Williams sisters to face off Friday
Both win to set up 3rd-round match
NEW YORK — Get ready for the latest Grand Slam installment of Williams vs. Williams. One big difference this time: The superstar siblings will be meeting in the third round at the U.S. Open, their earliest showdown at a major tournament in 20 years.
Serena Williams set up the highly anticipated matchup at Flushing Meadows by hitting 13 aces and overwhelming 101st-ranked Carina Witthoeft of Germany, 6-2, 6-2, in a little more than an hour in Arthur Ashe Stadium Wednesday night. Hours earlier, across the way at Louis Armstrong Stadium, Venus Williams did her part with another straight-set victory, eliminating 40th-ranked Camila Giorgi of Italy, 6-4, 7-5.
“I hope,” Venus said after her match, “we get to play.” Serena made sure of it. They will play Friday, and it is going to be their 30th tour-level encounter — plus, of course, all those times when they traded shots from across the net as kids in California, then on practice courts all around the world. It’s also soonest the sisters have played each other at any Grand Slam since their very first tour match, all the way back at the 1998 Australian Open. Venus won that one. But since then, it’s been the younger Serena who’s grown dominant.
The reason this match comes so early is that their rankings are not what they’ve been in the past. Serena is No. 26, playing in only the seventh tournament since she was off the tour for more than a year while having a baby. Even though the U.S. Tennis Association bumped her seeding up to reflect her past success, it still placed her at No. 17. Venus, meanwhile is No. 16.
“It’s so young in the tournament,” Serena said. “We would have rather met later.”
She leads the series 17-12, including 10-5 at majors.
Both have been ranked No. 1. They have won a combined 30 Grand Slam singles trophies, 23 by Serena. They own eight U.S. Open singles championships, six by Serena.
They’ve played each other in the finals of all four Slams, including the U.S. Open in 2001 (Venus won) and 2002 (when Serena did).
Seeded women who advanced on another day with the temperature topping 95 degrees included No. 7 Elina Svitolina, No. 8 Karolina Pliskova, No. 15 Elise Mertens, No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova and No. 23 Barbora Strycova, all in straight sets. Past men’s champions Juan Martin del Potro, who beat Dennis Kudla of the U.S., and Stan Wawrinka won, as did 2017 runner-up Kevin Anderson, and No. 11 seed John Isner.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal’s only trace of a problem during his secondround victory was a warning for letting the 25-second serve clock expire.
And Nadal was convinced that even that wasn’t really his fault. Nadal won 46 of 55 first-serve points and wore down Vasek Pospisil, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, Wednesday night.
The serve clocks are making their Grand Slam debut at Flushing Meadows, and folks have been curious to see whether that would have any effect on Nadal, who is known for taking his time between points. At 2-1 in the final set, he drew a warning from the chair umpire because the 25 seconds ran out. Nadal was convinced that happened becaus he paused when Pospisil briefly put a hand up to ask him to wait.