Serena Williams makes her mark in tennis world at Ameritech Cup

Jet, Dec 1, 1997

Venus is not the only tennis sensation in the Williams family.

Serena Williams has emerged from the shadows of her big sister to make her own mark in the tennis world.

Coming unseeded into the Ameritech Cup held in Chicago, 16-year-old Serena stunned the No. 5-seed Mary Pierce, the world's seventh-ranked player, and the popular No. 2-seed Monica Seles, who has won 41 pro events.

Her amazing run ended in the semifinals of the tournament with a loss to Lindsay Davenport, but not before she wowed tennis fans with her gutsy, exciting performances that included extremely powerful serves.

Serena pulled out of the doubles competition with her sister because of an injury.

After such a showing at the Ameritech cup, Serena's world-ranking shot up from 304 to 100.

"I think I've emerged," she told USA Today.

She emerged like thunder, and like Venus at the U.S. Open earlier this year, she surprised many. She went in unranked and shocked everybody by making it to the final round. Venus's world-ranking is now 25 and climbing.

While the tennis world may still be in awe of the talent possessed by Serena, no one is less surprised than her father, Richard Williams, who boasts about her talent, saying that eventually Serena will be better than her big sister. Older sister Venus has similar sentiments.

"...I have no doubts about where she's going to be a year from now," Richard Williams told the New York Times. "When Venus said she knew her greatest adversary was going to be her sister, she wasn't kidding."

The two sisters have made Williams the hottest name in tennis these days. And as Venus continues to make strides and Serena has let everyone know she is a contender, much is expected of these two teen tennis sensations in the future.