Venus Williams

Early in 1998, Williams turned the tables on Hingis at the Australian Open, advancing to the quarter-finals of the singles tournament before losing to Lindsay Davenport. In mixed doubles competition, Venus teamed with Justin Gimelstob to win the title. It proved to be an upbeat start for a year in which Venus further demonstrated her promise on the court. At the IGA Tennis Classic, she won her first singles title by beating South Africa's Joannette Kruger 6-3, 6-2. In the wake of this victory, her ranking jumped to number 12. Venus took her second career singles title in an all-teen final at the Lipton Championships when she defeated Anna Kournikova. She beat Patty Schnyder 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to win the Grand Slam Cup and advanced to the semi-finals of the U.S. Open, where she was defeated by Lindsay Davenport.

In 1999 singles competition, Williams won titles at Oklahoma City, Miami, Hamburg, the Italian Open, New Haven, and Zurich. Teaming with younger sister Serena, she won doubles titles at both the French and U.S. Opens and also at Hannover, Germany. The following year, Venus and Serena teamed up to win the doubles title at Wimbledon and the gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. In 2000 singles competition, Venus won titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the Sydney Olympics, Stanford, San Diego, and New Haven. In 2001, Venus successfully defended her Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles, while also winning titles at Miami, Hamburg, San Diego, and New Haven. She again teamed with Serena to win the doubles title at the 2001 Australian Open.