MELBOURNE, Australia—Serena Williams held up a Grand Slam winner’s trophy for the 23rd time, celebrating her unrivalled place in history, and received a congratulatory letter and a pair of custom-made shoes from Michael Jordan, the name most synonymous with No. 23.
Venus Williams got to watch from close range again, and shed tears more of joy than regret after being beaten in a major final for the seventh time by her record-breaking younger sister.
Serena won the all-Williams final, the ninth in Grand Slam history and the second in Australia, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday night.
With her record seventh Australian Open title, Serena moved ahead of Steffi Graf for the most major titles in the Open era.
The Williams sisters are close. They started out playing together in Compton, California, hardly a hotbed for tennis, with their father Richard and mother Oracene as coach and mentor. And they still practice and travel together around the world.
They met for the first time at a major at Melbourne Park in 1998—Venus won that one. In 2003, when the younger of the Williams siblings completed her “Serena Slam” of four consecutive titles, Venus was on the other side of the net. She didn’t reach another Australian final for 14 years.
When Serena sat on the court, holding both arms up to celebrate on Saturday, Venus walked over to her sister’s side of the net for a hug.
“This was a tough one,” Serena said. “I really would like to take this moment to congratulate Venus, she’s an amazing person—she’s my inspiration.
