American tennis super-stars Serena and Venus Williams on Tuesday arrived the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos at about 3p.m (local time) with officials of ‘Breaking The Mould,’ BTM campaign who were on ground to receive them.
The visit of the Williams sisters is part of a two-nation tour that will see them play exhibition matches and train kids is aimed at promoting women’s rights.
The sisters having shared 22 major women’s singles championships between them are amongst the world’s and United States’ most successful athletes and their trip is aimed at promoting “the role that women play in shifting perceptions and encouraging development at all levels across the African continent”.
The sisters could only say a few words to pressmen at the airport as security operatives whisked them away immediately they arrived.
The Williams are scheduled to pay the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola a courtesy at the State House on Wednesday, after which they will head to a tennis clinic at Ikoyi Club, visit a puberty education class for girls then play an exhibition match and head to South Africa on Friday, November 2nd.
The Williams sisters have played each other competitively in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches. Their overall head-to-head series is 13–10.
Serena who is currently ranked number 3 in the world has played Venus 12 times in Grand Slam singles tournaments and 11 times in other tournaments (including 11 finals).
They have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, which was the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals.
