part0013

Re-inspired by her trip to Africa, Serena arrived at the 2007 Australian Open. She had not played very much after Yetunde’s death and her long trip. While some tennis experts thought she had no chance, she had a surprise for them. Though she was not even given one of the seedings, she stormed past opponent after opponent. Serena ended up winning her third Australian Open!

After the final, she said, “Most of all I would like to dedicate this win to my sister who’s not here. Her name is Yetunde, and I just love her so much.”

In 2007, Venus used her influence to improve earnings for women’s tennis professionals. Up to that point, men were paid more money for winning Grand Slam tournaments than women. Venus did not think this was fair. She wrote an article in the Times of London that said: “The message I like to convey to women and girls across the globe is that there is no glass ceiling [which means a barrier to success]. My fear is that Wimbledon is loudly and clearly sending the opposite message.” Thanks to Venus, Wimbledon changed its rules and now women and men earn the same amount for their wins.

In 2008, Venus earned the newly increased prize money by winning Wimbledon again, beating Serena in a Grand Slam final for the first time since the 2001 US Open. Then Venus and Serena completed their comeback with another gold medal in doubles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

By 2009, Serena was earning more than any other WTA player. But later that year, in a tough match at the 2009 US Open, Serena got mad at the officials. She thought they had made a bad call against her and she shouted at them. This is against the rules of professional tennis. Because of Serena’s outburst, the officials awarded a point to her opponent. Upset and frustrated, Serena lost the match. She was later fined $82,500 and was warned she could face more penalties if she did it again.

However, she continued to be the player to beat in the years that followed.

Venus had reached No. 1 again briefly in 2010, but then injured her knee. She was unable to play for several months. Soon after she returned, she was diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome. This rare disease was treated with medication, but the disease often made her weak. In about a year, her ranking had fallen all the way to 105.

As Venus stopped playing to deal with her illness, Serena was hit by her own health crisis. First, in July 2010, she accidentally stepped on a piece of broken glass. The cut on her foot, which required twelve stitches, kept her off the court for many weeks. While she was recovering, blood clots were found in her lungs. She needed an operation right away. It was a very dangerous illness.

“I just thought she was going to die,” her father said.

Some people thought that Serena would stop playing tennis for good. Those people did not know just how tough Serena really was.

A year later, she had recovered enough to play in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She won the singles gold medal. Venus battled back from her own illness to join Serena in London. Together, they won their third gold medal in doubles.

The sisters had faced some tough challenges, but they faced them the same way they did all their tennis opponents—with courage.