Between the years of 1998-2002 (early half), Venus had no problem with absolutely annihilating Serena.
Between mid 2002-2003, Serena actually became more competitive, grew into her role as a professional, and began winning their matches.
Then, between 2005-2009, they split their wins, with Serena only winning 1 more than Venus in their frequent meetings.
So where precisely is Venus's "psychology" getting in her way of winning?
I wish people would actually look at the reality of their meetings and judge based on that alone, because the "psychology" myth has gotten really tired at this point. Venus may well have felt bad, but so did Serena. And Venus certainly didn't feel bad enough to throw a match when facing Serena.
Both sisters went into meetings feeling apprehensive.
But both were professionals and played their hearts out far more times than not.
To suggest that Serena felt nothing is ludicrous.
There were many many times where Serena's face showed a LOT more pain than Venus's during their matches, and I swear I wanted to turn off the TV so many times because of it. But when Venus started laying the smack down, Serena would respond and play her sister as an opponent.
THAT is the only thing a big sister can do for her little sister who is also a professional.
Venus taught Serena to check her emotions at the door when facing any opponent, and Serena learned well.
So can we please dispense with the melodramatic embellishments?
It's an old and worn out record that is no longer in vogue.
This argument has run its course over the years, but still seems to pop up when younger fans join or become new fans of this sport.
However, the conclusion remains the same, regardless of how the question is asked.
Bottom line:
Their H2H record, slam count, and number of weapons, tell any logically minded person what the real deal is.
And that is that Serena is far and away the better athlete with the most weapons, more expansive game plan, and technical abilities.
And to put the icing on the cake, Serena has been improving and embellishing her skills since turning pro.
She has grown, and Venus stopped years ago.
Personally, I believe that Venus is very much underrated.
She also is burdened with an illness that no athlete would wish upon another.
However, there isn't another active WTA player that even measures up to Venus, other than Serena, in terms of peak greatness.
Peak Venus is definitely magnificent.
But peak Serena still wins by a measurable degree, and is simply another level of magnificence.
ENJOY!!