The home crowd are in for a Monday treat, as the Williams Sisters go head-to-head in the Indian Wells 3rd round. This is their first meeting since Serena was victorious in the 2017 Australian Open final.
Venus will be many people's favourite to win
Serena Williams leads the epic head-to-head 17-11. Venus fans have to go back to 2014 and the Canadian Masters for the last time Venus came up trumps in this intriguing sibling rivalry. Although, there is every reason for Venus fans to be confident of eating into the head-to-head deficit. Venus took her time to really get into her groove against dangerous Romanian; Sorana Cirstea in round 2.
Venus was 67% on second serves won - this is a clear area of improvement for her. The match against her sister is likely to be tense. It is the second serve that will be severely tested, Venus needs to build points better off her second serve. This is where the match will be decided.
Serena is warming to her tennis return
Serena never truly looked troubled in her first match, disposing of Zarina Diyas in straight sets. It was the same set margin in the 2nd round against Kiki Bertens, but much closer and Bertens soared to an early lead in the first set. This truly tested Serena's mettle and she showed grit and determination to see off a tricky opponent, as she has oft done in the past. Tennis needs Serena back at her best and it looks like she is determined to get there.
A great match is in the offing
This is now the Williams' sisters 30th competitive singles meeting. Serena comes into this on a nine-match winning streak - in terms of competitive WTA singles matches. Venus made the final of the WTA Finals in Singapore last year and has not played much herself this season. A disappointing loss to Belinda Bencic meant that Venus was unable to follow up on her impressive Australian Open performance last year.
Entertainment is often the winner when Venus meets Serena. There is little reason why this intriguing match-up should deviate from that trend. The draw is cutting up nicely with the early exits of Keys, Konta and Muguruza. The winner of this match will fancy themselves for a deep run in Indian Wells. This would give them the impetus from which to galvanise their season.
Venus Williams has every reason to feel confident going into this matchup. The fact that both players will know each other's game inside out means that things could start off edgy A no-holds-barred contest is a distinct possibility.
