Friday, June 26, 2009

Wimbledon 2009: Venus Williams strolls into third round of women's singles


Normal service has been resumed in the women's singles. The world No1 and top seed, Dinara Safina, trundled through to the third round, as did the striking Serbian Ana Ivanovic. The Brit got beat. And Venus Williams, the female player most readily associated with these lawns, reaffirmed her authority with ease.

Williams appeared on Court No 1 with heavy strapping on her left leg for her second-round match against Kateryna Bondarenko, but strolled off the show-court a little more than an hour later with a place in the third round safely secured and her demeanour barely disturbed.

The match finished 6-3, 6-2, and Bondarenko represented little more than a road hump on Venus's gracious progress towards the second week.

"A good match for me," she said afterwards. "She put a lot of balls back in play so we had some longer rallies. I always felt like I needed to be the aggressive one and really take control of the point. That's how I want to play throughout the Championships."

The elder of the Williams sisters even found time to pose for her father's camera at the entrance to the locker room passage on her way off court, after a powerful if slightly ponderous performance.

But the five-times Wimbledon champion was not about to admit to any physical impairment that might encourage her rivals, despite frantic and consternated enquiries from the American media.

"What happened was that I needed some support, and then I went and got the support, and then I wore it in the match," she said. "I'll be wearing it in doubles, too, so it's working out. I think all the players might start wearing it because it's so supportive."

Venus is, at 29, a veteran in women's tennis terms and, like her sister, she does not care to play too many unimportant tournaments these days. But such is her talent and fitness, and her palpable affection for Wimbledon, that it seems entirely appropriate that she should be considered a favourite for this year's title.

She does not act as if she owns the place: the Williams girls are much too well brought up to do haughty, but you can tell how much at home Venus feels on these courts from the moment that she strides out on to the grass.

For her, Wimbledon is a green and purple comfort zone, and anyone attempted to trespass on her personal space had better be feeling confident.

Bondarenko, a 22 year-old Ukrainian, never really gave off the right vibes. The world No 73 has had a relatively good year at the Slams, reaching the third round in the Australian Open and at Roland Garros, but she never seemed convinced that she would reach the same stage here.

This is not to suggest that she fell to pieces, but with Williams serving like a howitzer and hitting ground strokes of awesome power on either flank, Bondarenko would have been better equipped with a suit of armour than a racket.

But Venus was not entirely serene. The strapping was not there for aesthetic purposes, and while she is always languid between points, she seemed exceptionally so on this occasion.

It may have been just as well that she was rarely required to shift out of first gear, but while her pace may have been gentle the progress of the match was anything but. By the time that Venus had this contest all wrapped up, Lleyton Hewitt and Juan Martin Del Potro on Centre Court, who had started at the same time, had struggled to 3-3 in the first set.

Venus Ebony Starr Williams: slow mover, quick winner.

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