That’s all for now. Thanks for following along and we’ll see you later along in the fortnight!
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“It was just about the breaks,” says Venus, who’s wasted no time in heading directly to her press conference. “We were both hitting off the ground so well.”
Adds Venus: “We’ve played a lot of years and we’ve tried to be entertaining. At some point we won’t be playing forever, but clearly we’re still playing at a high level. When that moment’s over it will be over. But it’s not now.”
Not much ambiguity in the post-mortem here. Serena with 10 aces, zero double faults and 36 winners against 13 unforced errors. An overpowering performance against Venus (two aces, four double-faults, 15 winners, 12 unforced errors), who exits after her deepest run at Wimbledon since 2011.
Serena breaks, wins 6-4, 6-3!
Second set: Serena 5-3 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Venus falls behind 0-15, then nets a backhand to edge within two points of elimination. Danger zone. Then a double fault gives Serena three match points. Serena only needs one as Venus sends a shot long to earn the break and the victory.
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Second set: Serena 5-3 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Serena backs up the break in emphatic fashion, with a winner followed by aces of 109mph and 105mph to set up three game points. (A third would-be ace to win that would have taken the set just graces the net.) Venus wins back a point but Serena hangs on for the hold. Venus now serving to stay in the tournament.
Serena breaks!
Second set: *Serena 4-3 Venus (*denotes next server)
Treacherous ground here for Venus, who falls behind 15-40 from 15-0 after a trio of Serena winners. Two break-point chances for Serena but Venus saves both, the second on a 115mph ace. Serena earns a third with a backhand winner from the middle of the court, then Venus double-faults to give her sister the break – and inside track on the victory and passage to the quarterfinals.
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Second set: *Serena 3-3 Venus (*denotes next server)
At 30-15, an extended rally ends with Venus placing a running forehand winner onto the corner. Very nicely done. But Serena follows it up with an inside-out forehand winner that stops
Second set: *Serena 2-3 Venus (*denotes next server)
At 15-15, a 103mph service winner gives Venus a 30-15 edge. An error from Serena followed by another service winner hands the game to Venus, whose first serve is getting in far more consistently than earlier today. They’re on level terms here in the second.
Second set: Serena 2-2 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Easy and clinical hold for Serena, who moves ahead 40-0 before closing it out with an emphatic winner.
Second set: *Serena 1-2 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Dodgy start from Venus to fall behind 15-30 and give Serena an opening for a break. Serena then nets a forehand and sends another long to give Venus a game point at 40-30. Quick reversal as a Serena winner and Venus error give Serena a break chance, but Venus hangs on for the hold. The crowd here applaud in approval, clearly in the corner of Venus. While these matchup are typically uncomfortable, awkward and stylistically ill-fitting affairs, I must say this is the best Serena-Venus match I can recall.
Second set: Serena 1-1 Venus* (*denotes next server)
The wind has really picked up here on Centre Court. A powerful flat backhand winner down the line for Serena to win the first point. At 15-15, another extended rally punctuated by a Serena forehand winner, prompting a spin and fist-pump from the 20-time Grand Slam champion. At 40-15, Serena uncorks a 116mph ace to secure the hold.
Second set: *Serena 0-1 Venus (*denotes next server)
Venus in hot water already. Serving at 15-30, Serena uncoils a vicious inside-out forehand winner from the baseline to set up two break-point chances. Venus with a 116mph serve on the next point to but Serena on the back foot and ultimately win the point, then saves the second after one of the longer rallies of the match ends with a Serena lob landing long. And ace sets up game point, followed by a sprayed forehand by Serena that gives Venus the hold.
Serena wins first set!
Three quick points from Serena to set up three set points. She’s just dialed in on the serve today. Three aces in the game to take it comfortably. That bodes well for Serena. The winner of the first set has won 21 of their 25 meetings.
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First set: *Serena 5-4 Venus (*denotes next server)
Venus pipes in a 116mph ace to give her a 40-15 edge and two game points to force Serena to serve out for the set, but a double fault makes it 40-30 and a forehand into the net moves it to deuce. Then two straight points from Venus to lock down the hold. Serena to serve for the first set after the changeover.
First set: Serena 5-3 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Venus with a vicious return winner to move level at 15-15, then a Serena error gives her sister a glimmer of hope for the break at 15-30. But three straight points from Serena – punctuated by a failed lob attempt that Serena emphatically smashed at the net – gives Serena the hold.
First set: *Serena 4-3 Venus (*denotes next server)
Now the news of unseeded American CoCo Vandeweghe’s win is spreading. A good day for the Yanks so far, but no question where the focus is today. An excellent service winner puts Venus ahead 30-15, but a backhand error puts Serena within sight of a break at 30-30. Excellent serve by Venus gives her a game point, which she does not squander. A reasonably comfortable hold for Venus, who has felt her way into the match nicely.
First set: Serena 4-2 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Buzz among the American scribes on press row as word of Madison Keys’ fourth-round victory spreads during the changeover. Just like that, two quick points by Serena followed by a 96mph ace to move ahead 40-0. A backhand winner then earns Serena the hold at love.
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Serena breaks!
First set: *Serena 3-2 Venus (*denotes next server)
Venus fails to back up the break, immediately falling behind 15-30 then 15-40 with a pair of errors. Another sprayed backhand gives Serena a break entering the changeover.
Venus breaks!
First set: Serena 2-2 Venus* (*denotes next server)
A nice forehand winner from Venus helps the elder Williams earn her first break-point opportunity at 30-40. Serena saves it with a net-approach winner into the open court. At 40-40, a gust of wind blows over Centre Court as Serena nets a backhand, the shot that was giving her so much trouble against Watson on Friday. Another break chance. This time Venus capitalizes when her sister nets another shot. Back on level terms here in the first set.
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First set: *Serena 2-1 Venus (*denotes next server)
Venus, serving at 0-2, wins her first point of the match as the Centre Court crowd gives a hearty cheer. They’re clearly pulling for the underdog. Venus nets a forehand, then hits a good second serve to move ahead 30-15 and a 113mph ace to stake two game points. Then a double fault and another forehand error from Venus and all of a sudden they’re at deuce from 40-15. Venus slots a 92mph ace to earn another game point, but Serena hits a powerful running forehand for a cross-court winner to move it back to deuce. Still, Venus fights through and earns the hold to get onto the board.
First set: Serena 2-0 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Serena holds at love. Eight straight points for the junior Williams to open the match.
Serena breaks!
First set: *Serena 1-0 Venus (*denotes next server)
A very good start for Serena, who breaks at love. Two unforced errors on the forehand side for Venus to fall behind 0-30, then a vicious forehand return winner gives Serena three break points. Venus nets a forehand and Serena gets the break. The players take opposite sides around the net on the changeover.
One minute. Gorgeous weather today, 72F with bits of cloud coming and going. While tomorrow’s forecast looks far more dodgy, a pleasant afternoon in store today. Far more comfortable after last week’s sweltering heat.
The sisters have taken the court. They’re meeting at center court, Serena taking practice swings with her racket while Venus stretches. Venus has won the coin toss and has elected to serve.
Maybe the biggest (and most obvious) bullet in Venus’s favor: how many people can say they have 11 wins over Serena Williams? Not many, obviously. The only women with more than four victories over Serena are Venus (11-14), Jennifer Capriati (7-10), Martina Hingis (6-7), Justine Henin (6-8) and Elena Dementieva (5-7).
Only two players have faced Serena more than once and have a winning head-to-head record: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (4-3) and the Austrian southpaw Sybille Bammer (2-0).
Today’s matchup features the two oldest women remaining in the draw. Venus (35 years, 19 days) is the oldest player to advance to the fourth round at a Grand Slam since Martina Navratilova’s run to the 1994 Wimbledon final. She’s enters with 15 lifetime victories against world No1s – eight over Martina Hingis, two over Lindsay Davenport, two over Serena and one apiece over Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina – but none since 2009.
On the surface it would seem a tall order for Venus. Serena is an eye-popping 35-1 this season with her lone defeat coming to world No2 Petra Kvitova in the Madrid semis. The junior Williams is more than halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam and as motivated as ever.
But Venus did win the most recent meeting between the sisters, coming from behind to clip her younger sister in the Montreal semis last year.
And Serena, typically strong form notwithstanding, is coming off a third-round scare against Heather Watson that saw her twice down a break in the third set and within two points of elimination.
Here on Center Court, we’re roughly 10 minutes from Venus and Serena emerging from the tunnel.
Welcome to the Best Day in Tennis. All 32 players still standing in the men’s and women’s singles draws take the court on second Monday of Wimbledon, making it the only Grand Slam tournament that trots out everyone at once. And none of today’s 16 fourth-round matches are bigger than today’s Centre Court opener: Serena-Venus XXVI.
Serena holds a 14-11 advantage in the all-time head-to-head, including edges of 3-2 at Wimbledon and 7-5 at Grand Slams. Yet it’s the first time they’ve met at a major in six years, lending a fresh timbre to sports’ most famous sister act.
The 33-year-old Serena has raced ahead to 20 career Grand Slam titles – within touching distance of Steffi Graf’s 22 – and is halfway to a historical calendar-year Grand Slam. And while Venus, now 35, has battled the immune disorder Sjorgren’s Syndrome in recent years, the five-time Wimbledon champion has climbed back to No16 in the rankings with an unseasonably strong season and has won each of her first three matches here in straight sets.
How often do you get a chance to watch a pair of five-time Wimbledon champions square off in the round of 16?
Gates open for second Monday at #Wimbledon. Best day in tennis. All 32 remaining singles players in action. pic.twitter.com/CtGlKX0NmN
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) July 6, 2015
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Sean Ingle on why Venus Williams should be cherished:
During Wimbledon’s first week you had to squeeze into the outside courts to catch repeat viewings of what Venus Williams does best: rocket-launching that snorting, sliding serve before moving as softly as a dancer into position and killing the point with a wonderfully wicked ground stroke. It was a welcome blast from the past, a reminder of the days when Venus was regularly ascendant over SW19. Rarely in tennis history has destruction been delivered with such grace.
Serena Williams favourite to beat Venus but form may bring sisters closerRead more
But now, after a week out of the headlines and headlights, she steps on to Centre Court on the stroke of 1pm on Monday to face her sister Serena. Undoubtedly she will be the sentimental favourite, given the feisty to-and-fro between Serena and the crowd during Friday’s breathless encounter with Heather Watson. But if the bookmakers are proved correct, and Venus succumbs to her sibling’s extraordinary plait of power, skill and will, her send-off deserves to be long and vigorous. There may not be many more opportunities to say goodbye – or for Wimbledon to acknowledge the sheer size of her contribution to the sport.
When she started playing tennis in gang-infested Compton, on cracked courts and with balding tennis balls, she was told by her father, Richard, to drop to the floor if she heard gunshots. Yet she has overcome all the disadvantages of her Los Angeles upbringing to become one of the greats. Her tally of seven grand slams is a modest return given her talents, although in the open era only Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf have won more Wimbledon titles than Venus’s five.
