By Toby Prince
Serena Williams kept her bid for a calendar-year grand slam on track, powering past big sister Venus 6-2 1-6 6-3 on a steamy star-studded night at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
Serena moved into the semi-finals, just two wins from history, in what proved the toughest test of her four matches.
It is a major tennis event whenever the Williams sisters clash, and with Venus, twice a US Open winner, standing in the way of defending champion Serena’s quest, their latest meeting turned into a primetime extravaganza, pulling in a crowd of A-listers including US presidential candidate and real estate mogul Donald Trump and television celebrity Oprah Winfrey.
The Williams sisters had met 26 times before but never with so much riding on the result.
A win by Venus would move her a step closer to a first grand slam since 2008 Wimbledon but would scuttle Serena’s chances of joining their sport’s most exclusive club of calendar-year grand slam winners which comprises just three members, Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf.
But it was meant to be the younger Williams night who had this to say about her sister, Venus: “She’s the toughest player I ever played in my life and the best person I know.
“So it’s going against your best friend and at the same time going against the greatest competitor for me in women’s tennis, so it was really difficult today.
“When I’m playing her, I don’t think of her as my sister, because she’s playing so well, hitting big serves and running a lot of balls down.”
Venus, 35, after her lost insisted she has no plans to retire and will strive to win more trophies.
“I try my best every match, and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose,” she told a post-match news conference
Asked specifically what she still wants from tennis, Venus replied: “I want to win majors and I want to feel good when I’m on the court and just feel confident that I can practice there the way I want, prepare the way I want, and be able to do what I need to do on the court.”
Serena will face Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Vinci defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 on Tuesday.
In the male circuit, world number one Novak Djokovic strolled past 18th-seeded Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) to set up a semi-final tie with defending champion, Marin Cilic.
