TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Venus, Serena Set For Quarterfinals

ADVERTISEMENT

By HOWARD FENDRICH

The Associated Press

Published: September 2, 2008

NEW YORK - Now comes a challenge for Venus Williams and Serena Williams at the U.S. Open: a match against each other.

Except unlike so many of their all-in-the-family faceoffs at Grand Slam tournaments, including at Wimbledon in July, this Williams vs. Williams showdown will not decide the championship. Instead, this one will come in the quarterfinals.

Both advanced through the fourth round quite easily Monday. The No. 7-seeded Venus dismissed No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-3, before No. 4 Serena dispatched wild-card entrant Severine Bremond of France 6-2, 6-2 at night.

"Even the semis would have been better than the quarterfinals, but at least one of us will make it to the semis," Serena told the crowd during an on-court interview. "I've got probably the toughest match of the tournament coming up next, so I've got to be ready."

Some sisters make plans to go shopping together, or to catch a movie. These siblings keep meeting on tennis courts at the sport's highest levels.

"The best part is that we're still here," Venus said, "going stronger than ever, in my opinion."

Their matchup Wednesday will be a tiebreaker of sorts.

They've played 16 times as professionals, with each winning eight. That includes 10 meetings at major tournaments, with each winning five. The most recent was when Venus beat Serena for the title at the All England Club, the seventh all-Williams Grand Slam final.

"I would love to have a winning record," Venus said. "I have a chance."

Because of the luck of the Open's pre-tournament draw, they were placed in the same portion of the bracket.

Also advancing to the women's quarterfinals with victories Monday were No. 6 Dinara Safina, who defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-5, 6-0; and No. 16 Flavia Pennetta, who beat No. 32 Amelie Mauresmo 6-3, 6-0.

In men's action, No. 1 Rafael Nadal faced a tough challenge from 55th-ranked Sam Querrey, who briefly led in the third set, before losing 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

Nadal has never been as far as the U.S. Open semifinals. He'll try to take care of that gap on his resume when he meets unseeded Mardy Fish of Tampa in the quarterfinals.

Also advancing: No. 17 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who defeated Kei Nishikori, the first Japanese man to reach the U.S. Open's fourth round in the Open era. Del Potro won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Del Potro will face No. 6 Andy Murray, who beat 10th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

Fish beat a seeded player for the third consecutive match, serve-and-volleying his way past No. 32 Gael Monfils in straight sets Monday.

As for facing Nadal?

"I feel like a guy with my style of play is someone that he doesn't want to see," said Fish, who kept charging forward against Monfils and won the point of 45 of 69 trips to the net. "You've got to be able to finish points quickly. He's going to last longer than anybody. He wants to keep the points as long as possible and run the guys down, kind of body-blow after body-blow."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT