Tennis' version of the "Sister Act" is back. It's been eight years since Serena Williams and Venus Williams met in the final of a grand slam event, but now, they're paired together on the biggest stage Down Under in the finale of the Australian Open. American tennis fans have been waiting for this since it became clear that the draw was opened up for both women to reach the final, and now, this is exactly what we have at our disposal early on Saturday morning.
The fixture between Venus Williams and Serena Williams will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2017, at 3:30 a.m. ET at Rod Laver Stadium. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN.
Tennis Odds at BookMaker.eu
Venus Williams +400
Serena Williams -500
Odds Analysis
History is definitely on the side of Serena in this matchup. She's 16-11 all-time against her sister, including going 8-3 in this rivalry since the quarterfinals of the 2008 U.S. Open. The price though, is surely steep. Regular tennis bettors are no stranger to the fact that the young Williams sister is often a huge favorite no matter who she's playing against, and her elder sister is no exception to that rule. The price of -500 is a big one, especially for a Grand Slam event final, but this is what bettors are going to have to sift through.
Serena is also a favorite to win in straight sets. You can get a price of +131 on Venus to win either of the first two sets the two sisters play against each other on Saturday morning.
BookMaker.eu has Venus set at just 8.5 games won as her over/under for this match, while Serena is set at 12.5. Serena is -5 in total games against her sister, and the over/under in the total number of games between these two is set at just 20.5.
Head To Head History
The Williams sisters haven't played against each other since 2015 in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, a match that Serena won in three sets. The last victory for Venus in this series was in 2014 at the Canadian Masters, and her last win in a major event over her younger sister was in the Wimbledon final in 2008.
These two have met twice before in the Australian Open, including in the first round of the 1998 event that now feels like years and years ago. Elder Venus won that match 7-6 ( 7-4 ), 6-1. Serena would get her revenge in 2003 in the final of the event, a match won 7-6 ( 7-4 ), 3-6, 6-4.
All-time in majors, Serena has the slender 7-5 advantage, though it should be noted that Venus won the first three meetings in majors between these two. This will be the 12th time these sisters have met in the championship match of an event and the eighth in a Grand Slam event. Serena is 8-3 all-time in finals against Venus, including going 5-2 in major finals.
Free Tennis Pick
It's hard to argue with anything that Venus has done in the Aussie Open this year, but if we're being realistic, she hasn't played much in the way of foes yet either. It's so unusual for the No. 13 seed in a major tournament to flat out never run into a better play anywhere along the way, but that's been the case here Down Under for Venus, as she's only met one ranked player and only dropped a total of one set along the way.
This though, is a much different challenge. It's clear that Serena is coming up towards the end of her career as well as Venus, but Serena still has some raw power that you just flat out don't see out of the other players on the WTA Tour. We have no doubt that this will end up being the seventh time she has lifted the Aussie Open trophy and her 23rd all-time Grand Slam championship.
Tennis Odds: Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2
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