Serena and Venus Williams won their respective matches at the U.S. Open on Sunday, setting the sisters up for a showdown as the younger Serena eyes the first U.S. Open Grand Slam in 30 years.
The 21-time major champion had been getting off to slow starts recently but was focused from the beginning on Sunday, beating 20-year-old American Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3 in just 68 minutes in the fourth round.
Serena's win means that she will move onto the quarterfinals, facing elder sister Venus and marking the siblings' fifth meeting — and their first in seven years — at the U.S. Open.
"I get very nervous, because even if I have to play Serena, I still want her to win, so I have a hard time watching unless she's winning. Then it's easy to watch," said Venus, who won U.S. Open titles in 2000 and 2001, but lost in the third round or earlier in each of the past four years. "So it depends on how my nerves are and I hope we can play in the quarterfinals."
Venus, 35, is about 15 months older than Serena, who is making her way toward a calendar-year Grand Slam, something last accomplished 27 years ago by Steffi Graf. While Williams has achieved two "Serena Slams" — holding all four Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open, Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon — she has yet to win all four tournaments in the same year.
"I have to play like I did or better today," Serena said. But either way, "a Williams will be in the semis, so that's good."
Additional information from the Associated Press.