Serena Williams has reached the second round of the US Open. The 23-time major winner left her older sister Venus only three games.
Serena Williams has outclassed her sister Venus in the 30th clash and reached the round of 16 in New York. The 23-time Grand Slam winner from the USA effortlessly won 6:1, 6:2 after 72 minutes. 30 minutes later, Serena (36), who had eliminated Carina Witthöft (Hamburg) in the second round, won the 18th victory over Venus (38).
“It’s not easy, she’s my best friend, she means the world to me. When she loses, it always feels like I’m losing, too,” said Serena Williams.
On Sunday the Wimbledon finalist will meet Kaia Kanepi. The Estonian, who surprisingly kicked out world number one Simona Halep (Romania), won her third round match against Rebecca Peterson (Sweden) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
After a few minutes in the match against her sister, Serena Williams had a moment of shock to overcome. In the second game of the game she bent over with her right ankle, but after a break she could obviously continue playing without restrictions. With ten aces and a total of 34 winning strokes, she dominated the duel at will. “I often fold. I had my ankle tied up. Let’s see what tomorrow will be like,” she said.
The last clash to date was won by Venus Williams in Indian Wells in March, when Serena made her comeback after the birth of her daughter Olympia. “Today was my best match since my return,” she said. In 2017 the sisters had played their last Grand Slam match in the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne, when Serena Williams won her last major title already pregnant.