In a beautiful gesture, Serena spent more than half her 2017 victory speech talking about big sister Venus. “I really would like to take this moment to congratulate Venus. She’s an amazing person. There’s no way I would be at 23 (titles) without her. There’s no way I’d be at one without her. There’s no way I’d have anything without her. She’s my inspiration – she’s the only reason I’m standing here today and the only reason the Williams sisters exist. So thank you Venus for inspiring me to be the best player that I could be and inspiring me to work hard. Every time you won this week, I felt like, ‘I’ve got to win too’, so thank you so much. Thank you. She deserves an incredible round of applause. She’s made an amazing comeback. I definitely, definitely think she’ll be standing here next year, and I don’t like the word ‘comeback’. She’s never left. She’s been such a great champion – so thank you, Venus.”