Boston Herald

Serena lands on Venus

Matches her easiest win in 30th meeting vs. sister

- By BRIAN MAHONEY

NEW YORK — Serena Williams equaled her most-lopsided victory ever in 30 profession­al meetings with sister Venus, beating her 6-1, 6-2 on last night in the third round of the U.S. Open.

Serena shook off an early ankle injury to win seven straight games and seize control in perhaps her most dominant performanc­e since giving birth to her daughter a year ago today.

The sisters’ earliest meeting in a Grand Slam tournament in 20 years was over early, with Venus unable to do anything to blunt Serena’s power, even after the crowd tried desperatel­y to get behind her in the second set.

“It’s not easy,” Serena said, despite how easy it looked in a match that lasted just 1 hour, 12 minutes. “She’s my best friend. She means the world to me. Every time she loses, I feel like I do. It’s not very easy, but it’s a tournament. We know there’s more to life than just playing each other and playing tennis.”

They hadn’t played this early in a Grand Slam since Venus won in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open, and only once over the next two decades had either won so decisively. Serena won by the same score in a semifinal victory in Charleston, S.C., in 2013.

“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.”

Serena, the No. 17 seed, will face Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, who knocked out top-ranked Simona Halep in the first round.

Serena, who turns 37 next month, leads the series 18-12 with her sister, 11-5 in Grand Slam tournament­s. But this one wasn’t expected to be so easy, not with Serena still working her way back into form after returning to the tour in the spring.

But this was the type of tennis that has brought her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the ability to pound balls all over the court and chase down shots that looked like they might get past her.

“This was my best match since I returned,” Serena said. “I worked for it. I worked really hard these last three or four months. That’s life, you have to keep working hard no matter ups or downs you have. That’s what I’ve been doing.”

There was no beating her on this night, and the discourage­d look on Venus’ face across much of the match indicated she seemed to realize it.

“I mean, she played so well, I never got to really even touch any balls,” said Venus, a semifinali­st at the U.S. Open last year. “When your opponent plays like that, it’s not really anything to be upset about.”

Defending women’s champion Sloane Stephens showed all of her double fist pumps in a tight and tense 6-3, 6-4 win against two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka.

On the men’s side, defending champion Rafael Nadal barely got through a real test, edging No. 27 seed Karen Khachanov 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) in an entertaini­ng, back-and-forth match that lasted 4 hours, 23 minutes.

Nadal kept getting pushed to the brink and kept coming up with answers. He was two points away from falling into a two-set hole. He was two points away from dropping the third set. He was one point from losing the fourth and going to a fifth.

Instead, the No. 1-ranked Nadal moved into the fourth round in his bid for a fourth U.S. Open title and 18th Grand Slam win.

Nadal’s opponent in last year’s final, Kevin Anderson, survived a scare from 19-year-old Denis Shapovalov to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to advance.

Dominic Thiem won another lengthy match, beating American Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in 3 hours, 19 minutes. The No. 9 seed won a five-set match that lasted 3:34 against another American, Steve Johnson, in the previous round.

 ?? AP PHOTO ?? SIBLING LOVE: Serena Williams (left) gives a hug to her sister Venus after Serena’s straight-set victory in the third round of the U.S. Open last night in New York.
AP PHOTO SIBLING LOVE: Serena Williams (left) gives a hug to her sister Venus after Serena’s straight-set victory in the third round of the U.S. Open last night in New York.

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