Venus Williams Defeats Vinci to Avenge Serena’s US Open Loss

The victory came in a hard-fought three-set match Friday at the Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province.

Venus Williams defeated Roberta Vinci Oct. 2, 2015, to reach the Wuhan Open finals.

Venus Williams triumphed over Roberta Vinci Friday in a hard-won three-set match to reach the Wuhan Open finals, news agency Agence France-Presse reports.

The win appears to settle the score for her younger sister, Serena, who fell to Italy’s Vinci last month at the U.S. Open, upending her historic bid to complete a calendar-year grand slam.

At one point Friday, Vinci appeared poised to defeat Williams, but Williams rallied to a win a final-set tie break, the report says.

“I mean, [there were] a lot of ups and downs. I hope that on a day when I’m playing how I’d like, it’s a more straightforward match,” Williams told AFP. “She’s definitely tricky. She finds a way to hang in there.”

Meanwhile, Serena Williams, who turned 34 this week, released a statement Thursday saying that she would not play in the China Open in Beijing next week or the Women’s Tennis Association Finals in Singapore later this month, the New York Times reports.

“It’s no secret I’ve played injured most of the year—whether it was my elbow, my knee or, in the final moments after a certain match in Flushing, my heart,” the statement reads, referring to the U.S. Open location at Flushing Meadows in New York City.

Ana Ivanovic beats Venus Williams at China Open

Ana Ivanovic beat a resurgent Venus Williams, while Flavia Pannetta and Caroline Wozniacki also progressed past round two of the China Open.

Venus Williams' recent resurgence came to a halt at the China Open as Ana Ivanovic progressed to round three with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victory on Tuesday.

American Williams, a seven-time grand slam winner, rolled back the years to claim the Wuhan Open title at the age of 35 last week - her biggest victory on the WTA Tour for five years.

However, the world number 14 saw her participation in Beijing ended by sixth seed Ivanovic, who rebounded from losing serve in game seven to take the opener on a tie-break.

Ivanovic - who trailed 9-2 in the head-to-head before the match - then needed just 39 minutes in the second set to book her spot in the next round.

Third seed Flavia Pennetta continued to show signs of rustiness in her first tournament since winning the US Open.

The Italian needed three sets to beat Han Xinyun in round one and was again taken the distance by Teliana Pereira in a 3-6 6-0 6-4 win.

Caroline Wozniacki needed a victory to keep alive her hopes of playing in the WTA Finals in Singapore and the Dane - seeded eighth - did just that with a 7-5 6-0 triumph over Wang Qiang.

Wozniacki now meets 10th seed Angelique Kerber, who beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-1 6-4, while Andrea Petkovic saw off Sam Stosur 6-2 7-5.

In other matches, Sara Errani overcame a second-set blip to defeat Caroline Garcia 6-4 3-6 6-1, and 12th seed Timea Bacsinszky was a 7-5 6-2 victor against Mariana Duque-Marino.

The WTA confirmed that Belinda Bencic had withdrawn from the tournament with a hand injury, giving Mirjana Lucic-Baroni a bye to the third round.