Possibly the best siblings in the history of the women’s tennis game, Venus and Serena Williams have together broken tonnes of records and achievements over the years (in fact, decades). Now 41 and 40 years old respectively, you’d not expect them to still be playing professional tennis but they’re right up there with the best, playing in the Grand Slams as well.
They’ve broken individual records with 7 and 23 individual Grand Slam singles titles respectively over the years. When they’ve played together, they’ve got a lot of titles across the globe in doubles tournaments as well. But now, they’ll miss the upcoming Australian Open 2022 which means the first Australian Open tournament without both the Williams sisters since as far back as 1997.
No Williams Sisters in Aus Open 2022
Serena Williams had already pulled out of the tournament in Melbourne Park last month. She had not recovered from the hamstring injury she sustained at Wimbledon last year and wasn’t fit for the 2022 Australian Open. As for Venus, she was scheduled to play the tournament but only yesterday mentioned that she won’t be travelling to Australia, making it the first time both sisters miss this tournament since 1997.
Venus is ranked #318 in the world right now and for her to play in the main draw, she’d have to get a wildcard entry in the tournament. Given all the vaccination and safety protocols in Australia, Venus may have believed it was too much effort to make the trip down under. If you remember well, both Williams sisters made their Australian Open debut in 1998.
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Since then, Serena missed the tournament on five different occasions while Venus missed it only four times since that debut. The Australian Open 2022 is the first time since their debut season that both sisters will be absent at the tournament. As for Venus, it ends her streak of nine consecutive appearances at the Australian Open.
With Venus dropping out, it’s likely that a young local Australian player will receive a wildcard instead. Venus has made the finals of the Australian Open twice in the past and ended runner-up in both, so she will not have a chance of winning her maiden Australian Open title this year either. In both finals, she played her sister itself, losing to Serena in both of Aus Open 2013 and Aus Open 2017.
So regardless of their current form and fitness, the Williams sisters have given us some moments to cherish over the years along with some great battles against each other and other opponents too. Hence, they’re going to be heavily missed in the 2022 Australian Open. What it does is that it opens up chances for other young women players, and you cans see who we think will the women’s Aus Open 2022 here.
We’ve got our eyes on the US Open 2021 champion, Emma Raducanu, since she won that tournament without dropping a single set. But you never know what can happen. For similar tennis stories and updates from the 2022 Australian Open, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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