By Rick Limpert, Special for Tennis Grandstand
When the top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska pulled out of this week’s Family Circle Cup on Monday because of a back injury, Bob Moran and his team at the Charleston WTA event appeared a little nervous.
It also gave the Williams’ Sisters a chance to come to the rescue and they have delivered on the court and in the stands.
With Venus taking on Jelena Jankovic in Wednesday night’s session, the attendance was a whopping 6,908. With both Williams’ playing in Thursday’s day session, it could be a record Thursday crowd at the Family Circle Cup Tennis Center.
Serena took the court ahead of her sister on Thursday and didn’t disappoint. After a slow start, she blitzed Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-2, 6-2, for an impressive showing on clay.
As Erakovic double-faulted on match point, Serena pumped her first and booked her spot in the quarters.
Venus was next up and she started slowly as well. As she did the previous night against Jankovic, the elder Williams found her range in taking down Anastasia Rodionova 7-5, 6-2. The way Venus is serving, she could compete with any player on tour, right now.
“Sister Act”
A Saturday semi-final featuring the siblings could be in the cards, and with all the hoopla in Charleston this weekend as the “Original 9” are being honored, it could be quite a weekend for women’s tennis.
Here’s to a possible Saturday showdown.
Rick Limpert covers sports, technology and the intersection of sports and technology for the likes of Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, and Examiner.com. He also hosts the popular “The Tech of Sports” radio show and podcast at http://netcaststudio.com/ . You can follow him on Twitter at @RickRoswell
