Venus vs Serena- how much was the handling of the sister factor the difference?

[thalivest]

It seems virtually certain now Serena will go down in history as a great player than her sister. Venus might go down as the greater grass court player (although even that is no longer a certainty) but overall it will be Serena clearly who will rank higher. That is not to diminish Venus who is still clearly one of the top 3 players of her generation along with Serena and Henin, and who has had an overall outstanding career with already 7 slams in singles, 5 Wimbledons singles titles, many Miami titles, many doubles slams, Olympic singles and doubles golds.

However when looking back at all did Serena end up having the greater career and going down as the greater player because she really was just a better tennis player as Venus, or to the full extent of their records. Or was Venus in actuality alot closer, or even as good or better a player as Venus overall, but simply could not deal with the emotional aspect of playing her sister in big matches as well as Serena.

The matches between the 2 made a big difference to who ended up with many more big titles. Here are matches between the two that potentially decided the victor at various slams:

2000 Wimbledon- Venus vs Serena semifinal. Venus wins
2001 U.S Open- Venus vs Serena final. Venus wins
2002 French Open- Venus vs Serena final. Serena wins
2002 Wimbledon- Venus vs Serena final. Serena wins
2002 U.S Open- Venus vs Serena final. Serena wins
2003 Australian Open- Venus vs Serena final. Serena wins
2003 Wimbledon- Venus vs Serena final. Serena wins
2008 Wimbledon- Venus vs Serena final. Venus wins
2008 U.S Open- Venus vs Serena quarters. Serena wins
2009 Wimbledon- Venus vs Serena final. Serena wins.

As you can see Venus has the distinctive edge in slam meetings that potentially decided the Championship between them at 7-3. It seems a general consensus Serena handled the emotional aspect of playing Venus much better than Venus was able to the other way. How big of a factor was that in Serena winning 12 slams to Venus's 7, was it a large part of the difference, or is Serena just the better player of the two overall aside from that element.

 

[Totai]

Serena is physically stronger and hungrier for titles than Venus imo

 

[thalivest]

Well come to think of I really really think Venus should have won both that 2008 U.S Open match and 2009 Wimbledon final. 2008 U.S Open match since she had control of both sets and blew so many set points by missing very makeable shots. 2009 Wimbledon final since her form was clearly head and shoulders above any other women at that event then she plays Serena in the final and she just plays several levels below her play up until that point. It made no sense at all. If she had won both those matches as she IMO should have, she would have 8 or 9 slam titles (I wouldnt gaurantee her beating Jankovic in the U.S Open final completely) to Serena's 10 and they would already be alot closer.

 

[davey25]

Serena is physically stronger and hungrier for titles than Venus imo

I agree about the hungrier for titles. Serena is probably physically stronger though it is hard to guage Venus's strength. She is very tall but not as muscular most of the time. She seems very strong physically herself though.

 

[rod99]

serena's strokes are better than technically than venus' are. this is especially true on the serve and forehand. venus' serve is virtually all arm and the biggest difference in their games is their second serves.

 

[halalula1234]

venus' serve is virtually all arm and the biggest difference in their games is their second serves.

Wow 129mph with an all arm serve. Imagine if she uses her body maybe she'll hit like roddick :twisted: I agree, she doesnt fully use her body weight and height in her serve as opposed to her sis.. and second serve..she needs to improve. But it did improve.seems to have a kick on it in miami.

I would say yes Serena handles playing Venus better, Venus sometimes seems too motherly and loving sweet towards serena, it would be better if they wernt sisters when they have to play each others. And when injured, serena plays better than venus, maybe venus is taller and weight more? so harder to stay balance when injured? i have no idea..