But they have learned to compartmentalize and even to relish the challenge of playing the champion to whom they can best relate.Serena jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Venus quickly found her range and reeled off five straight games on her way to winning the first set.This was the first official tournament in more than five months for both sisters because of the hiatus forced by the coronavirus. But I’ve been to a ton of her practices, just as a spectator, and I saw the changes they made. Serena said that for a change, her main goal was not to win this tournament.“I honestly didn’t come here to win, for the first time in my career,” she said. They were teenagers then, with beads in their hair and braces on their teeth.Tennis greatness was predicted — and not just by Richard Williams, their father and coach — and the sisters have delivered. These accomplished harpists will assist you in all aspects of planning your event's music and will… She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 Grand Slam doubles titles. And after the Williamses removed their masks and began ripping serves and groundstrokes in the summer heat, their often brilliant efforts were greeted with near silence — just scattered applause from the team members and the officials sitting courtside at this lower-tier WTA event in the suburbs of Lexington, Ky.It looked, at first glance, more like a practice match, the kind the sisters must have played so often in private through the decades, but that was not what the way Venus, 40, and Serena, 38, saw it.“A real match with real points and real consequences,” Venus said.It was also a far better match than their most recent meeting: a 6-1, 6-2 Serena rout in the third round of the 2018 United States Open.It was intense from the start on Thursday as the ninth-ranked Serena and the 67th-ranked Venus exchanged a series of high-velocity strokes on the opening point before Serena finished it with a backhand winner.“It definitely felt more relaxed than in the stadium at Wimbledon or at the U.S. Open,” Serena said. Chance of rain 40%..Scattered thunderstorms early, then becoming clear after midnight. They were even in quarantine together for a stretch in Florida. But while Serena remained at home with her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their 2-year-old daughter, Olympia, Venus sought out competition by taking part in World Team Tennis at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia for nearly three weeks.Venus did not excel there, but she looked much sharper at this tour event, the first in North America since the pandemic. But they did exchange a long, mutually weary look after the duel, which had lasted 2 hours 19 minutes.“Just ran out of time; that’s kind of what it felt like,” said Venus, who trails in their series, 12-19. Winds light and variable. She was born Valerie June Carter June 23, 1929, and became a … 1 in the world on three different occasions for a total of 11 weeks, participated in The Greenbrier Champions Tennis Classic in 2016 and 2017. Should you have information that conflicts with anything shown please make us aware by email. When the children were young, the family moved to Compton, California, where Williams started playing tennis at the age of four. Williams, who emerged during the late 1980s as a recording artist for Geffen Records, has scored many R&B hit singles, notably "Talk to Myself" (1989), "I'm Dreamin'" (1991) and "Every Little Thing U Do" (1993). She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 Grand Slam doubles titles. Rafael Nadal, the reigning men’s singles champion, also will not defend his title, but the men’s field got a major boost on Thursday when No. She also has at least seven paternal half-siblings. No. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) added a photo to their Instagram account: “We love twinning so much, I slipped into the star tutu skirt from @rocketsofawesome to match hers!…” Baby Sussex born at home. 1 Ashleigh Barty has withdrawn, and on Thursday, the reigning champion, Bianca Andreescu, the 20-year-old Canadian who upset Serena in last year’s U.S. Open final, announced that she was withdrawing as well. She has also won four Olympic gold medals and nearly 800 professional singles matches.It will be Serena Williams' first trip to The Greenbrier.Serena Williams also has been ranked No. Early life. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.Please purchase a subscription to continue reading.Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon.