Serena Williams rolls past sister Venus at Wimbledon
LONDON – Back on Centre Court for the first time in six years against sister Venus, Serena Williams demonstrated why – and how – she's distanced herself as the better of the two sisters, as well as perhaps the greatest women's tennis player to play this game.
Monday the younger Williams sister, 33, beat 35-year-old Venus in their 26th career meeting, earning a berth in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Here's what went down.
Scoreline: [1] Serena Williams (USA) def. [16] Venus Williams (USA) 6-4, 6-3
The crowd was squarely in Venus' corner, but Serena never gave them the chance to play a role in this match, jumping to 2-0 and 4-2 advantages in the first set. Venus had won their most recent meeting, in Montreal last summer, but Serena extended her head-to-head advantage to 15-11.
What it means: Serena keeps her chase of the calendar Grand Slam alive, having won the Australian and French Opens. She's also looking for the second 'Serena Slam' of her career, having won at the US Open last year. She'll have claimed four consecutive Grand Slams should she walk away the winner Saturday.
How it happened: Serena outdueled sister Venus, closing out the first set with an ace wide, 33 minutes after they walked on court. Venus held in an all-important first game of the second set, but Serena broke midway through the second and didn't look back. She held for 5-3, then broke to love for the match, Venus belting a backhand long to end the match in one hour, seven minutes.
Sister, sister: The Williams sisters have never delivered their best tennis against one another, but this was an affair of Serena's poised power against Venus, who is a step slower at 35, playing in her 18th Wimbledon. Both five-time champions here, Serena is looking to collect her first crown at the All England Club since 2012.
U-S-A party: She joins compatriots Madison Keys and CoCo Vandeweghe in the quarterfinals, marking the first time three American women have been this far since 2004, when Serena was joined by Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati in the round of eight.
Key stat: Serena served 10 aces on a day when her sister needed her serve to deliver more poignantly, Venus winning just 59 percent of points off of her first serve. It was one of the more cleanly-played matches you'll see Serena engage in, striking 36 winners and hitting just 13 unforced errors over the court of the 17 games played. The distance between them was shown in the overall points won, as well, Serena with a 69-47 advantage.
What she said: "It's hard to feel excited," Serena told the BBC after the match. "It's never easy to play someone that you love and care about. She's my best friend in the world. I just had to stay focused."
"It definitely doesn't get easier," Serena said of facing her sister. "I was thinking that I am 33 and she just turned 35. I plan on playing for years, but you never know, so I just took that moment in. It was kind of surreal for a moment there."
"It was really good for me to get it done in straight sets and put this behind me."
Added Venus, in a news conference after the loss: "I think we've always dreamed, growing up, of playing at the highest level, playing each other. Playing before the later rounds is definitely not ideal. But, you have to play whoever you play... that's the draw."
"I guess I'll not come back when I don't want to be here," Venus added about her Wimbledon future.
