September 28, 2000: The day the Williams sisters won Olympic gold in doubles
Every day, Tennis Majors takes you back to one of the most iconic moments in tennis history. On September 28, 2000, the Williams sisters became the first sisters to win an Olympic doubles gold medal in tennis – a feat they would repeat at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games as well
On this day 09/28, Venus & Serena Williams, 2000 Sydney Olympics
What happened exactly on that day?
On this day, September 28 in 2000, the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, triumphed in doubles at the Olympic Games in Sydney, just 24 hours after Venus had already clinched the gold medal in singles. To achieve that feat, the American sisters defeated Dutchwomen Kristie Boogerts and Miriam Oremans 6-1, 6-1 to finish the tournament by dropping just one set.
The Williams sisters triumph was also the continuation of the United States domination at the Olympic Games in women’s tennis: for the third consecutive Games, after 1992 and 1996, all gold medals had been claimed by the American team.
The players involved: The Williams sisters and the Dutch team
- The American team : the Williams sisters
Venus Williams was born in 1980. Coached by her father Richard, she was heralded as a tennis prodigy since her first steps on the tour in 1994. However, it was not until 1997 that she broke into the top 100, obtaining her first significant result in Palm Springs, reaching the quarter-finals after defeating world No 9 Iva Majoli (7-5, 3-6, 7-5). Venus drew a lot of attention to herself thanks to her powerful groundstrokes, mixed with her charisma and the heavy promotion made by her father.
Her younger sister, Serena, was also beginning a career in professional tennis, and their father had boldly predicted that one day, they would face each other in a Grand Slam final. After a first Grand Slam final loss at the 1997 US Open against Martina Hingis (6-0, 6-4), Venus fulfilled her potential in 2000, triumphing at both Wimbledon and the US Open, defeating Lindsay Davenport each time in the final. She was now ranked No 2 in the world.
Serena Williams, born in 1981, was the youngest of the Williams sisters. Her older sister Venus, at the start of her career in 1997, had declared that her main rival for the world No 1 ranking would be her younger sister Serena. At the time, the tennis experts did not know whether she was joking or just being provocative. They soon discovered how serious Venus was. In 1998, aged only 16, Serena beat several top 10 players, including world No 3 Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals of the Sydney Open (1-6, 7-5, 7-5), and reached the quarter-finals at several events to end the season as world No 20.
1999 was her breakthrough year. She claimed her first title in Paris Coubertin, at the age of 17, defeating local favourite Amélie Mauresmo (6-2, 3-6, 7-6). In Miami, she defeated world No 1 Martina Hingis in the semi-finals (6-4, 7-6), only to finish runner-up to Venus in the first ever all-sister final in tennis history. After a disappointing French Open, an injury forced her to pull out of Wimbledon. But in the summer, she won a third tournament in Los Angeles and at the US Open, she stunned the tennis world by claiming her first Grand Slam title before her older sister, beating Hingis the final (6-3, 7-6). Together, Venus and Serena had already claimed three Grand Slam crowns in doubles : Roland-Garros and the US Open in 1999, and Wimbledon in 2000.
- The Dutch team: Miriam Oremans and Kristie Boogert
Miriam Oremans, from the Netherlands, was born in 1972. She achieved her best singles ranking as world No 25 in 1993, after reaching her first final on the tour in Eastbourne (defeated by Navratilova, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3) and the fourth round in Wimbledon (lost to Jana Novotna, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4). In the following years, she remained in the top 50, reaching the fourth round again at the All England Club in 1998 and reaching five finals on the tour. In 1999, she almost exited the top 100, and in September 2000, she was ranked No 76 in singles and No 36 in doubles.
Kristie Boogert was born in 1973. Although she had never gone past the third round at a Grand Slam tournament, she climbed as high as world No 29 in 1996. In singles, she had only reached the final of a WTA tournament once, in Budapest (lost to Tathiana Garbin, 6-2, 7-6 in the 2000 final). In doubles, she had claimed three titles, all in 1996, thus reaching the 16th position on the WTA rankings.
The place: The Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre
The Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre is a tennis and multi-purpose sports facility located within the Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia. The centre was built in 1999 and hosted the tennis events for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Its Center Court, which would be later renamed the Ken Rosewall Arena, had a capacity of 10,500 spectators.
The facts: The Williams sisters need only 49 minutes to win the gold
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Venus Williams had already confirmed her new hold on the women’s tour. After triumphing at Wimbledon and the US Open, she had claimed the singles gold medal, defeating Elena Dementieva in the final (6-2, 6-4). She was the third consecutive American woman to claim the Olympic Gold in singles, after Jennifer Capriati in 1992 and Lindsay Davenport in 1996.
Now, another challenge awaited her in the doubles event, which she played with her sister Serena. Although Serena was ranked No 8 in the world, she was not been able to enter the singles draw as one country could only enter only three players : for the USA, that had been Lindsay Davenport (world No 1), Venus Williams (world No 2) and Monica Seles (world No 5).
By reaching the women’s doubles final, Venus and Serena were in position to set three milestones. First of all, the duo could become the first sisters to clinch the Olympic Gold in doubles. Venus could also become the first player since Helen Wills in 1924 to triumph both in singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games. Also, they could clinch a third consecutive American title in doubles, after Gigi and Mary Joe Fernandez had triumphed in 1992 and 1996.
In the final, against Oremans and Boogert, the Williams sisters showed no mercy. After only 49 minutes of play, Serena slammed a final overhead on match point to seal the victory, 6-1, 6-1.
“For me, this is almost bigger than singles,” said Venus, according to ESPN.com. “To have a victory like this with Serena, my sister and best friend, doesn’t happen very often. (…) To be a part of history is really important.”
Serena was also overcome by the special nature of this achievement. “It was a happy moment for me Wednesday, watching Venus win. It was the same kind of feeling today. Every year I can win a Slam. This is every four years, and you never know what’s going to happen.”
What next? Williams sisters win two more Olympic doubles gold medals
This Olympic success was only the start of the Williams sisters’ unbelievable list of achievements. As their father had predicted, they would become world No 1 and world No 2 and face each other in several Grand Slam finals. Venus would win seven Grand Slam titles in singles, and 14 in doubles, all of them with her sister. Serena would secure 23 Grand Slam crowns in singles, and one of her most amazing feats would be known as the Serena Slam: she would win four consecutive major titles in 2002 and 2003, each time defeating her sister Venus in the final.
At the 2008 Olympics, in Beijing, Venus and Serena would win another gold medal in doubles. They also went on to win the doubles gold at the 2012 London Games , after Serena had won the singles event.
