SPORTS: Serena Williams to face sister Venus Williams for the 30th time in US Open third round today

Serena Williams, 36, will face her elder sister Venus Williams, 38, for the 30th time on Friday night at the Arthur Ashe Stadium after they booked their spots in the third round of the US Open.

Serena eased into the third round encounter with a 6-2, 6-2 win over German world number 101 Carina Witthoeft on Tuesday, while her sister Venus made it into the third round with a

6-4, 7-5 victory over Camila Giorgi of Italy.

This is the pair's earliest meeting at a major since the Australian Open in 1998,  and also their second encounter of 2018 and the 30th career WTA Tour match between the two.

Speaking ahead of the clash, Serena said: 'Every match is just looking forward to the next, which is going to obviously be incredibly hard,’ 

‘It’s obviously a tough match. It’s so young in the tournament. It is what it is. In an ideal world, we’d meet later. 

While Venus said in her post-match press conference: ‘Yeah, I mean, obviously, it’s early in the tournament, so both of us are going to be looking forward to continuing to play better. ‘Obviously, it’s definitely a tough draw,' she said in her on-court interview.