The 23 Grand Slam winner was literally on fire against her sister, merciless in her blistering returns and making Venus look more like her apprentice
Browsing: Venus Williams
The superstar sisters’ third-round clash is their earliest Grand Slam meeting in 20 years – since Venus beat her younger sister in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open in their first career meeting.
Williams sent down 13 aces and 30 winners to record her second consecutive straight sets victory at Flushing Meadows.
Venus Williams beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-4 7-5 in the US Open second round on Wednesday to set up a possible third-round match against her younger sister Serena.
Forbes’ list of top-earning female athletes is dominated by tennis players, and as is so often the case among tennis players, Serena Williams stands at the top.
Halep had to grind out a 7-6(9) 4-6 7-5 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova earlier in the day, completing a match that began Wednesday but was halted due to rain.
Seven-time Grand Slam winner Williams went a break down in the first set as American Collins raced to a 3-0 lead, and saved two set points at 5-2 but lost the third after 39 minutes.
The 20-year-old Kasatkina rallied to claim the biggest victory of her career and defeat seven-time Grand Slam winner Williams, extending a year-long assault on top players, Grand Slam winners and former world number ones.
Despite the windy conditions, Williams improved to 5-2 on the season, which includes a third round win on Monday over sister Serena, who was making her return to the WTA after having a baby
Halep breezed through her fourth round match with a 7-5, 6-1 win over China’s Wang Qiang and eighth seed Venus Williams faced a stern test from Anastasija Sevastova but held on for a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 victory.
It is Venus’ first victory over Serena since August 2014 at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, and the first matchup where Venus was the higher-ranked player since the sisters met at Bangalore in March 2008
It was a blistering encounter between the 23-time Grand Slam champion and Bertens, who was a former French Open semi-finalist
Williams was pregnant when she won her 23rd major crown last January in Melbourne
In her first match at Rod Laver Arena since losing last year’s final to her sister, Serena, Venus Williams lost her opener to Belinda Bencic 6-3, 7-5.
The 37-year-old had a successful year in the absence of her sister Serena through pregnancy, climbing to number five in the singles rankings after finishing runner-up at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the WTA Finals
Venus, 37, was a finalist at Wimbledon and Australia this year but has not won any trophy despite her efforts
Both players knew a win would secure a passage to the semi-finals as they held identical 1-1 records in White Group play at the season-ending event.
Both players had lost their opening ties on Sunday, and were desperate for a victory to keep their future fate in the eight-woman event in their own hands
But her Czech opponent hit the ground running and never looked back after she broke the American’s serve early in the first set of the group match.
Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka handed out a comprehensive defeat to Venus Williams in the second round of the WTA Hong…