Serena thunders back to defeat sister Venus in best all-time matchup

Serena Williams defeated her sister, Venus, coming back from a set down to claim the win at the Top Seed Open. It was one of their best all-time matchups.

Venus and Serena Williams are entering the 4th decade of their lives (Venus already has). No one expected they’d be facing each other for the 31st time. I doubt they thought they’d even make it to 20 matchups but nevertheless, here we are.

To spoil the match, it was incredible. Serena described it post-match as “one of the top-five matches we’ve ever played”. They’ve played on the biggest stages under the watchful eye of thousands; who would’ve thought one of their best matches would’ve been at an event playing its first year without fans and without a hawkeye system?

The stage was fit for a WTA International veterans, those trying to fight their way into a Grand Slam main draw. In stark contrast to everything that’s been going on for the last three months, the legendary Williams sisters played one of their best matches during the second round of the Top Seed Open, not under the lights of Arther Ashe Stadium.

Tennis is tennis. Wherever or however it’s played, tennis doesn’t change. Serena and Venus made that point stronger. They still hit absolute missiles from the ground and the serve, and played defense just as they were 20 years prior. It was a Williams match, through and through.

Questions swirled about how Venus would play after having such a long layoff (she had an 0-3 start to 2020) but she stormed past Victoria Azarenka in straight sets on Tuesday to set up a sister battle in Round 2.

The match open up how eight of the last ten have for the pair: A strong Serena start. She raced out to a 2-0 lead, breaking Venus after an opening hold. She had the opportunity to take a 3-love lead over her elder but squandered three break points and couldn’t get her second break. Venus used her momentum to get a quick break of serve to even the match. From there, she was able to hold yet again and break her sister for the second time in a row to take the lead 4-2

Venus fought off a Serena break point for 5-2 and two quick holds ended the set at 6-3. It was a surprising lead for the elder, who hadn’t served extremely well up to that point (53% first serve in the set).

Serena had taken 8 of the last 10 of their meetings (7 coming in straight sets) and rightfully so. She had clearly been the better player over the last few years and entered the match as the favorite. She finally started to get into form in the second set, breaking her sister at 3-2 after converting hir third break point. Three quick holds ended the set at 6-3, bringing the match all square. Venus started to really falter on her serve, conjuring up 4 double faults to Serena’s 1. She was also much less effective on the return and never had a break chance the entire set.

The third set was vintage Williams tennis. Two comfortable holds led to yet another Serena break on Venus’ serve. Venus, however, battled back in the very next game, fighting off Serena’s brutal serve in a two deuce game to break back for 2-all. After Venus added on another comfortable service game (a surprise given her 11 total double faults for the match), she got to love-40 on the very next game and won the game on her second opportunity. She was up 4-2 and on the brink of defeating her sister (something that came few and far between).

Serena’s return of serve is lethal, as Venus knows full well. That, combined with her chronic double faults, got her down love-40. It took Serena three break chances but she broke back for 3-4. After only one deuce, Serena tied the match and broke her sister for the fifth and final time, sealing the match. At 5-4, the younger sibling needed only one match point to take the match.

Were the linesperson’s calls suspect in Serena’s final hold? Maybe. Even Venus had to shoot her sister a look as they met at the net, almost as if to say, “I almost had you there, you were lucky.”

What still remains is that these two WTA legends are still battling each other after all of this time. From teenagers facing off in the 1999 Lipton Championships to the many major finals, to today’s matchup in Lexington, they’ve defied the odds and given everyone watching exactly what they wanted: A show fit for two queens.

Serena will face off against the winner of Shelby Rogers and Leylah Fernadez in the quarterfinals of the Top Seed Open.