Before each day's play at Flushing Meadows, we'll preview and predict three must-see matches.
Here’s one of the more surprising head-to-heads: Williams and Bencic have played three times, and Venus has won all six sets—6-1, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. It’s true that Bencic is still a teenager, and that one of those matches was played in 2012, when she was 15, but there’s something about this matchup that has decisively favored the veteran so far.
Still, if there’s a match when you would expect Bencic, who is ranked 11 spots higher than the 35-year-old Venus right now, to start turning that around, it’s this one. She won a big title last month in Toronto, and beat a lot of quality players to do it. Meanwhile, Venus got tight trying to close out her match against Irina Falconi in the second round. It will only be tougher against Bencic, who is a much better opponent, and who saved three match points on Wednesday. Winner: Bencic