Serena and Venus Williams |
Venus for a place in the US Open semi-finals. each-other
In the 27th
episode of a family rivalry which had its first public airing at the
1998 Australian Open, world number one Serena tackles 23rd-ranked Venus
boasting the upper hand.
Serena, two years younger than Venus at 33, leads the head-to-head record at 15-11 with an 8-5 edge in Grand Slam meetings.
They have split four US Open meetings, including Venus winning the 2001 final and Serena taking a 2002 rematch.
But
this time around, the stakes are higher as Serena is just three wins
shy of completing the first calendar Grand Slam of all four majors since
Steffi Graf in 1988.
"She has beaten me so many times. She's a player that knows how to win, knows how to beat me and knows my weaknesses better than anyone."
The two met as recently as July at Wimbledon, where Serena claimed one of many routine wins in the rivalry, which often fails to live up to the hype.
Venus
wants to add to a trophy collection that includes the 2000 and 2001 US
Opens and five Wimbledon titles, the most recent in 2008.
"I would love to. But it's easier said than done," Venus said.
"Even though you're playing your sister you have to be prepared and focus. The preparation doesn't change."
Serena's
current 32-match Grand Slam win streak includes a Wimbledon title run
to complete a "Serena Slam" and make her the oldest major champion at
age 33.
The build-up to
Tuesday's encounter has been no different with player after player --
man or woman -- probed to exhaustion on their thoughts on the match-up.
"I
admire what they're doing for so many years to play against each other
on such a big stage," said men's world number one Novak Djokovic, who
follows the sisters onto Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night for his
quarter-final against Feliciano Lopez.
"It's
strange. They grew up together playing tennis. Of course they love each
other, but then very have to be professional and go out on the court
and play each other so many times in the finals of Grand Slams.
Roger Federer, hoping to add to his men's
record of 17 Grand Slam titles on Sunday, felt the same, adding, "I
agree with Novak. I'd have a hard time playing a brother. I'm happy I
don't have a tennis brother."As for Serena versus Venus, Federer said: "I've seen this before. Yeah, Serena's the favorite. That's probably what I'm seeing. I hope for a good match."
Adding to the intrigue of Tuesday's occasion is the fact that it's exactly 14 years to the day after the sisters met in their first Grand Slam final at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Not
surprisingly, Williams v Williams XXVII has overshadowed the day's other
women's quarter-final between unseeded duo, Kristina Mladenovic and
Roberta Vinci.
Djokovic,
meanwhile, will be playing his 26th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final
as he continues his push towards a 10th major and third of the year
after the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Tuesday
will represent his ninth successive US Open quarter-final slot while
33-year-old Lopez is playing in his first at the 14th attempt.
Lopez, the 18th seed, said Djokovic will hold the cards, having won all of the pair's five meetings.The left-hander has only ever taken one set off Djokovic and that was in their first meeting at the 2007 Australian Open.
Lopez knocked out Fabio Fognini, the conqueror of 14-time major winner Rafael Nadal in the last round.
Nadal's shock exit was followed by an even more seismic event on Monday when third seed Andy Murray was dumped out by Kevin Anderson in what was the 2012 champion's earliest Slam exit in five years.
Tuesday's other men's quarter-final will see defending champion Marin Cilic, the ninth-seeded Croatian, face France's 19th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Cilic has a 4-1 career lead over Tsonga in main tour matches, winning the pair's last three without dropping a set.
Source: AFP
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