Unfortunately for the Floridian, her older sister lost for the 34th time in her last 43 matches, dating back to the 2019 US Open.
An overhead camera shot of Venus Williams’ first-round match against Diana Shnaider at the Miami Open showed that Grandstand Court wasn’t filled to capacity. But if the contest’s crowd was lacking in quantity, an up-close shot of one fan in attendance showed that it wasn’t lacking in quality.
That’s because the fan was Venus’ sister, Serena ⤵️
Little sis in the house to support big sis! #MiamiOpen@SerenaWilliams | @Venuseswilliams pic.twitter.com/iBvaI2gmkt
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 19, 2024
What did Serena see? Unfortunately for her, another Venus loss—her older sis’ 34th in her last 43 matches, dating back to the 2019 US Open. The 43-year-old has lost her last four matches overall and is 0-2 this season, after returning to action at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Shnaider broke Williams three times in the first set, then exchanged four breaks with the legendary Floridian to begin the second. But the veteran’s fitness in the Miami heat and lack of form eventually showed, with Williams double faulting down break point at 3-4. Shnaider coolly served out the match.
Tennis Channel’s Martina Navratilova acknowledged the crowd, in a sense, during the broadcast.
“I don’t believe they think Venus can get back into it,” said the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion.
Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj caught up with Serena—and some of her good friends, including former coach Patrick Mouratolglou and Grigor Dimitrov, but wouldn’t give away any state secrets when asked about it on air.
“I haven’t seen Serena in minute, so we were able to catch up on old times and too many laughs,” said a smiling Amritraj.
Amidst all this, the fans also saw a cat:
"Let, replay the point. There is a cat crossing the court." 😂#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/Tt4cV42Cxe
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 19, 2024
