Serena outlasts Venus in hard-fought duel in Kentucky

In a highly anticipated contest under highly unusual circumstances, two of the most iconic figures in the history of professional tennis put on an absolute show. Serena Williams and Venus Williams went toe-to-toe for two hours and 19 minutes in the second round of the Top Seed Open at Top Seed Tennis Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, with younger sister Serena claiming the victory, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

With the match tied 4-4 in the final set, Serena blasted a vicious forehand from deep behind the baseline, screaming “Come on!” as the shot landed just inbounds to give her a 5-4 edge and put her in the driver’s seat. Serena, the tournament’s No. 1 seed who is No. 9 in the WTA rankings, had 14 service aces on the afternoon and broke her sister’s serve five times.

It was the 31st time since 1998 the siblings faced off as professionals, but the first time they’d done so in a venue void of fans.

Elsewhere: Men’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic said he will enter the U.S. Open after all as well as the hard-court tuneup preceding it in New York. Djokovic initially complained about the U.S. Tennis Association’s plans to try to protect people from the coronavirus pandemic with such measures as limiting the size of players’ entourages, going so far as to say he didn’t know whether he would participate. Defending champion Rafael Nadal has pulled out due to COVID concerns. … Meanwhile, reigning U.S. Open wmen’s champion Bianca Andreescu pulled out of the tournament Thursday, saying the coronavirus pandemic prevented her from properly preparing for competition. A year ago at age 19, Andreescu became the first woman in the professional era to win the championship in New York in her tournament. debut.

ETC.

Golf: Harold Varner III, Tom Hoge and Roger Sloan each shot 8-under 62 to share the first-round lead at the Wyndham Championship, the PGA Tour's final regular-season event before the FedEx Cup playoffs. Varner started the go-low parade at Sedgefield Country Club with an eight-birdie, nobogey round that matched his career best on the PGA Tour. Hoge also matched his career low on tour, while Sloan's score set his personal best. There were 33 players on the course who had not finished when the round was suspended due to bad weather. …

Steve Stricker birdied the final hole for a 2-under 68 and a share of the lead in the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship, the PGA Tour Champions’ first major of the season. Jerry Kelly, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Wes Short Jr. and

Rod Pampling joined Stricker atop the leaderboard on Firestone Country Club’s South Course, the longtime site of a PGA Tour event and later a World Golf Championship tournament. …

Alexander Levy became the first golfer to test positive for the coronavirus at a

European Tour event and was one of two French players withdrawn on the opening day of the Celtic Classic in Newport, Wales.

Soccer: Midfielder

Tyler Adams came on as a substitute to score an 88th-minute winner that gave Leipzig a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals, sending the German club into the last four of Europe’s top competition for the first time. It was Adams’ first goal for the club. Dani Olmo opened the scoring for Leipzig in the 51st and

Joao Felix equalized for Atletico from the penalty spot in the 71st.