By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, July 6, 2015
"It's hard to feel excited about [beating] someone you root for and you love so much and is your best friend," Serena Williams said.
Photo credit: AP Photo
The Williams sisters stood silently side-by-side waiting to walk out out for their first Centre Court clash in six years.
Venus went toe-to-toe with Serena in screaming exchanges for much of the match, but couldn't stay in step with little sister at the critical stages.
World No. 1 Serena punished Venus' second serve surging into the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the 11th time with a quality 6-4, 6-3 victory.
More: Williams Sisters By the Numbers
The five-time Wimbledon champion joined compatriots CoCo Vandeweghe and Madison Keys as one of three American women to advance to the final eight.
World No. 47 Vandeweghe ousted French Open finalist Lucie Safarova, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4), to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She will face fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova, who defeated Zarina Diyas, 6-4, 6-4. Keys rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 decision over Olga Govortsova. Next up for Keys is a Wimbledon rematch with Agnieszka Radwanska. The 13th-seeded Radwanska conquered Jelena Jankovic, 7-5, 6-4.
Serena more than doubled Venus' winner total (36 to 15) and broke serve four times in her most impressive performance of this fortnight.
When it was over the sisters shared an extended embrace at net. There was virtually no celebration from Serena, who typically twirls and waves to fans after major wins, but conceded she feels mixed emotions playing Venus.
"It's hard to feel excited about [beating] someone you root for and you love so much and is your best friend," Serena told the BBC afterward. "It's never easy. You just enjoy the competition and play for the moment."
It was Serena's 25th consecutive Grand Slam victory as she moved to within three wins of completing the Serena Slam while continuing her quest for the calendar Grand Slam.
Serena extended her career record over Venus to 15-11 winning the fourth of six Wimbledon showdowns between the sisters. Though their last four meetings at The Championships came in the final, pressure did not subside in their first Grand Slam fourth-round match since the 2005 U.S. Open.
"It definitely doesn't get easier," Serena told the BBC of facing Venus. "I'm like wow I'm 33 and she just turned 35, I don't know how many more moments like this we'll have. I just took the moment in. I remember when I was eight years old we dreamed of this moment. It was kind of surreal out there."
This was the first Williams sisters reunion on court since Venus beat Serena in the Montreal semifinals last year. They split early breaks today. In the fifth game, Serena drew a backhand error to break again for 3-2. She quickly backed up the break to extend her lead to 4-2 after 19 minutes of play.
The serve was the key stroke for Serena, who sometimes slid her slice serve out wide on the deuce side, mixed in some body blows into Venus' hip and used her flatter serve down the middle to stretch the box. The top seed won 75 percent of her first-serve points (15 of 20) and 48 percent of her sister's first-serve points (10 of 21) in building a one-set lead after 32 minutes.
"I think I served well today," Serena said. "I didn't hit huge serves; other than that one. I think I was really consistent with my serve. She was playing really well. In the end, I was able to come through."
Facing double break point in the opening game of the second set, Venus reeled off four points in a row, including blasting a backhand into the corner to erase one break point, holding for 1-0.
Older sister stood tall, fending off another break point in the third game, flattening a biting forehand into the corner and following it forward for a smash. Venus eventually held for 2-1.
Serena struggled with some of her returns against the lighter-hitting Heather Watson, often slapping returns into the top of the tape before roaring back for a comeback victory in the third round. As today's match progressed, Serena began finding her return range. Very few women in the world can stand in against a 113 mph Venus serve, as her sister did, and blast back a return with such force it actually drove the server backward.
Knowing she needed to go big on serve against the game's most menacing returner, Venus, who had only hit four double faults in her first three tournament wins, scattered a double fault deep as Serena converted her sixth break point of the set for 4-3. Serena singed a 121 mph ace off the line to back up the break at 15 for a 5-3 lead.
Another double fault gave the world No. 1 triple match point and when Venus missed a backhand to end the 68-minute match they shared a hug at net.
Serena will try to embrace a quarterfinal challenge against former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who pushed her to three sets at Roland Garros last month. The 23rd-seeded Azarenka swept Swiss Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-3. Azarenka has not lost a set in reaching her first SW19 quarterfinal since she advanced to the final four in 2012, losing to Williams, 6-3, 7-6 (6). The world No. 1 has won 16 of their 19 meetings, including all three of their grass-court encounters.
The top seed raised her 2015 record to 36-1 with the only woman who beat her—two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova—already out of the draw.
While the Williams sisters’ power off both serve and return is cited as revolutionizing the women’s game, it’s their staying power that continues to impress. Former rivals ranging including Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, Mary Pierce, Amelie Mauresmo, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin have departed from the singles circuit for a variety of reasons while the Williams sisters continue to meet on the sport's grandest stages.