Name: Do Serena And Venus Williams’ Parents Have A Favorite Daughter? | Letterman
Uploaded: 2022-09-03T02:57:40.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Do Serena And Venus Williams’ Parents Have A Favorite Daughter? | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-09-03. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Do Serena And Venus Williams’ Parents Have A Favorite Daughter? | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-09-03. Transcript available.

Over the July 4th weekend, our first guest defeated her sister Venus to win the
2002 Wimbledon Singles Championship.
Please welcome the number one women's tennis player in the world, Serena
Williams, everybody.
How are you doing? Good, thanks. Welcome to the program. Congratulations on
your win over there in England. What was that like? What did that mean to you?
That must have been exciting. A career highlight, I would think. Yeah, it was
definitely very exciting. It's always my dream to go out there and win Wimbledon.
It was just like an apex I was able to reach in my career. Now, I know nothing
about tennis, so explain to me. The French Open, that's clay, right? Yeah, that's
clay. Okay, and the Wimbledon Championship, that's grass, right?
So, it seems like both would be hard to play on, but what's the difference?
People say that the French Open is a bit difficult to win because it's slow and
you have to be in really good shape and you have to be very consistent and you
have to be able to play on clay. And it's just, and then Wimbledon is very,
very fast. So, it's just, the ball hits and it's just like skidding. Oh, I see.
So, when the ball hits the clay, it just sort of drops dead where it hits, more
or less. Not quite. It doesn't fly. But when it bounces off the grass. I wasn't
kidding about not knowing much about it. Yeah, no, I know nothing. But it
travels around.
A little more on the turf, right? Yeah. And which of those do you prefer? Oh,
wow. Actually, I like them both. I can play on any surface, whether it's hard
court or grass court or clay court.
What is your best game? What complements your game best? What surface? I'd have
to say hard because I grew up on the hard, but a lot of people think grass
because I hit very hard.
And so, when I'm hitting on the grass, it's very hard for the opponent to get
the ball because the ball just kind of flies. And your serve, what kind of
serve are we looking at?
Are you a big, booming monster? A 120-mile-an-hour deal?
No. Well, my fastest serve is a 123.
Wow. Wow.
Wow. 123 miles an hour.
123 miles, but I normally average like 110 because, you know, I had to slow it
down a little bit.
Right. And let's say you're average. Now, this is your first serve you're
talking about.
How does it, what does it come off for the second serve if you've got to shoot
in another serve?
No. Well, nowadays, you have to have a tough second serve if people are going
to attack it, so that's in the 80s, 90s.
Yeah. Oh, man, that's still traveling. But the 123, you killed the guy with
that, right?
I wish. No.
Now, what, when you're, how many times have you met your sister in the finals
of a major tennis tournament?
That would be three times. We played in the U.S. Open in 2001.
Right.
And then we played the French Open in 2002 and then the Wimbledon that just
passed.
And what is, what does the record stand?
Well, she won the one in the U.S. Open and I won the last two, so.
Well, good for you.
Thanks.
Now, when you're, when you're playing your sister, how does it work?
Do you know something about her game that other people don't know because you
practiced and grew up together?
So, do you know a weakness of her game to exploit or do you then know a
strength of yours that you, you have to maximize?
How does that work?
Well, you know, it's, it's a little tough to say.
Venus is, she doesn't really have a weakness in her game.
Everything she does is just very strong.
She plays pretty much, very immaculate.
So, it's hard to say that she has a weakness.
I just have to, whenever I play her, I know that I have to play at a 10 out of
a 10 or else I'm not going to be winning.
And so, that's, that must be incredible pressure for you then.
Maybe a little bit, but I've been playing for, you know, a long time, 16 years.
So, I just, there's really no pressure.
The only pressure I have is what I put on myself and I try not to put any
pressure on me.
But, you must be tired of playing her.
Aren't you tired of playing her?
There's a controversy here.
No, not at all.
Not at all.
I mean, but, I mean, when it, when it comes up, when you're both going into the
finals, don't you think, oh, geez, it would be nice to play somebody easy in
the finals?
No.
Well, you know, maybe.
No.
It's so tough playing Venus, though.
But, no, because I would actually like to see her do her best.
And when she's playing a Grand Slam, obviously, I would love to see her win
unless she's playing me.
And the same for her.
So, if she's in the final, that means she did good.
And to get in the final of a Grand Slam, it's really tough.
Now, is it your folks, do you secretly think, oh, they really like me as a
player better?
Or they like Venus as a player better?
Do you have any of that going on psychologically?
Does that happen?
I like to think they like me.
No.
They love, they love both of us just the same, you know.
If parents, you can't really do that.
Uh-huh.
And you played the doubles championship?
Yeah, we won the doubles, too.
So, we're really excited.
A lot of people don't do that, do they?
No.
Is there anything about the doubles game that you can work on that helps in
your singles game?
Or anything that transfers?
Well, to be honest, to be honest, I never practiced on the doubles,
unfortunately.
And we haven't actually practiced doubles since September of last year when we
played the U.S. Open.
So, we haven't actually played doubles again until, you know, just July.
So, the championship game for you is just a little tune-up, is what you're
saying.
Wow, that's remarkable.
It was.
We played some really good doubles considering that we wasn't able to practice
ahead of time,
that we really hadn't done anything.
But, I don't know, we just came up with this new method of trying not to lose
serve so much
and see what happens.
And whatever happened to men's tennis?
Why did they stop doing that?
You know, our doubles, I'm not, you know, I'm not.
Where did that, where did that play?
No.
Our doubles rating, our final, actually had more than the men's.
You sure did.
Well, yeah, of course.
I just said women's tennis right now.
I wonder why that would.
Do you watch, of the men players, who do you like?
Anybody do you like?
Well, I just, I really just.
I know, it's just nobody.
I don't really have time to watch this.
And then, and then the trophy presentation at center court there,
and this moron is running around without his clothes on.
Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, I'm still, I'm still in shock, you know, I'm
still in shock.
Had he been there all day naked?
Oh.
I don't know, don't want to know, but apparently, it was, it was for the men's
final, I don't, you know, he was, ran out and I was passing by in the locker
room, you know, I was going to look on the TV and I was looking at the TV and I
see this guy taking off his shoes and he was just completely, you know, as they
would say, naked.
That's right.
And my eyes, you know, I'm still, I'm still.
But that's, that's not going to help men's tennis, honestly, that's, if they
think they got something there, they're wrong.
Yeah, you know, they need to come up with a better scheme than that.
Yeah, and so what kind of things are you doing now?
Do you, you get any time off?
You're playing tennis 365 days a year, almost, aren't you?
Almost, almost, but I don't know, I'm just trying to relax now, and now's my
off season, just do a little different things and just have fun, you know.
Yeah, but just in a month, you'll be back here for the U.S. Open.
Yeah, in a month, I'll be back here for the Open, so I really don't have much
off time.
In between, I'm actually playing two tournaments that last a week each.
Now, if you, if you keep meeting your sister in the finals of these big matches,
couldn't we just say, okay, that's it, we're not playing the finals?
No, you know what?
People, people say that, you know, is it tough, but when I actually meet her,
it's a grand slam.
And in tennis, this is, this is like the Super Bowl of tennis is a grand slam,
especially Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Now, if, if you beat her, does she get a little hissy?
Because she, well, she's two years older than you are.
Oh, she, you know, Venus is a, you know, I have to say, she's a great champion.
She, she just is remarkable.
And I've actually learned a lot of my class from Venus because she's just the,
if she's the epitome of a champion.
Someone were to tell me to describe a champion, I would just say Venus because
she's a great winner and loser.
That's right.
And, and now the little sister is running her ragged.
So, you know that.
No, no, no, no, no.
I had a tough match at Wimbledon.
I don't really think I was a bit lucky to win that one.
Well, that's very sweet of you to say.
That's, that's very gracious.
That's a very nice thing.
I don't want to say it.
Yeah.
Uh, well, listen, I hope you have some fun between now and then.
And, uh, if, if you win, even if you don't win, come back and see us.
Okay?
Okay, perfect.
Pleasure meeting you.
Nice to meet you.
Thank you.
Serena Williams, everybody.
Tom Arnold.
Be right back.