As great as Venus and Serena Williams are at tennis, it's just a fact that Serena is the better sister. The 30th installment of their career rivalry was meant to dazzle fans Friday night at the US Open. But it turned out again to be all about Serena, as she won handily even though she needed to have her ankle taped during the first set.
The quick 6-1, 6-2 victory increased Serena’s domination of her big sister to 18-12 since they first played 20 years ago.
“It’s not easy, she’s my best friend and she means the world to me,” Serena 36, told the crowd after Venus, 38, left the court after the 72-minute match. “She’s supportive of me, and I’m supportive of her. Every time she loses I feel I lose, too. But we all know that there’s a whole lot more to life than tennis.
“I love her with all my heart and she’s the reason I’m here, and Jehovah,” Serena added. “After God, I owe everything to her.”
Serena carries the mental edge over Venus, which happened as their encounters continued to favor Serena. As talented as Venus is - she has won seven Grand Slam titles - Serena is a fraction better at every aspect of the game. Serena, who leads Venus 11-5 in Grand Slam matches, has won nine of their last 11 meetings, dating to a 2009 semifinal at the Miami tournament.
"I think it's the best match she's ever played against me," Venus said. "I don't think I did a lot wrong. But she just did everything right. Obviously that level is definitely where she's going to want to stay during this whole tournament.
"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. The only thing I, maybe, could have done was put more first serves in. Any shot that I hit great, she hit a greater shot. Not a lot I can do."
Serena’s third-round victory shows how far she has come since she returned from maternity leave at Indian Wells in March. Williams stepped away from the tour after she won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January 2017 while pregnant. Her daughter, Alexis Olympia, was born a year ago Saturday.
Venus did win the sister's last encounter in the third round at Indian Wells, but Serena was dealing with a long layoff at the time.
The sisters' history shows that whoever wins the first set tends to win the match and that happened again Friday night for the 26th time in 30 meetings.
Serena was in control of the match from the outset with her only wobble coming when she turned over her ankle while going up 30-40 on Venus’ serve in the second game of the match. Serena saved the one break point she faced in the match and capably broke Venus on four of 10 opportunities presented.
While Venus leaves Friday night knowing she won’t win a third US Open trophy this year, Serena is still on course for history.
Serena is tied with Chris Evert for the most US Open titles at six. If she can pick up a seventh this year, she'll tie Margaret Court for most Grand Slam singles titles at 24.
Serena will next face Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the fourth round Sunday.
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