Venus and Serena Williams are set to grace the Wimbledon stage this year as they look to roll back the years and make their mark on the Grand Slam stage once again.
Ahead of their return, the older Williams sister reminisced about her iconic serve in the final of the 2008 edition of the tournament.
Venus Williams Looks Back on the 2008 Wimbledon Final Against Serena Williams
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships saw the two Williams sisters face off in a thrilling women’s singles final. The older Williams sister was the reigning champion and successfully defended her title with a 7-5, 6-4 win.
According to Wimbledon’s records, during the first game of the second set, she registered the fastest serve by a woman at the tournament — 129 mph (207.6 km/h). On Thursday, the Wimbledon account on Instagram posted a video of that serve, and Williams reminisced on how that was the only way to “survive” against her sister.
“What in the world? I can’t remember hitting a serve this fast ever. How did I miss it? It’s the only way to survive against Serena Williams,” Venus wrote on her Instagram story with the woozy face emoji.
The 46-year-old, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, faced her sister 31 times on the WTA Tour. The younger Williams sister won 19 times, including in 8 of the 10 finals they competed in.
The 2008 win proved to be the last singles Grand Slam title for Venus, who lost to her sister at the Wimbledon final a year later.
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The rivalry between the Williams sisters shaped women’s tennis in the early 2000s, and they also enjoyed considerable success while competing together in women’s doubles.
The 14-time doubles Grand Slam champions will renew their partnership at Wimbledon after being awarded wildcards in the women’s doubles event. Meanwhile, Serena will also take part in women’s singles at the All England Club, where she will play in her first singles match since the 2022 US Open.
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Venus, who has never officially retired from tennis, has been sporadically competing on the WTA Tour since July 2025. She made the quarterfinals at the 2025 US Open women’s doubles event, forming a strong partnership with Leylah Fernandez. She hasn’t been able to build on that result this year, suffering early exits at the Australian Open, the Miami Open, and the Madrid Open in both singles and doubles.
In preparation for the Wimbledon Championships, Williams teamed up with Alexandra Eala at the Bad Homburg Open, where they reached the quarterfinals.
