TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – There is an old adage in tennis which says, “It is not how you start a match but how you finish it.” The veteran 34-year-old American Venus Williams definitely showed this to be true in her 2nd round match against Japanese Kurumi Nara. Williams trailed at the beginning of both sets and in the tiebreaker but then rallied to win the match 7-6(4) 6-1. Cordell Hackshaw
Results, Order of Play, Draws and Interviews from The Championships
There is an old adage in tennis which says, “It is not how you start a match but how you finish it.” The veteran 34-year-old American Venus Williams (30) definitely showed this to be true in her 2nd round match against Japanese Kurumi Nara. Williams trailed at the beginning of both sets and in the tiebreaker but then rallied to win the match 7-6(4) 6-1. It seemed as though Williams was always trailing Nara as she arrived on court about 10 minutes after Nara. She would later claim that she was not late; Nara just got there early. Five-time champion Williams will play another former Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova (6) in the 3rd round.
Looking at the two players on court, it appeared to be no contest as Williams, standing at 6’1” (1.85m), towered over Nara who is 5’1” (1.55m). However, it was Williams who began playing tentatively. Nara was dictating play and forcing Williams behind the baseline. The American had two early break points on Nara’s opening serve but then a slew of errors led to her being down 0-3 in the set. Williams then began to find her range and imposed her aggressive style of play. She won 5 successive games to be ahead 5-3 but then the careless errors returned to her game. Williams was particularly vulnerable on her 2nd serves (average 75 mph) which were significantly slower than her 1st serves (average 103 mph). Nara held serve and Williams serving for the set up 5-4 double faulted and pushed her forehand long to be broken again, 5-5. Nara up 6-5 had looks at breaking Williams again for the set but the American unleashed two more aces to hold serve and get to the tiebreaker.
In the breaker, Nara took the early lead 4-1 and at that point, Williams showed why she is one of the greats of the game. She reeled off six successive points to take the set 7-6(4). Nara left the court for a medical timeout and upon her return, broke Williams to continue the theme of taking the early lead in the match. Williams responded in brilliant fashion to break Nara at love. Williams was now in her element. She was hitting winners from all areas of the court and taking the initiative to move forward. She would win the next five games to take the match 7-6(4) 6-1 in an hour and a half. Williams after the match, “I think at the important points in the game I was able to lift my game a little. That’s what you really want to do. Then also in the second set lift my game.” Statically wise, the number were again positive for Williams just as they were in the 1st round. She had 46 winners to 16 errors, serving at 69% and winning 74% of those points. However, her 2nd serve remains a serious liability. Williams was only able to win 33% of those points. This will definitely not bode well against Kvitova. Kvitova leads their head-to-hear 3-1 including a win in Doha earlier this year.
