Venus Williams advances at Wimbledon despite second-round scare
LONDON — Five-time former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams looked in danger of a second-round exit early on in her match at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
The 10th seed, Williams rebounded from a one-set deficit to send 55th-ranked Wang Qiang of China packing 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the 1 hour, 49 minute encounter.
Wang kept Williams in defense mode at the outset of the match, preventing the lanky American from using her offensive power to get ahead in the encounter.
"Of course there's moments where your opponent seems to have momentum, but I was always thinking about how I could turn it and what I could do to turn it towards my way. That was my focus today."
This year marks Williams’ 20th appearance at Wimbledon, where she’s hoisted the appropriately named “Venus Rosewater Dish” winner’s trophy in 2000, ’01, ’05, ’07, and ’08.
The match was Williams' 97th played at Wimbledon - the most among active players - and she holds a 83-14 win-loss record at the tournament. Sister, Serena, holds the record for active players at Wimbledon - she's played 96 matches for a 86-10 record.
"Wow. I never look at the stats. So, wow. I'd love to reach 100. That would be awesome."
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Williams struggled with her serve as she faced eight break points - she was broken on two occasions in the first set. While she served six aces, she also put up seven double faults, and her service percentage languished at 62%, and only was at 55% in the first set.
Even after Williams picked up the pace to win the final two sets, it wasn’t until she finally served out the match point, watching a Wang ball sail long, that she dropped her guard and smiled broadly.
This marked the second time Williams had played Wang. Their previous encounter took place at the recent French Open first round match with Williams winning 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Williams journeyed to the Australian Open final in January before she fell to sister, Serena. That marked Williams’ first Grand Slam final since she reached the 2009 Wimbledon final, which she also lost to Serena, who is not playing here this year as she awaits the birth of her first child.
Unfortunately for Wang, her Grand Slam record of never reaching a third round remains in tact. She’s now fallen in a Grand Slam second round on six occasions in her career.