Sister Act in Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams

Flushing Meadow, New York – The pre-tournament prediction that the US Open quarters would feature the sister rivalry of Serena and Venus has come to pass, giving the tennis betting hamlet at BetUS Sportsbook the last but best quarterfinal matchup to bet on today in women’s US Open betting.

Tennis Betting Line:

Serena Williams -2 -120 -150 23 O -115 U -125

Venus Williams +2 -120 +110 23 O -115 U -125

Prop Betting Lines: Set Betting

Serena Williams to win 2 ~ 0 +150

Serena Williams to win 2 ~ 1 +200

Venus Williams to win 2 ~ 0 +225

Venus Williams to win 2 ~ 1 +300

Match Time: Not before 7:00 PM Eastern Time, Wednesday September 3, 2008

Head-to-Head Analysis: Serena Williams and Venus Williams are tied 8-8 in their head-to-head series. The last time they met was at the 2008 Wimbledon final. Venus Williams won. They met one other time in 2008 – the semis in Bangalore. Serena Williams won in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4). Lifetime, Serena leads 6-5 on hard.

This is the third time they meet at the US Open. In 2001, Venus Williams beat Serena Williams in the US Open final; in 2005, Venus beat Serena in the R16.

Together the sisters won the Doubles Olympic Gold Medal this year.

Tennis Betting Analysis:

Serena Williams (-150) Serena Williams has never beaten her sister at the US Open and she recently loss to her in an emotional final at Wimbledon. Yet the bookies favour Serena for the win here. Serena Williams has played more this season than her sister has. She tallied a 36-6 record for the year before arriving in New York.

Venus Williams (+110) Venus Williams won only one title this year but it is a grand one – Wimbledon. Venus brings a 24-8 mark for the season to New York.

Tennis Betting Verdict: Handicapping the sisters is never easy as both of them have such a strong array of qualities that either would be a good play.

In terms of surface, Serena has the edge. Unlike Venus Williams who only competed at the Beijing Olympics this summer, Serena Williams entered one more hard court event (Stanford). Serena also lifted two hard court titles this year already Bangalore Open and Sony Ericsson Open.

As to the intangibles: who wants it more? And does that matter? If desire counts, which surely does in any individual sport, Serena is the one with more at stake. She was downright gutted when she lost to her sister at the Wimbledon final. More importantly, especially as this is a competitive family, Venus Williams has won two back-to-back Wimbledon titles since Serena Williams made her sensational run at the Australian Open in 2007.

In sibling psychology, Serena may be feeling slightly outdone by her older sis right about now. The slightly bruised ego that licks at the reminder that she won more career Grand Slam titles than Venus is not lost on anyone; but a title victory for Venus at the US Open and she would equal Serena with eight Grand Slam titles. Hence, the thinly veiled boast of “I am the better sister” would be completely thrown.