Venus and Serena Williams have become synonymous with this generation of tennis in the United States.
The braid-and-bead-rocking sisters gained the world’s attention in the late 1990s, and after their nearly two decades in the game (pardon the pun), when either sibling enters the court, we anticipate dominance.
Who cares if in 2015, Serena’s dreams of a calendar-year grand slam were crushed by an underdog? So what if this is the first time in half a decade that five-time Wimbledon champ Venus has made it to the tournament’s semifinal round? After all, she has been fighting a rare autoimmune disease.
Serena and Venus Williams are still tennis royalty—right up there with Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson.
Our message to the Williams sisters: You. Better. Serve. No really, ladies. Please serve. And be sure that your serves are amazingly powerful shots that confound your opponents. We’re here for the win, and we want to see you both in the finals: Wimbledon, U.S. Open—the works.
As we wish one of our favorite celeb sister duos well this tennis season, here are some photos as a reminder of the supreme talent and dominance of Venus and Serena Williams on the tennis court.
Felice León is multimedia editor at The Root.