The Venus and Serena Williams Era of Dominance Is Over

The recent grand slam results for each of them speak loudly, starting with the quarterfinal exit by both Venus and Serena at the Australian Open. The sisters are still top 10 players who can go far in the tournaments, but it’s no longer a lock that at least one sister will reach the finals, or even semifinals of a grand slam event. Venus Williams expressed the same sentiment in her post-match comments following her quarterfinal loss to Ana Ivanovic. As Venus said, she and Serena are playing at a good level, it’s just that the competition is improving (and surpassing them, I believe). It’s also a matter of the two women being past their peaks, which is typically at a much younger age for women in tennis than men.

Usually at a grand slam event, one of them goes far, if not both. If one goes out early, at least the other goes farther, like to the semis or finals. I’m not saying that they should be pulling titles left and right — that is unreasonable. The reality of the situation is that there are several good, young players in the game today who can knock either one out. No, I’m not completely writing the sisters off here, but I will say it without a doubt, this Australian Open marked the definite end of dominance by the Williams sisters. I think I’m being fair when I say I’ll give them one more grand slam title between the two of them for the rest of their careers.