Venus Williams Says She and Sister Serena Get Nervous Watching Each Other's Matches
Venus Williams and her sister, Serena Williams, are two of the most famous tennis players in the history of the sport. But despite decades of success, the famed sibling duo still gets a little anxiety when it comes to watching each other’s matches.
“We both get nervous still. Sometimes it’s hard for me to watch her matches,” Venus told PEOPLE of watching Serena play while at an event for Clorox in New York City on Tuesday. “Sometimes there will be replays of finals she’s played so I know that she’s won and I’m like ‘Okay, I can just watch this match and sit back and relax’ instead of being like ‘Oh my God is she gonna win? I hope she wins!’ “
“Even as much as she’s won — you’ve got to earn it in those intense matches,” Venus, who recently partnered with Clorox for the fight against cold and flu season, said. “It’s never a give in. You fight until you shake hands and hopefully you use those wipes so you don’t get sick!”
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Venus, who travels nonstop for her career, works hard to not only stay in shape and on top of her tennis game, but also to stay healthy.
“One of the reasons I’m teaming up with Clorox is because being sick for me is not an option. I have to work and my work is very physical and if I can’t be physical then I’m out of work. So hopefully, I am able to prevent a lot of illnesses by disinfecting surfaces especially when I go on airplanes … filled with germs. Airport bathrooms and airplane bathrooms are my least favorite. I don’t trust them,” she said, praising the portable Clorox Disinfecting Wipes as her go-to essential for fighting off germs and bacteria that can lead to unwanted sickness.
But one thing the star tennis player does trust? Pointers from her father, Richard Williams.
“He gives us pointers all the time. Every day,” she said. “He’ll say ‘Make sure that you didn’t put your first serve in on that match’ and ‘make sure you stay very relaxed.’ He’ll say just stay relaxed!”
Last month, Venus paid tribute to her tennis coach father and shared a sweet photo of the two while out on the courts in Palm Beach, Florida.
In the snap shared to Instagram, the father-daughter duo hugged it out after one of their “home practices.”
“My last practice before China. Dad, the OG came out, he always comes out,” Venus captioned the post. “I know you all don’t get to see him on tour as much anymore, but he never misses a home practice.”
The 39-year-old, who recently competed in both the Wuhan Open and the China Open, added, “Oh the excitement…!!”
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Ahead of this year’s U.S. Open, Venus and Serena made the annual Palace Invitational at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel a family affair as they joined some of tennis’ biggest names and rising stars on the badminton court. The sisters posed together with their trophies after defeating Coco Gauff and Rafael Nadal in their badminton game.
Then, during the annual tennis tournament, Venus and her family came together to support Serena, 38, for the U.S. Open finals — though the star fell to 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 7-5 on Sept 7.
But whether they win or lose, Venus told PEOPLE she doesn’t think about retirement and looks forward to playing the game for as long as she possibly can.
“I don’t think there is a particular game plan, you just keep going. You definitely never know, like Serena has a baby now and I don’t think she had planned on being a mom while playing professional tennis … let alone winning,” she said.
“You keep playing and when you’re done you’re done,” she added.
