Serena rallies to Venus win to make Lexington quarterfinals

For the 31st time in their illustrious careers, Serena and Venus Williams went head-to-head on Thursday, and for the just the third time, Serena came from a set down to win.

After needing a comeback to defeat world No. 60 Bernarda Pera in the opening round of the Top Seed Open presented by Bluegrass Orthopaedics, a match in which she was five points from defeat, Serena came from both a set down and a break down in the third set to beat Venus, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, for her 19th victory against her elder sister. 

Though Serena was a break up in the opening set at 2-0, Venus ultimately won six of the last seven games to win the first set against her younger sister—but after Serena broke in the sixth game of the second set and never faced a break point, the pair headed to a decider for the 12th time in their overall head-to-head.

In the final set, the sisters traded breaks of serve twice: Serena first led 2-1 before Venus fired off three games in a row, but it was the ninth game that truly proved decisive.

Leading 40-15 behind her serve, looking to stop Serena's momentum after she'd brought herself even, Venus was unable to convert either game point, and the game headed to deuce. Eventually, Serena secured the crucial break with a running backhand winner down-the-line that curled into the corner and capped off a long rally. 

In the end, it was Serena's own serve that helped her over the line. From 15-30 down, the 23-time major winner fired a pair of aces down the 'T', and sealed the two hour, 19-minute victory when Venus missed a final forehand long. In all, Serena racked up 14 aces in the match, nine of which came in the final set. 

"I've lost a few tight sets lately, so I told myself I really wanted to win this one and try to focus on those last two games," Serena said after the victory. "I honestly didn't come here to win. For the first time in my career, I came here to win some matches.

"I haven't had this much time off since the baby, so now I'm just trying to get some rhythm and see what happens."

Serena was one of three Americans to advance to Friday's quarterfinals, leading CiCi Bellis and Shelby Rogers into the last eight. Bellis eased to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Jessica Pegula for her first WTA quarterfinal berth in two-and-a-half years, while Rogers beat Canadian teenage qualifier Leylah Annie Fernandez, 6-2, 7-5.