Venus and Serena Williams took a trip back to the first Grand Slam victory obtained as a team in their careers after, Thursday, the older sister shared a few photos depicting moments from their historical performance that unfolded at French Open in 1999.
Venus accompanied the photos with a description, which she opened by sharing an interesting record the two hold until this very day. “Serena and I hold the record for first (and all!) 14 grand slam finals won. I didn’t even realize this until right before our 14th final at Wimbledon and a reporter mentioned that we had never lost a grand slam final.
I don’t know how one doesn’t realize this lol, but that was the case. I remember my response was ‘ok, no pressure! Lol!’. ,” Venus says in the comment. The current world number 76 continued by giving some details about the way the brawl for the title unfolded.
“These photos are from our first Grand Slam title at the French open in 1999. I remember in the match we were up a set and 5-3 when hubris got the best of me. I got overconfident and didn’t focus on winning each and every point.
I figured the title was ours. That could not have been further from the truth. The score became even and then I remember being the exact opposite of confident and getting so tight I couldn’t perform until late in the third set.
It was all very dramatical. There were so many rain delays and the wind started to blow the clay around in waves across the court. The final had gone from straightforward to a downright saga”.
The “powerful lesson” learned by Venus Williams
Yet, from this rollercoaster of a Grand Slam final, Venus Williams, and surely Serena too, have both gained something that helped them get to where they are today.
“In the end, we won the first of 14 Grand Slams, but I learned a powerful lesson. Never let up! This photo of us lifting the trophy shows the final triumph but doesn’t tell the story and the battle that occurred to get there. The journey is the best part!” Venus concluded.
