Venus and Serena Williams are going to be playing against each other in the French Open. I know it happens a lot in team sports that siblings/relatives will play each other, and sometimes in big games.
My question is have there been any other instances of relatives playing against each other for a major event in a single-player sport like tennis, golf, swimming, wrestling or any others?
I know some baseball/football/hockey people are dying to give answers too, so I’ll ask how much it has happened in major sporting events (World Series, Stanley Cup, etc.) for team sports as well.
I can think of numerous siblings who competed inthe same sport, but very rarely were the siblings in question as close in talent and ranking as Venus and Serena WIlliams.
I mean, John McEnroe played against his brother Pat a few times, and Chris Evert played her sister Jeannie a few times, but in both cases, one sibling was WAAAY better than the other, and they alwas met in early rounds of tournamets… never in the finals.
The only case I can think of in which two siblings both competed very sucessfully in sports geared toward individuals is the Hebert brothers, Lionel and Jay. Back in the 1960s, both were superb pro golfers, and both of them won the PGA championship at one time or another.
Peaches Barkowitz and her sister, who went by the name of Plums, both played junior tennis in the 60s. I don’t know if they ever played each other, but you’ve got to love the names.
Auto racing, especially NASCAR, is know for sibling vs sibling rivalry. You have the Burtons, Jeff and Ward, the Wallaces, Rusty, Kenny, and Mike, the Labontes, Terry and Bobby (the only brothers to win the Winston Cup championship), Brett, Todd, and Geoffrey Bodine, Darrell and Michael Waltrip, Elliott and Hermie Sadler, and Jeff, David, and Mark Green. Other famous families of racing include Petty, Foyt, Unser, Anderetti, and Earnhardt. June of 2000 saw 4 generations of the same family compete at Portland Speedway. Hershel McGriff Sr. competed against his sons Hershel McGriff Jr. and Dennis McGriff in a NASCAR touring race. In a prelimary race, the 3 above competed in a late model race with David and Corey McGriff, Dennis’ son and grandson. It is the only known time that 4 generations of one family competed in a professional sports at the same time.
Chess: Judit and Somethingerother Polger. If I’m not mistaken, Judit is leaps and bounds better than her twin sister.
Baseball: Dizzy Dean had a brother that played for a while, back in the 40’s (or maybe it was the 30’s), but I think they might have been on the same team (the Cardinals).
Also, didn’t Joe DiMaggio have a brother in baseball with him? Dom maybe?
And I believe Ken Griffey, Jr. and his father, Ken Griffey, Sr. (duh) were both in the major leagues for a few months toward the beginning of Junior’s career. IIRC Senior played for Cincinnati while Junior was playing for Seattle, and this was before inter-league play.
Sumo wrestling brothers Wakanohana and Takanohana have faced each other once or twice in tournament tie-breakers (stablemates aren’t allowed to wrestle each other in regular matches).
Their dad and uncle (also named Wakanohana and Takanohana) probably did as well.
