New York, Sep 9 (IANS) The highly anticipated match between the William sisters played out along expected lines, with Serena thumping Venus 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to book a place in the semi-finals of the US open here.
The Wednesday’s was the fifth encounter between the Williams sisters at the Flushing Meadows and the 27th one overall, with Serena now enjoying a 16-11 head-to-head advantage over her elder sister, reports Efe.
With the game tied 1-1 at the end of two sets, Serena broke Venus’ serve early in the third set to take a 2-0 lead, and then went on to clinch the set 6-3 and with it, the match.
Serena converted three of the six break point opportunities to Venus’ two of five, and struck 12 aces and committed five double faults to her sister’s eight and one respectively.
Serena also hit 35 winners and 22 unforced errors to Venus’ 24 and 15 respectively.
With this victory, Serena continues her bid to complete the first calendar slam, winning all the four Grand Slams in a year, since Germany’s Steffi Graf in 1998.
She will next face 32-year-old Italian Roberta Vinci, ranked 43rd in the world, who reached her first Grand Slam semi-final by defeating Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.