New York, Aug 30: Serena Williams, former world No. 1 and seeded 17th in the tournament, maintained her good performance at the US Open to advance to the third round by winning 6-2, 6-2 against German Carina Witthoeft. The youngest of the Williams sisters needed only 67 minutes to seal the victory on Wednesday as she attacked her German rival with 13 aces, 30 total winners and 15 unforced errors in the second match she ever had against Witthoeft, the world No. 101, with a score of 2-0 in the series, reports Efe news. The next rival of the six-time champion of the US Open will be her older sister Venus, 16th-seeded and two-time winner of the last Grand Slam of the year, where she beat the Italian Camila Giorgi 6-4 and 7-5. Rafael Nadal Beats Vasek Pospisil in Second Round of US Open 2018.

Venus went to the third round in the US Open for the 17th time in her career and for the fifth consecutive year. The duel between the two sisters, who share in total 30 Grand Slam titles, 23 by Serena and seven by Venus, will become the great attraction of the third round. The Williams sisters will meet for the 30th time as professionals in the two decades they have been competing, including five times before on the Flushing Meadows court. Garbine Muguruza Ousted by Karolina Muchova in Second Round at US Open 2018.

But the next round will be the second time in which they face each other as rivals in the third round of a Grand Slam, following the match at the 1998 Australian Open, their first professional match they played.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 30, 2018 03:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).