*The Williams sisters advanced to the third round of the French Open today in back to back singles matches, each beating their opponent with the very same score, and on the same court.
First Serena dominated 81st-ranked Teliana Pereira of Brazil 6-2, 6-1 in a 66 minute match at Court Suzanne Lenglen, then older sister Venus took the same court and overpowered 20-year-old American qualifier Louisa Chirico 6-2, 6-1 in 54 minutes.
“It’s a little surreal sometimes, because it has been so long. They’ve both been out here almost 20 years,” said their sister, Isha Price, who was in the stands for both matches.
“It was nice to have them play back-to-back and not have to move,” Price added with a laugh. “It’s so interesting that their scoreline was the same. It was really nice to be there for that.”
If some spectators were happy that a single ticket allowed them to see both Williams matches, the players themselves said they don’t really find the time to savor such rarities.
“We’re unfortunately really focused on our match. And I say ‘unfortunately,’ because in a few years, we’ll be like, ‘Wow, that’s a great moment,'” the 34-year-old Serena said. “But right now, we have to be focused on what we want to do in going out there and winning the match.”
Venus agreed.
“We focus more on the match at hand, and we both have a job to do, and that’s to try to get to the next round,” she said. “We focus less on the significance of us playing and more of like, ‘Can you win this match?'”
Each Williams next plays a French opponent: Serena against No. 26 Kristina Mladenovic, Venus against unseeded Alize Cornet. Venus is into third round of the French Open for the first time since 2010.
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