Serena Williams came back from a set down for the second match in a row to proceed into the quarterfinals of the Lexington Open.
In doing so, Serena got past a valiant Venus Williams, who was gunning to win only her second match of the season. Serena won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with the winner of the match between Shelby Rogers and Leylah Fernandez.
The younger Williams sister, who is gunning for a record 24th Grand Slam title when she participates at the US Open later this month, was down 2-4 in the final set before she rallied back to win four games in a row and claim the match.
Also Read:
The thrilling match, played in Kentucky, lasted nearly 140 minutes and saw Serena clinch her 19th win over Venus, who has herself triumphed on 12 occasions. And it almost turned out to be a 13th win for Venus when she raced off to a set lead.
Down a break in the first set, Venus came back strongly to pocket the set but Serena fought back in the second set and levelled the match.
With Serena having come back the way she did, the momentum looked like it had shifted her way and not too many would have given Venus much of a chance at that stage.
[the_ad id=”14063″]
However, Venus, having easily sent Victoria Azarenka packing in the first round, fought back from a break down in the final set to pouch the next three games in a row. She was 4-2 up at that stage and needed to serve it out over her final two services.
Serena wasn’t done though. She broke her sister’s serve immediately and levelled the set at 4-4. And then moved closer to sealing the match with a second break of serve in a row.
And with the first match-point she got off her own serve, Serena completed a hard-fought victory.
Get all the rest of the Lexington Open predictions here.
Be the first to comment