Friday’s match will be the earliest the sisters have met at a Slam since the 1998 Australian Open
World number one Serena Williams has suffered her earliest Wimbledon exit in nine years after losing to French 25th seed Alize Cornet.
The queen has abdicated. The throne is bare and the pretenders are circling at the French Open, which began on Sunday, with expectations high for an unusually large number of women players who feel they have been handed the rarest of opportunities. For the first time in almost a decade, winning at Roland Garros will not mean having to beat Justine Henin.