What the WTA world rankings looked like when Serena Williams and Venus Williams played their first Grand Slam final

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Serena Williams and Venus Williams contested their first Grand Slam final against one another at the 2001 US Open.

The Williams sisters did battle on Arthur Ashe Stadium with the title on the line 24 years ago.

It was the older sister who prevailed, as Venus Williams defeated Serena Williams in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

The win saw Venus retain her place as WTA world number three, but how did things look by the end of the year?

The 2001 WTA year-end rankings

Despite their efforts in New York, neither sister finished 2001 as the world number one.

That distinction was reserved for Lindsay Davenport, who finished just 10 points ahead of her fellow American, Jennifer Capriati.

Venus finished third, rounding out an all-American top three, ahead of Switzerland’s Martina Hingis and Belgium’s Kim Clijsters.

The second Williams sister slotted in at six, with Justine Henin, Jelena Dokic, Amelie Mauresmo, and Monica Seles behind her.

Sum up Serena Williams’ career in one word

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Williams and Capriati may have felt hard done by to miss out on the top spot, given they shared the four Grand Slams in 2001.

2001 Grand Slams

• 2001 Australian Open – Jennifer Capriati
• 2001 French Open – Jennifer Capriati
• 2001 Wimbledon – Venus Williams
• 2001 US Open – Venus Williams

However, it was Davenport’s consistency on tour that saw her finish the year as number one, winning more titles than anyone else in the women’s game.

Lindsay Davenport’s title wins in 2001

• 2001 Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo, Japan)
• 2001 State Farm Classic (Arizona, USA)
• 2001 Eastbourne Open (Eastbourne, UK)
• 2001 E-Style Classic (L.A. USA)
• 2001 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Filderstadt, Germany)
• 2001 Swisscom Challenge (Zurich, Switzerland)
• 2001 Generali Ladies Linz (Linz, Austria)

Davenport held on to the number one ranking for the first few weeks of 2002, until Capriati took it from her.

The pair swapped positions until Venus Williams became world number one for the first time in February…

How Venus Williams became world number one

Venus Williams made an exceptional start to her 2002 campaign, clearly setting her sights on the number-one ranking.

The American won the Gold Coast International to kick off her season, taking down Henin in the final, 7-5, 6-2.

She travelled to Melbourne as one of the pre-tournament favorites, but couldn’t quite live up to expectations, slipping up at the quarterfinal stage, losing to Seles for the first time in her career.

Bouncing back, Venus Williams won back-to-back titles, winning in France and Belgium, narrowing the gap to the world number one.

It was at the Dubai Tennis Championships that Williams secured the number one ranking, as a run to the semifinals was enough for her to replace Capriati.

She swapped positions with Capriati over the next few months, accumulating 11 total weeks at the top of the world rankings.

It was then her younger sister’s turn to lead the way, ascending to number one in July.

Serena Williams enjoyed several lengthy stints as world number one and held the top spot for 319 weeks throughout her career, the third-most in WTA history.

Most weeks at WTA number one

She also spent 186 consecutive weeks ranked number one in the world, a record she shares with Germany’s Steffi Graf.

Only time will tell if anyone can take that record away from them in the future, but it will certainly be something to watch out for.

The current world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, has held the top spot for 59 weeks.