Venus Williams has been trying in vain to win her eighth major tennis title since she captured the Wimbledon trophy in 2008. If she is to do it at theUnited States Open this year, it will come at a heavy cost. She will have to deny her little sister the rare opportunity to win a Grand Slam.
Williams beat Anett Kontaveit, 6-2, 6-1, and will play Serena Williams, the No. 1 seed, in the quarterfinals of the Open on Tuesday night.
That matchup was confirmed when Serena Williams followed her sister on court at Arthur Ashe Stadium and beat Madison Keys, 6-3, 6-3.
“At least a Williams will be in the semis, so that’s good,” Serena Williams said in an on-court interview on ESPN.
Serena, who won the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year, is only three victories from winning the Grand Slam. But Venus is three from her first United States Open title since 2001.
Serena Williams, who had some difficulties in her past two matches, played a clean, efficient match in dispatching her fellow American, Keys. But Venus, who is 35, has been playing terrific tennis lately and may pose the biggest challenge to Serena, 33.
Serena holds a 15-11 advantage over her older sister and has won six of their past seven matches. But Venus won the last match on hardcourts, a three-set affair last year in Montreal. At the Open, they are 2-2, with Serena winning the last encounter in a pair of tiebreakers in the 2008 quarterfinals.
“We played many informal matches against each other, especially when we were younger,” Venus Williams said Friday. “So this is something we have done our whole life.”
There was a period from the 2002 French Open until the 2003 Wimbledon championships when they met only in the finals of major tournaments, and Serena went 5-0. Venus came back and beat Serena in the 2008 Wimbledon final in straight sets, and the next year Serena rallied to beat Venus for the Wimbledon championship, 7-6 (3), 6-2. It was the last time they met in a major final.
“The only difference is we are a lot older,” Serena said. “She is playing great. I barely had time to prepare for my match today because she played so fast."
New York Times
