused to talk about the possibility of finally surpassing the German, after intense pressure over the long-standing record took its toll at last year’s US Open, when she lost in the semi-finals.
But she now has a golden chance of further cementing her place in history, and at the same time reclaiming the top world ranking that Angelique Kerber seized from her last year.
“It is what it is. Like I said from the beginning, I don’t really talk about that any more,” Serena said when pressed on what breaking the Graf record would mean.