Serena Slams Venus, Meets Jankovic For Charleston Title

Sister Act 24 turned out to be the most lopsided meeting in the long sibling rivalry between Venus and Serena Williams. The two met earlier this afternoon on a bright, beutiful day in Charleston, South Carlina, but the result wasn’t pretty at all. Serena slammed her elded sister 6-1, 6-2 to reach her second straight final at the tournament.

The win was the most one-side in a rivalry that dates back to 1998. But after, Serena applauded her sister’s play after the 54-minute victory.

“Venus has had a great week, and honestly, if she hadn’t had to play so many matches,” Serena said, “it would have been a much tougher match. She’ll never admit it, but I don’t think she was 100%. But you will never get that out of her. And quite frankly, three matches for her is much tougher than three matches for me. It’s definitely not easy – because I’m struggling, and I can’t imagine what she must be feeling.”

Venus has been dealing with Sjogren’s Syndrome which hurts her recovery from tough matches, and Friday the 32-year-old had to play five sets of tennis.

“I felt pretty good actually – it would have been nicer to have more space between the matches, but it did not work out,” Venus said. “But I played under the same circumstances as everyone else, at least in the top half of the draw. It has to be an even playing field here, and that’s what it was.”

The meeting was their first since 2009 and first on green clay. Serena has now won their last five and leads 14-10.

In Sunday’s final, Serena puts a 13-match Charleston win streak on the line against longtime rival Jelena Jankovic. The Serb, who also is a former Charleston champion, edged surprise semifinalist Stefanie Voegele, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2.

Williams leads Jankovic in their series, 5-4, though Jankovic won their only clay court meeting.

Jankovic, a recent Miami semifinalist, has now won 14 of her last 16 overall.