By ADAM ZAGORIA
NEW YORK — Serena Williams has dominated the head-to-head against her older sister Venus throughout their historic careers.
And the little sister continued that domination over her big sister in their latest meeting on Friday night.
Before a capacity crowd of more than 23,000 who waited to get into Arthur Ashe Stadium because Rafael Nadal’s day match last more than four hours, Serena thrashed Venus, 6-1, 6-2, in 72 minutes to advance to the fourth round of the US Open.
“Obviously, I played much better today than I have since I’ve come back to playing tennis,” Serena said on court. “This is my best match since I’ve returned but I’ve worked for it. I’ve worked really, really hard the past eight weeks and hopefully everything will keep paying off.”
Said Venus: “I think it’s the best match she’s ever played against me….She played untouchable tennis. Obviously I hope she doesn’t play that well against me every time because I don’t think anyone ever has a chance. I didn’t get a chance to control the points ever.”
Serena, who turns 37 in September, now leads 38-year-old Venus 18-12 all-time, and 11-5 in Grand Slam events. Venus hasn’t beaten Serena in a Grand Slam match since the 2008 Wimbledon final.
A six-time winner in New York, Serena remained on track for her 24th Grand Slam singles title, which would tie her for first all-time with Margaret Court. She will next play Kaia Kanepi in the fourth round on Sunday. Kanepi upset No. 1 seed Simona Halep in the first round.
“It’s not easy, she’s my best friend,” Serena said of her sister. “She means the world to me and she’s so supportive of my career and I’m extremely supportive of her career. Every time she loses I feel like I do. It’s not easy but it’s a tournaemtn and we both know that there’s more to life than just playing each other and playing tennis.”
She added: “I love her with all my heart and she’s the reason I’m here. She’s the only reason I’m still out there so I really owe everythign to her.”
Serena races through the first set, 6-1…#USOpen pic.twitter.com/FR840nUnIF
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2018
Serena called for the trainer during the second game of the first set after turning her right ankle. The trainer came out after the third game and taped it, but the injury didn’t seem to slow Serena at all.
She won seven straight games across the first and second sets.
“I acutally roll my ankles a lot so I just was wanting to get it taped as tight as I could for the rest of the match and see how I feel tomorrow,” Serena said.
Serena broke Venus four times, twice in each set. On her own serve, Serena served up 10 aces.
Blistering forehand return from Serena and she’s now up a double break in the 2nd set.
2 games away from R4…#USOpen pic.twitter.com/OUAWfdYADA
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2018
The last time they met in a major was the 2017 Australian Open final, when Serena was two months pregnant with her daughter Alexis Olympia.
Venus joked before the match that she was playing one-on-two.
“Yes, the last time we played in a Grand Slam I may have had a little bit of an advantage,” Serena said before the match. “But seeing I don’t have that advantage this time, it’s going to be a little bit hard.”
This time around, it didn’t turn out to be.
Asked if she had a message for her father, Richard Williams, who taught both girls to play tennis on the outdoor hardcourts in Compton, Calif., and one day predicted that Serena would be the best player in the world, Serena said: “I don’t know. I hope my dad didn’t watch. It’s his two daughters playing each other, it’s not very easy. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. and he’ll be watching again after this match is over. ”
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