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Even after bowing out of the Western & Southern Open, Serena Williams will be sticking in Cincinnati to watch her elder sister Venus Williams’ matches.
14-time Grand Slam champion Serena suffered a rare loss on Friday as she was beaten by Germany’s Angelique Kerber in straight sets 4-6, 4-6 in the quarter-finals.
In comparison, Venus overcame the challenger of US Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia in three sets 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 to book her place in the last four.
Despite her loss, Serena is happy for her sister, who has fought off an auto immune disease and reached semi-finals on a tour level event for the first time after pulling out of the 2011 US Open with the same problem.
Serena said, "I'm a great cheerleader. I'll be happy to watch her and cheer for her. She's doing really well. She's playing much better than I am, moving better, serving well, moving up to short balls, hitting well - everything she's doing is great. I thought I was inspired, but I couldn't transfer it over to my game."
Venus is hopeful that her results will further improve after this effort. She will face China’s Li Na in the semi-finals. The Chinese number one stunned top seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the quarters.
The 32-year-old said, after her match, “I’d like to think that this is only the beginning for me in more semi-finals. Of course I’m going to stay focused and try to make it to the final as well.”
Venus’ good performance is a point of satisfaction but Serena’s loss in not a point of concern as she already looked exhausted in her third round match against Urszula Radwanska. The American number one had bounced back in both sets to beat Radwanska 6-4, 6-3 and that had given a signal that she was tired.
Serena had won 19 matches in a row which included title wins at Wimbledon, Stanford and London Olympics. The 30-year-old will start as the favorite at the fourth and last Grand Slam of the season, the US Open.
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