Serena wins a fratricidal duel with 22 years of history

Serena Williams He won (3-6, 6-3 and 6-4) his sister Venus the 31st edition of the fratricidal pulse that the two great dominators of American tennis have been holding since 1998 so far this century. The balance is now at 19-12 for Serena, the oldest and winner of 23 Grand Slam winches (Venus has 10). Between the two of them they have 78 years in the legs.

Until he eliminated Azarenka on Tuesday, Venus, now 40 years old, had a 10-month streak without winning a match, with the pandemic and confinement involved. Her 38-year-old sister did not compete since the FedCup tie against Latvia in February until the victory over American Pera the other day (4-6, 6-4, 6-1).

This time he started with a break against in the first turn of serve, but he returned it twice in the fourth and sixth games. The tonic of equality in the second set was broken with a break in the sixth set, which he maintained until he sealed the sleeve.

In the third, both of them engaged in a coming and going of breaks. She struck first, in the third game, the minor, but Venus took pride, who recovered her serve immediately afterwards and went ahead in the sixth. With the match passing two hours, his fatigue began to weigh more. In the seventh the inertia changed: Serena drew again, who broke again on the next serve to end up tying the winner 6-4.

Her rival in the quarterfinals will be against the American Shelby Rogers, who ended the road in the tournament of the Canadian promise Leylah Annie Fernandez after winning 6-2, 7-5. When will the next chapter be in the historic series against your sister that began at the 1998 Australian Open? Time will tell, but what is certain is that there are few left.

Lexington Top Seed Open Results

Round of 16

Shelby Rogers (USA) to Leylah Fernandez (CAN) 6-2 and 7-5

Catherine Bellis (USA) to Jessica Pegula (USA) 6-3 and 6-2

Serena Williams (USA, 1) to Venus Williams (USA) 3-6, 6-3 and 6-4

Jill Teichmann (SUI) to Yulia Putintseva (KAZ, 5) 6-2 and 6-2