Dominant Serena Downs Venus to Reach U.S. Open Fourth Round
They’ve played 30 times against one another over the course of 20 years, and yet on Friday night, Venus Williams said her younger sister Serena played the “best match she’s ever played against me”.
It was a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing on the biggest tennis stage in the world that propelled Serena into the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open for the 17th time in her career.
“She played so well, I never got to really even touch any balls. When your opponent plays like that, it’s not really anything to be upset about,” Venus went on to say in her post-match press conference. “She just played much better…Any shot that I hit great, she hit a greater shot. Not a lot I can do.”
The 17th seeded Serena played near flawless tennis, ripping 34 winners and 10 aces while saving the only break point she faced to move through in one hour and 12 minutes.
Despite playing the best she has since returning to the tour following her long time away, afterwards the 23-time Grand Slam champion was just happy the 30th installment of this stressful head-to-head was complete.
“It feels good for the match to be over with,” said Serena. “Win or lose, it just feels good that that’s done.”
Her victory leaves little doubt in the minds of many that she is the tournament’s favorite going forward, especially when you consider the top two seeds, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki, have both been eliminated.
But she is taking it one match at a time, and that begins with a showdown with Estonian Kaia Kanepi on Sunday.
“She obviously knows how to win. She played and beat the No. 1 seed,” said Serena, who is 4-0 in her career against Kanepi. “I’ve played her a lot. We’ve had some close matches. Each match is new and she knows how to play very good tennis.”
