Mrs Williams was pulling for Serena

Oracene Williams admits she was pulling for her youngest daughter in the US Open women's singles final.

"I was trying to give her a little edge," Oracene Williams said of Serena Williams. "I was hoping Serena would win the second set for a little competition. I was just trying to encourage Serena to pick it up just a little. Serena would have Venus on the ropes and let up a little."

Instead, Serena lost to her older sister, Venus, 6–2, 6–4 on Saturday night.

"Venus just played beautifully," Oracene Williams said of the first women's final held at night. "She's a night person. She was awake."

Serena, on the other hand, "did not play her best. I think she wasn't as focused. It's a sibling thing, and it always has been."

Wearing a pink pants suit with miniature license plates on both lapels, one saying Venus, the other Serena, Oracene called the sibling confrontation, the first in a Grand Slam tournament final since Wimbledon in 1884, historical.

"I am overwhelmed and tired," she said. Asked why, she responded, "Because it was the big one."

Asked why Venus won her second straight US Open, defeating the 1999 US Open winner, Oracene had a ready reply.

"Venus is more mature. Serena is still a little raw. Venus plays smart. The wind bothered Serena a little more than Venus," she said. "And they were playing each other, which was kind of strange."