Serena Williams recently said that she would have had 30 Grand Slams while her sister Venus Williams would have won 15 if they didn’t play at the same time. The two sisters are among the greatest in tennis history and both had illustrious careers.

The Williams sisters won a combined 30 Grand Slam singles titles during their playing days, with Serena winning 23 (an Open Era record for women) while Venus won seven.

The younger of the duo recently appeared at the New York Times DealBook Summit and was asked to talk about a comment made by their former coach Rick Macci that Venus Williams would have won 15-20 singles Majors if not for her sister. Serena Williams responded by saying that her sister would have won 15 Majors while she would have bagged 30 had they not played at the same time.

“We had this rule that if we played against each other before the final, we had to win the title. I think Venus would have had a minimum of 15 Grand Slams if we didn’t play. I would have had 30,” the 43-year-old said.

The Williams sisters played doubles together as well, winning 14 Grand Slams. Their last appearance at a tournament as a team came at the 2022 US Open, where they lost to Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka in the first round.

Serena Williams on facing Venus Williams

The Williams sisters forged one of the greatest tennis rivalries ever, as they faced one another on 31 occasions, with Serena triumphing on 19 occasions while Venus came out on top 12 times.

The 43-year-old was asked about how the duo dealt living together while being competetitors, and she responded by saying that they were very close to one another.

“There was no separation at all. Looking back, I don’t know how we dealt with that. We were so close, we grew up so close. My family was like, ‘No fighting, you girls are always going to be sisters and that’s that,'” Serena Williams said.

The 23-time Major singles champion also said that the two sisters living together for a long time helped their relationship as they had to figure out having to tough conversations.

“But we actually lived together until I got married, which wasn’t that long ago. We just always lived together. I think that helped our relationship. We had to figure out a way to work it out. We had to communicate, you know, we had to have those difficult conversations. I think we just, without even realizing, leaned into that. As long as I was winning,” Williams said.

While Serena Williams has retired from tennis, Venus Williams is still competing on the WTA Tour, albeit sporadically.