She has done it more than 650 times in her career but when Venus Williams stepped up to serve out her third-round match on Friday, the nerves were suddenly jangling.
Comfortably leading 6-3, 5-2 against Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic on No.2 Court, Venus found herself distracted by the roar from Centre Court as Britain's Heather Watson closed in on the second set against the younger of the Williams sisters, Serena.
“I’ve no idea what’s going on on Centre Court but Heather’s got to be playing well to take a set off Serena,” Venus said after booking her place in the fourth round. “It’s kind of hard to focus out there when that’s going on on Centre.”
Both Williams sisters had stepped onto court within minutes of each other. With the scheduling clash, their mother Oracene and sister Lyndrea opted to cheer on Venus before realising their support was desperately needed for an out-of-sorts Serena, making a hasty dash for Centre Court at the end of Venus’s straight-sets clinic.
Serena would eventually pull off one of her great escapes to book the much anticipated all-Williams fourth-round clash. It marks the first time in four years that the five-time champion has made it to the second week at her most successful major and the first time the sisters will have met since Montreal last August, when Venus produced a three-set shock in the semi-finals, her first victory over her younger sister in five-and-a-half years.
The two have played five times at Wimbledon but never before the semi-finals. Serena has come out on top three times, including their most meeting in the 2009 final.
“It’s never easy. All my opponents play a high level. It’s nice to be in the second week,” Venus said. “Well we both know we’ll be playing well. We have the same draw as the French Open so hopefully soon we can be on opposite sides of the draw again. It’d be entertaining and a Williams would win.”
Against the Moscow-born Krunic, Venus drew first blood, breaking the world No.82’s serve for 5-3 after taking a slip and a tumble running to a forehand.
She sealed the set by thumping a backhand cross-court out of reach of the super-quick Serbian and broke immediately in the second.
With the roars from Centre Court growing ever louder as Watson pushed closer to taking the second set from Serena, Venus remained composed, charging to 4-0.
Krunic was looking to reach the fourth round at a major for the second time in her career, having derailed Madison Keys and Petra Kvitova’s campaigns en route to the round of 16 at last year’s US Open.
But this was a match that would always be played on Venus’s heavier-hitting terms. Desperate to avoid a second-set bagel, Krunic managed to hold serve twice in succession before Venus sealed the result with a body-jamming serve which drew the error.
The American finished with 21 winners, securing 85 per cent of points when her first serve landed. She will need that success rate again when she tees off against her younger sister. Not since the 2008 Wimbledon decider has she won a battle of the siblings at a slam.
