Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus 6-4, 6-4 in their first Australian Open finals meeting in 14 years, breaking Steffi Graf's record of 22 majors titles. Serena, 35, now sits just one title behind all-time leader Margaret Court's 24 Grand Slam titles in the Open era. So close to GOATness.As the icing on the cake, Serena regained her No. 1 spot from Angelique Kerber, who beat Serena in the same competition last year.The match with Venus today was hard-fought, with Serena dropping serve twice to start the first set, and at one point slipping to reach a ball and cracking her racket in half. But Serena had the upper hand, capitalizing on Venus' second serves all day.In their post-match interviews, the sisters each sweetly praised the other for their progress, assuring you that the tennis world can't have this level of Serena without Venus, nor Venus without Serena."There's no way I would have anything without her. She's my inspiration," Serena said. "She's the only reason I'm standing here today, and the only reason that the Williams sisters exist. So thank you, Venus, for inspiring me to be the best player I could be and inspiring me to work hard. Every time you won this week, I felt like I've got to win, too."Venus echoed Serena's statement:"Congratulations, Serena, on No. 23," Venus said. "I have been there right with you. Some of them I lost right there against you. I guess that's weird, but it's been an awesome thing.""Your win has always been my win," Venus went on. "I think you know that. And all the time I couldn't be there, wouldn't be there, didn't get there, you were there. I'm enormously proud of you. You mean the world to me."Though both sisters are relatively old in tennis years (Venus is 36), there doesn't seem to be any sign of slowing down. Serena told the crowd after the match, "It's never enough, 23, 24, 25. I felt like I really elevated my game this year."Fearsome.
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