When Venus Williams and Serena Williams walked onto the court in the U.S. Open championship on September 8, 2001,  it marked the first time two Black players, and the first time sisters in the Open era, competed against one another in a Grand Slam final. Playing under the prime-time lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the elder Williams secured a 6-2, 6-4 victory to earn her second consecutive title in Flushing Meadows. The match lasted 69 minutes and served as a significant milestone for a sport that had not seen siblings face off in a major final in 117 years.

A capacity crowd of 23,023 watched from the stands in Queens,  including a wide range of celebrities, from actors and musicians to former tennis champions, all gathered to see the two sisters from Compton, California. While his daughters made history, Richard Williams was not in attendance; he had booked a flight back to Florida earlier that afternoon, stating he could not bear to watch one of his children defeat the other.

Throughout the contest, Venus Williams used her veteran experience to manage the high-stakes environment. She recorded 19 unforced errors compared to 36 from Serena Williams, and her power was on full display in the fourth game when she hit a 109-mph serve that knocked the racket out of her younger sister's hand. Despite seven service breaks occurring throughout the two sets, the older sibling maintained the upper hand, keeping intact a streak where the elder sister had won every Grand Slam meeting between the two up to that point.

After the final point was scored, the sisters met at the net for a long embrace, whispering to one another as the crowd cheered. Venus Williams later said

that the win felt different because of the person on the other side of the net, admitting that while she was happy to win the U.S. Open, she didn't feel the same level of joy she might have felt against a different opponent. Serena Williams, then 19, expressed her disappointment but acknowledged that she still had many years of competition ahead of her.

The 2001 final solidified the family's hold on the tournament and the sport, marking the third straight year a Williams sister had walked away with the U.S. Open trophy. Serena Williams had won the family's first major in 1999, followed by her sister's back-to-back wins in 2000 and 2001. This historic meeting remains a definitive moment in tennis history, signaling a new era of dominance that would see both women continue to break records for decades to come.