Serena and Venus Williams to Face Off in Indian Wells Third Round; Madison Keys Falls to Danielle Collins
(March 10, 2018) INDIAN WELLS, California – It will be Williams versus Williams in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Both Venus and Serena won second round matches on Saturday. Venus, the eighth seed defeated Sorana Cirstea from Romania 6-3, 6-4 while Serena defeated the 29th seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 7-6(5), 7-5.
Fifteenth seed Madison Keys was knocked out by No. 117 Danielle Collins of the United States.
Serena Williams rallied from 3-5 down to take the opening set 7-6(5). She went up a break for 2-1 in the second set only to be broken right back. Serena had to serve for the match twice against a determined Bertens but closed it out 7-6(5), 7-5.
“I’m getting there,” Serena said of play in her return on the court. “I have a long way to go. I have such a long way to go.
“It definitely felt better than the first round, but, I mean, I’m still a little rusty. I’m still making errors that I don’t normally make.
“But I call this a trial run, you know. Even with the baby, like, a trial run of traveling with the baby and all of this is just so new to me.”
She’ll be taking on sister Venus in the third round and talked about playing the opponent that she does not like playing: “She’s had such a good year last year and playing fantastic tennis.
“But I have to play a seed regardless, sooner than later most times for the next couple of tournaments. So I have to be ready, you know. Whether it’s Venus or anyone else, it’s going to be someone.
“Obviously I wish it was anybody else in the draw, literally anybody, but that’s okay. Just have to go out there and see how I am and do my best.”
Venus in her new conference, talked about where Serena’s game is right now coming back from having a baby: “She’s playing really well and just honing her game. When she’s missing, it’s not by much. Obviously, I have to play better than her and see how the match goes.”
Asked about her preparation in playing her sibling, Venus said, “Really just trying to see what happens. That’s it. People change. It’s been a long time. See what happens.”
This will be the 29th meeting between the two siblings.
Second seed Caroline Wozniacki had an easy time with qualifer Lara Arruabarrena 6-4, 6-1.
Fifteenth seeded Madison Keys failed to get past world No. 117 Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6(1).
The 24-year-old won two NCAA singles titles and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016. At the end of 2017 she had won three ITF titles completing her first full year as a touring pro.
Other women advancing to the third round on Saturday included defending champion Elena Vesnina who beat American CiCi Bellis 2-6, 6-1, 6-1.
“I’m really happy that I won this first-round match. It’s never easy to play first match in any tournament, and in this tournament especially for me.
“So I’m really happy that I won, because CiCi, she’s having a great season,” noted the Russian. “She’s only 18 years old. You know, when they announced that and they said highest ranking is 35 in the world, I was like, whoa, that’s impressive. On the warmup I was thinking about that.
“She has a bright future. She’s a really talented girl, good fighter.”
Other top seeds advancing on in the women’s draw were fourth seed Elina Svitolina, 7th seed Caroline Garcia,and 12th seed Julia Goerges, No. 27 Carla Suarez Navarro and No. 26 Daria Gavrilova.
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