Venus vs Serena and Roger vs Rafael

TNS

Serena Williams holds up her trophy after defeating her sister, Venus Williams, in thew women’s singles finals in Melbourne, Australia.

BRENNAN WHISLER, Sports Writer

Tennis news this week looks like something ripped straight from the headlines a decade ago. Venus and Serena Williams headline the women’s Australian Open championship while Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are the male counterparts.

While many people don’t know a lot about tennis, most individuals will recognize these names. It’s a unique position to be in, as none of them are the number one seed and except for Serena, none are a top five player.

Nadal is the youngest player left at age 30, Federer and Serena are both 35 and Venus is the elder at 36. In an era where 30 is seen as over the hill, these four players continue to improve their game.

The Saturday match saw the family feud continue as the Williams sisters faced each other in a ninth Grand Slam final and for the seventh time Serena won, beating her big sister 6-4, 6-4. (Grand slams, or majors, are Wimbledon, French Open, US Open and Australian Open.)

It followed the standard Serena script as she overpowered her opponent.

It’s her 23rd Grand slam win which is second all-time, behind Margret Court (24), and first in the Open Era. It was the oldest matchup in a women’s major final, as Serena is now the oldest major winner.

Chances are if you only know one male tennis star, he played Sunday. Federer, who leads the men with 17 major wins, played Nadal, who is tied at second with 15. Both men took the last part of last season to rest and come back from injuries and it seems to have.

Nadal who came in leading the rivalry 23-11, 7-2 in major finals, was hoping to overpower the fluidness of the Swiss man. Federer would come out on top of this modern day classic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

It was his third five setter of the tournament, which was a first. He also had to come back from a 1-3 deficit to win the fifth set. It’s his fifth Australian Open title and his first major win since 2010. He is the second oldest man to win, two years behind Ken Rosewall at 37. In 2017, it might not be a young man’s game anymore.