Serena Prevails Over Venus At U.S. Open

For the 11th time in 26 Grand Slam singles matches this year, Serena Williams went the maximum three-set distance. And for the 11th time, Serena prevailed.

The 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory over older sister Venus leaves her two matches from a rare and exhilarating history.

If Serena can beat unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci in Thursday night's US Open semifinals, she'll play for the calendar-year Grand Slam on Saturday.

This was the sentimental, back-to-the future, ascendant Venus story line that so many had hoped for, a legitimate battle between two sisters from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, who have been trading rallies for most of their lives.

Afterward, after Serena ripped a 107 mph ace to end it, she appeared to wipe a tear from her eye, and the two embraced warmly at net.

"It's a really great moment," Serena, the top seed, said in her on-court interview. "She's the toughest player I ever played in my life, and the best person I know. So it's going against your best friend and going against, for me, the greatest competitor in women's tennis."

The match ran 98 minutes, but it felt a lot longer -- especially for the Williamses.

"This was a big moment for Venus and I," Serena said. "It's a Grand Slam, so we both want to do the best that we can. It wasn't really easy today at all."

It isn't often that No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic is relegated to the secondary stage, but Tuesday night was an extraordinary one at the US Open.

After the fireworks between Serena and Venus Williams, Djokovic quietly dispatched No. 18 Feliciano Lopez, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2).

"Look, he's one of the rare players that serves and volleys off the first serve," Djokovic said of Lopez afterward. "It was anybody's game in the fourth set. He had a couple of break points. I played pretty good, very consistent. Very glad to get through in four.