In the 31st edition of one of the greatest stories in sport, Serena Williams recovered from a set down to defeat her sister Venus 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an intense contest to reach the quarter-finals of the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky. Since their first official meeting, aged 16 and 17, the Williams sisters have collectively achieved everything as they faced each other on all of the greatest stages. However, this experience was unique. Rather than the four consecutive grand slam finals between 2002 and 2003, this was the second round of the lowest category of WTA tournaments in a small local club. There was no crowd with the ambient sounds of cars driving down the road in its place. It felt personal. Much of the buildup centred on how the elder Williams spent her time in quarantine. She had worked on her businesses, debuted a game show and hosted frequent Instagram Live interviews, but, most importantly, used the first involuntary break in her career to remodel her serve and forehand technique. At 40 years old, after 26 years as a professional, she still carries the determination to be better. While Venus was excellent in her opening‑round victory against the former No 1 Victoria Azarenka, Serena, who turns 39 next month, struggled badly in her three-set win against Bernarda Pera. After six months away, rust caked every aspect of her game and her victory relied on a moment of magnificence, exploding into form with a deficit of 4-6, 4-4 and 0-40 to escape. Form decided much of the early exchanges as Venus remained solid from 0-2 down, offering nothing for free and profiting from her sister’s errors as she won the first set 6-3. But after her opening battle, Serena had said, jokingly: “I think I won today because I was calm ... for once in my career.” She has found calm in the silence of the crowdless courts and so she searched for a solution by playing more conservatively. She homed in on her targets, attacked down the middle and found her range to secure the deciding break and take the second set 6-3. But this was the second match after six months. Although there was some excellent shotmaking and intensity throughout, there were ample mistakes as rhythm changed in the blink of an eye. Just as Serena looked to take control of the match, serving bombs and dominating the baseline to lead, her early 2-1 lead in the third set became a 4-2 deficit. But she remained calm and pegged Venus back again, breaking at 4-4 with a running backhand down-the-line winner before holding serve to win. The head to head now stands at 19-12 to Serena but Venus remains the player with by far the most wins against her sister and they have faced each other more than any other rival over the years. It would be fitting if it turns out their final contest ended as it started all those years ago on the public courts of Compton – in silence – but even before the pair took to the court, the elder sister made it clear this is not in their plans: “Here we go again,” Venus said with a shrug. “Number 31 and I’m looking forward to the next one after this, too.”