2017 Australian Open Women’s Final Open Thread: Serena v Venus
Serena and Venus Williams, two of the most famous sporting siblings clash once again, this time in Melbourne and for the 2017 Australian Open women’s singles title.
With a title, Serena will win an Open Era record 23rd career Grand Slam, moving her ahead of Steffi Graf’s 22. And she’ll also win a record 7th Australian Open title and return to the No. 1 ranking.
The 36-year-old Venus is already the oldest woman to reach the finals at the Australian Open in the Open Era. She has reached her first Grand Slam final since 2009 Wimbledon and first at the Australian Open in 14 years back in 2003 when she lost to Serena.
WTA NOTES
* Both finalists are previous Grand Slam singles champions: S.Williams owns 22 titles – including six Australian Opens (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009-10, 2015) – while V.Williams owns seven
* S.Williams has advanced to 29 Grand Slam singles finals. In the Open Era, Chris Evert reached the most Grand
Slam finals, with 34 (18-16 win-loss record), followed by Martina Navratilova (32; 18-14) and Steffi Graf (31; 22-9). Margaret Court reached 29 Grand Slam singles finals, going 24-5 overall and 11-1 in the Open Era
* V.Williams has advanced to 15 Grand Slam singles finals. Prior to this one, her most recent final was 2009
Wimbledon (R-Up, l. S.Williams), 7 1/2 years ago
* S.Williams has advanced to this stage without the loss of a set; V.Williams lost just one set – during her SF
victory over Vandeweghe. The last player to win the Australian Open title without the loss of a set was Maria
Sharapova in 2008
* World No.2 S.Williams has had the tougher road to the final. Her opponents’ average ranking is 53, including No.9 Konta in the QFs; while V.Williams opponents’ average ranking is 91
* The last all-American final at the Australian Open was in 2005 – S.Williams d. Davenport
* The last all-American final at a Grand Slam was at 2009 Wimbledon (S.Williams d. V.Williams)
* The last all-country Grand Slam final was at 2015 US Open (Italy’s Pennetta d. Vinci)
* The 2017 Australian Open is the third Grand Slam final in Open Era to feature both players at 30-plus years old: 2017 Australian Open Venus Williams (36 yrs, 226 days) vs. Serena Williams (35 years, 125 days); 2015 US Open Flavia Pennetta (33 yrs, 200 days) def. Roberta Vinci (32 yrs, 207 days); 1977 Wimbledon Virginia Wade (31 yrs, 257 days) def. Betty Stove (32 yrs, 8 days)
* This year’s Australian Open championship match is the oldest Grand Slam final in the Open Era, in terms of
combined age. Of the seven oldest Grand Slam finals, Serena has competed in five
* Venus Williams, at 36 years and 226 days, is the oldest Australian Open finalist in the Open Era, followed by
sister Serena, at 35 years and 125 days
* Serena Williams is the oldest woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title – most recently at 2016
Wimbledon: 2016 Wimbledon Serena Williams (USA) 34y 287d, 2015 Wimbledon Serena Williams (USA) 33y 285d; 1990 Wimbledon Martina Navratilova (USA) 33y 263d
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Serena and Venus Williams are set to play for the 28th time in their careers. This will be their 15th Grand Slam meeting, a series that dates back to 1998 Australian Open when Venus (17 years old) defeated Serena (16 years old) in the second round.
Serena leads 16-11 (Serena has won seven of the last eight meetings)
Hard: Serena leads 10-8
Grass: Serena leads 4-2
Clay: Serena leads 2-1
Grand Slams Matches: Serena leads 9-5
Title Matches: Serena leads 8-3
Grand Slam Title matches: Serena leads 6-2
SATURDAY AUSTRALIAN OPEN SCHEDULE
Not Before: 7:30 PM
Women’s Singles – Final
Venus Williams (USA) [13] vs. Serena Williams (USA) [2]
Men’s Doubles – Final
Henri Kontinen (FIN) [4]/John Peers (AUS) [4] vs. Bob Bryan (USA) [3]/Mike Bryan (USA) [3]
WUNDERGROUND.COM SATURDAY FORECAST
Abundant sunshine. High 83F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.
LADBROKES ODDS
Venus Williams 4.50 vs. Serena Williams 1.20
US TV SCHEDULE
ESPN will have live coverage of the women’s starting at 3:00am ET. The match begins at 3:30am ET.
POLL
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