Serena equals most lopsided win against Venus

7:02 pm | August 31, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:


Serena Williams defeated sister Venus Williams 6-1, 6-2 in the sisters’ 16th meeting in a major to move into the fourth round of the US Open on Friday night in New York

Serena rolled her ankle in the opening minutes, running side to side along the baseline in the match’s second game. A trainer came over to her and taped up the ankle and Serena rallied to win seven straight games and take control of the match that lasted just 1 hour, 12 minutes.

“It’s not easy,” Serena said. “She’s my best friend. She means the world to me. Every time she loses, I feel like I do. It’s not very easy, but it’s a tournament. We know there’s more to life than just playing each other and playing tennis.”

It was No. 17-seed Serena’s and No. 16-seed Venus’ earliest meeting in a Grand Slam tournament in 20 years. They hadn’t played this early in a Grand Slam since Venus won in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open in their first meeting as pros.

Serena’s win over Venus is tied for the most lopsided victory ever in their 30 professional meetings. Serena defeated Venus 6-1, 6-2 at the Charleston semifinals in 2013. It was the most lopsided scoreline for a major match in their rivalry; previously, Venus defeated Serena 6-2, 6-4 in the 2001 US Open final.

“This was my best match since I returned,” she said. “I worked for it. I worked really hard these last three or four months. That’s life, you have to keep working hard, no matter ups or downs you have. That’s what I’ve been doing.”

She pounded 10 aces to just one for Venus, who was perhaps a little drained after two tough matches to begin the tournament, including a three-setter against 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in her opener.

Next up for Serena is Kaia Kanepi — who upset No. 1 seed Simona Halep in the first round — in a fourth-round match on Sunday.

Serena is making her 58th appearance in the Round of 16 of a major — one shy of tying Navratilova’s record mark of 59 in the Open era among women.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.


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