TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – Two-time major winner Victoria Azarenka (8) and five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams (30) have both been battling injuries this season. However, both ladies are hoping to change their fortunes at 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Azarenka took out Lucic-Baroni 6-3 7-5 and Williams won over Torro-Flor 6-4 4-6 6-2. Cordell Hackshaw
Results, Order of Play, Draws and Interviews from The Championships
Two-time major winner Victoria Azarenka (8) and five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams (30) have both been battling injuries this season. Azarenka had not won a match since the Australian Open in January and Williams continues to deal with effects of a bad back and Sjögren’s syndrome. However, both ladies are hoping to change their fortunes at 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Azarenka began her comeback against tour veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Williams played Spain’s Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor. Azarenka and Williams had to battle hard past their first round opponents but in the end they came through in dominating fashion. Azarenka took out Lucic-Baroni 6-3 7-5 and Williams won over Torro-Flor 6-4 4-6 6-2.
Lucic-Baroni held serve to begin and begin pressuring the Azarenka serve. Azarenka held serve and quickly got herself two break points in the 3rd game. Azarenka converted on the second break point and then raced ahead to a 4-1 lead including a double break. Lucic-Baroni was overcooking her shots and misfiring on both wings. However, she capitalized on the sloppy serving from Azarenka to get one of the breaks back. Serving down 3-5, Lucic-Baroni found herself facing set point. Azarenka converted to take the set 6-3 in 38 minutes.
Lucic-Baroni is no stranger to the big courts of Wimbledon as she made it to the 1999 semifinal before losing to Steffi Graf in 3 sets. So it was hardly surprising when she broke Azarenka for a 2-0 lead at the start of the 2nd set. Azarenka would break back in the 6th game to level it at 3-3. Lucic-Baroni broke again in the 7th game and held serve to go up 5-3. Azarenka serving to stay in the set denied Lucic-Baroni a set point on her serve. Lucic-Baroni up 5-4 serve for the set would see several more set points come her way but unable to convert as Azarenka remained adamant about not going to a 3rd set. Azarenka broke Lucic-Baroni for 5-5 and held serve for a 6-5 lead. The pressure was now back on Croatian to serve to stay in the match. Lucic-Baroni would fight off five match points but on the 6th one, her forehand went long. Azarenka, having been down 3-5, won 4 consecutive games to take the match 6-3 7-5.
Azarenka should be count herself lucky that her opponent was so erratic and failed to capitalize on her poor serving. Azarenka had 8 double faults and only got 52% of her first serves in. She was able to win 80% of those points but she only won 43% on her second serves. Lucic-Baroni served even poorer as she was only winning 52% of her first serves and 43% of her second serves. Despite having 23 winners, Lucic-Baroni had too many errors at 29, which mostly came at key moments in the match. Azarenka had 20 winners and 17 errors. Nonetheless, having not won a match since the 4th round in Melbourne, Azarenka will take this win and move on to the 2nd round where she will face Bojana Jovanovski.
Williams had a bit more challenging match than Azarenka but she showed excellent form throughout. Williams and Torro-Flor remained on serve through the first 8 games of the match 4-4. However, the more experienced Williams knew to be more alert in the 9th game as she earned the first break point of the match. Torro-Flor went for too much on her shots only to go long and then followed that up with a double-fault to give Williams the lone break of the set. For her first four service games, Williams closed each one out with an ace. On her 5th service game, trying to close out the set, it would be no different as Williams punctuated it with an ace for 6-4 in just 35 minutes. The 2nd set almost went the same way as the first as they remained on serve for the first 9 games. Williams got sloppy with her net play down 4-5 and was broken to give Torro-Flor the 2nd set 6-4.
A 3rd set is what most Williams’ fans are afraid of because her stamina comes into question on account of the Sjögren’s syndrome. As of late, Williams has lost several key matches in the 3rd set usually looking very laboured by the middle of the set. However today, it was her opponent who looked ragged in the decisive set. Williams broke in the 5th game and held serve for a 4-2 lead. She then broke Torro-Flor at love to serve out the match at 5-2. Williams did not win the match with an ace but an error as Torro-Flor dumped her forehand into the net. Williams through to the 2nd round of Wimbledon 6-4 4-6 6-2. This is the first time she has made it this far since 2011. She skipped last year due to injury and lost in the 1st round in 2012. Nonetheless, despite it being a three-set match, Williams should be proud of her play today, she got 65% of her 1st serves in, winning 89% of the points (41/46) and 64% on the 2nd serve. She was up at net 20 times and won the point 18 times. She was 3/3 on break points with 41 winners including 11 aces and 16 errors. Williams will play Japan’s Kurumi Nara in the next round to set up a possible encounter with 2011 champion Petra Kvitova in the 3rd round.
