Venus Williams wasted little time in stamping her credentials for a sixth Wimbledon crown as she opened the defence of her title with an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele.
The champion was in rampant mood in the Centre Court sunshine as she quite overpowered her promising young opponent, the world number 97, in just 75 largely one-sided minutes.
In this mood, the 29-year-old may take some beating in her bid to become the first woman since Steffi Graf between 1991 and 93 to win the Rosewater Dish for the third straight year.
"I'm happy to have held that crown as the queen of Wimbledon for several years and I definitely want to make it mine again," declared Williams afterwards. "Of course, I'm ready. I enjoy every blade of grass here."
Victory this year would see her draw level with the six-times winners, Suzanne Lenglen and Billie Jean King, one short of Steffi Graf and three shy of Martina Navratilova. It says much about her appetite that she has not ruled out going past all of them.
Young Voegele, who could not quite live with the sheer muscular athleticism of Williams, at least gave the champion a decent work-out, offering a touch of fight in both sets. Ultimately, though, firepower ruled.
Williams, in her 13th appearance at Wimbledon, quickly realised she could be in for a decent opening test when, perhaps surprised by the accuracy and depth of the Swiss woman's groundstrokes, she had to struggle to survive two break points in her opening game.
At one point, she was sent sprawling as she overbalanced, trying to dig back one ferocious forehand but when she recovered her dignity, she also rediscovered her poise to serve out the game.
For three games, Voegele heled her own until left stunned by an astonishing running forehand pass from Williams which looked as if could be the pivotal moment in the match.
It prompted a run of 12 unanswered points for the champion, including a couple of searing aces. Voegele looked a little bewildered by the sheer pace of the bullets coming her way and her second serve, delivered between 75mph and 80mph, was treated with the utmost contempt as Williams raced into a 5-1 lead.
The Swiss, rated as one of the best Swiss prospects since Martina Hingis, rallied to break back and even survived a set point, gifted to Williams with a double fault, to make it 5-3. There was, however, nothing she could do to cope with the backhand tracer which Williams blasted down the line to seal the set in 32 minutes.
The Swiss may have been expected to fold at that point, especially when she found herself immediately facing a break point at the start of the second set.
Not only did she save that game but when Voegele's next service game proved woeful, even Williams seemed taken when the Swiss battled to break serve herself and level at 2-2.
It was her last hurrah. With the help of her eighth ace of the game, timed at 123mph, Williams raced through the next four games to power into the second round. "It's great to back here," she said. Her would-be pretenders may not think so.
No comments:
Post a Comment