Venus and Serena Williams renew their unique familial rivalry at the US Open on Tuesday. And, adding to the concern, Venus suddenly is playing her best tennis of the tournament. For tonight’s matchup, the stakes are quite a bit higher.
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Fourteen years since they met in their first Grand Slam final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the sisters will return for their 14th career Slam meeting, one that might be the toughest hurdle between Serena and a rare feat she has not achieved. She had no double faults in her round-of-16 win after having 17 in the tournament entering that round.
Both sisters have been looking strong in their 2015 US Open performances, though. “Holding serve in the third set is all I could do. I think people love to see history being made”, Venus said of Serena’s charge to the Grand Slam.
Later, top seed and grand slam seeking Serena dispatched fellow American and 19th seed Madison Keys, winning 6-3 6-3 with a single break of service in each set.
In the women’s singles category, world No1 Serena took just 68 minutes to crush the 20-year-old Keys, while Venus, 35, triumphed 6-2, 6-1 in her earlier match – albeit in even less time, 52 minutes – against Estonia’s 19-year-old Anett Kontaveit.
If any player was to end her bid to become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win the Grand Slam, Serena said Venus was ideal. Afterward, she took pointers from coach Patrick Mouratoglou and headed out to the practice court right away. “She’s one of the greatest tennis players ever”. One of the most famous siblings in tennis will go head-to-head for the 27 time in the quarter-finals of the US Open 2015 at Flushing Meadows, New York, according to the Independent. “Nowadays … I think it’s more fun than it used to be”, Serena said. “She always picks the theme, and so that bothers me“.
She goes on to adf, “When I’m playing her I don’t think of her as my sister”. Venus claims that she won most of those matches. “I know it’s going to be hard, because I know (Venus) wants (Serena) to get it. But what can you say?”
“Well, I mean, I’m playing, for me, the best player in the tournament, and that’s never easy,” Serena said. “We inspire each other”, said Venus.
Things have been different in the past as the two sisters have battled each other on more than a few occasions.
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Bouchard, who suffered a concussion after slipping in the locker room late Friday and hitting her head, pulled out of her match against Italy’s Roberta Vinci.
