WTA roundup: Serena rallies past
Venus in Lexington
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[August 14, 2020]
Serena Williams overcame a shaky
opening set on Thursday to rally past her sister, Venus Williams,
3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the quarterfinals at The Top Seed Open in
Lexington, Ky.
Serena Williams, the top seed in the event, improved to 19-12 in the
all-time series between the sisters, winning the first meeting since
the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open.
She got off to a hot start by breaking Venus' serve in the game's
opening set, but Venus responded with consecutive breaks of Serena
and cruised to take the first set.
After Serena converted one break point to take the second set, she
again blew a lead in the third, but this time responded calmly.
Trailing 4-2, she broke Venus' service twice in a row and then
served out for the victory.
"I'm super relaxed," Serena Williams said afterward. "Having no
crowd sort of makes things more relaxing."
"I've practiced in louder places than this court," she added with a
laugh.
The only other seeded player in action lost, as Switzerland's Jil
Teichmann made quick work of fifth-seeded Yulia Putintseva of
Kazakhstan in a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
In the day's other two matches, Shelby Rogers downed Leylah
Fernandez of Canada 6-2, 7-5, and Catherine Bellis dispatched fellow
American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-2. Rogers will face Williams on
Friday.
Prague Open
Top-seeded Simona Halep of Romania recovered from a slow start to
rally for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Barbora Krejcikova of the
Czech Republic to reach the quarterfinals.
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Serena Williams and Venus Williams of the U.S. celebrate after
winning their first round doubles match against Japan's Shuko Aoyama
and Miyu Kato REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Both struggled mightily with their serves, combining for 16 breaks
of service (with Halep converting nine of 14 chances) and 13 double
faults, including 10 by Halep. The former world No. 1 -- currently
ranked No. 2 -- Halep dropped four set points on her own serve in
the second set before winning it three games later. She then came
from a break down in the final set with three straight breaks of
Krejcikova's serve to finish the match.
Halep will next face Magdalena Frech of Poland, who survived
Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. In other action, Spain's Sara
Sorribes Tormo cruised by Germany's Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-3 and
Canada's Eugenie Bouchard outlasted Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek 7-6
(2), 6-7 (2), 6-2.
--Field Level Media
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