NEW YORK — By now, Venus and Serena Williams know all too well how it feels to set aside sisterhood for a couple of hours and try to beat each other on a tennis court.
They know what it feels like to meet at a Grand Slam tournament, what it feels like to win such a match, what it feels like to lose.
And they much prefer it when there’s a major championship at stake. The all-Williams showdown, set up by their easy victories Monday at the U.S. Open, comes earlier this time.
This time, Williams vs. Williams is only a quarterfinal.
“It’s so soon,” Serena said. “You know, it’s just disappointing to be so soon.”
Both advanced through the fourth round without a challenge. The No. 7-seeded Venus dismissed No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-3, before No. 4 Serena dispatched wild-card entrant Severine Bremond of France 6-2, 6-2 at night.
“Even the semis would have been better than the quarterfinals, but at least one of us will make it to the semis,” Serena told the crowd during an on-court interview.
Some sisters make plans to go shopping together, say, or to catch a movie. These siblings keep running into each other at their sport’s highest levels.
Venus beat Serena for the title at Wimbledon in July — their seventh major title match — and Wednesday will mark the first time they’ve squared off at consecutive Grand Slam tournaments since 2003.
Both have dealt with injuries and inactivity that stalled their dominance, but both are clearly back at the height of their powers.
“The best part is that we’re still here,” Venus said, “going stronger than ever, in my opinion.”
They’ve played 16 times as professionals, with each winning eight. That includes 10 meetings at major tournaments, with each winning five.
“I would love to have a winning record,” Venus said. “I have a chance.”
Because of the luck of the pre-tournament draw, they were placed in the same portion of the bracket in New York — much to the disappointment of them, U.S. Open organizers and TV types. Even other players.
“For sure, it would have been better for the crowd if it was a final,” Bremond said. “It would have been a very good final.”
That certainly rings true: Serena has lost a total of 14 games through four matches at Flushing Meadows; Venus has dropped 15.
Of the eight women left in the tournament, only two have won a Grand Slam title — Serena leads all active players with eight, and Venus is right behind with seven.
They won every U.S. Open women’s singles championship from 1999 to 2002, meeting in the finals the last two years of that span — it was their ascension that prompted the U.S. Open to move the women’s final from Saturday afternoon to Saturday night. Since 2002, though, Serena hasn’t made it past the quarterfinals here, and Venus has only reached one semifinal.
Also advancing Monday were No. 6 Dinara Safina, who defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-5, 6-0, and No. 16 Flavia Pennetta, who beat No. 32 Amelie Mauresmo 6-3, 6-0.
In men’s action, No. 1 Rafael Nadal held off 55th-ranked Sam Querrey, a 20-year-old Californian. Querrey hung in during long baseline rallies and even briefly led in the third set, before losing 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Nadal owns four titles from the French Open and one from Wimbledon, but he’s never been as far as the U.S. Open semis. He’ll try to take care of that gap on his resume when he meets another unseeded American, Mardy Fish, in the quarterfinals.
Fish serve-and-volleyed his way past No. 32 Gael Monfils in straight sets. As for facing Nadal?
“I feel like a guy with my style of play is someone that he doesn’t want to see,” said Fish, who won the point on 45 of 69 trips to the net. “You’ve got to be able to finish points quickly. He’s going to last longer than anybody. He wants to keep the points as long as possible and run the guys down, kind of body-blow after body-blow.”
Nadal, who’s won 42 of his past 43 matches, had to work hard to wear down the 6-foot-6 Querrey. When Nadal served for a two-set lead, Querrey broke him at love. When Nadal was trying to put the kid away, serving with a 4-2 edge in the fourth set, Querrey compiled seven break points.
“The match was crazy like that, no?” Nadal said.
He saved each of those seven break points, though, and that pretty much was that.
“He had to earn it,” Querrey noted proudly. “I didn’t just give it to him.”
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