Venus Williams beat her younger sister Serena 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, in the final of the Lipton Championships in Florida yesterday. Venus (18) took the first set with a vicious forehand that had her 17-year-old sister struggling to keep up.

However Serena, hitting powerful baseline volleys, fought back in the second set, winning it 6-4, the first time she has taken a set off her sister in championship tennis.

Both players showed absolutely no sisterly love as they forced a blistering pace.

In the final set Venus pulled into a 3-1 lead before being pegged back. But she broke Serena again to go 5-4 up and then swept to victory.