Venus Williams

A civil complaint filed today, days before the revered Wimbledon tournament, claims that Williams was negligent in the June 9th crash near her Florida residence in Palm Beach Gardens.

A passenger in a small sedan that collided with Williams' larger SUV, Jerome Barson, 78, died June 22, according to the suit and, separately, the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's office.

A spokesman for Palm Beach Gardens police in Florida confirmed to the BBC they were investigating a fatal crash involving the Grand Slam champion.

A man was taken to hospital after the accident on 9 June and died two weeks later from his injuries, he said.

According to US tabloid website TMZ, which broke the story, police believe she was at fault but her lawyer says it was an accident.

The man who died, Jerome Barson, was travelling with his wife who was driving their vehicle through an intersection when the collision happened.

When Serena beat her older sibling in the Australian Open final 6-4 6-4, she collected a 23rd grand slam title to surpass Steffi Graf for the Open Era lead.

Now she only trails all-time leader Margaret Court by one major and the way she played in Melbourne -- not dropping a set -- Serena, 35, is looking good to achieve that feat later in 2017.

"It's never enough, 23, 24, 25," Serena told the crowd after her win. "I felt like I really elevated my game this year."

The 36-year-old Williams raced out to a 3-0 lead but Barthel fought back with the American having trouble with her ball toss at the northern end of the court as she looked directly into the sun.

Barthel broke twice to give her the opportunity at 4-3 to get back on serve but Williams capitalised on the German also having trouble with the sun to break back then served out from the Yarra River end to clinch the first set in 42 minutes.

It will be the first time since 1998 that the Williams sisters have played at the same international-level tournament, other than the majors.

Venus Williams has competed at the event since 2014.

She won the trophy in 2015, beating top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final, and came runner up in 2014.

This year she was upset by young Russian player Daria Kasatkina in the first round.

Tournament Director Karl Budge said he was overwhelmed to have Venus join Serena at the 2017 tournament.