Evergreen, Venus Williams. At 43, the American, now the 697th player in the world, fought for more than three hours to snatch her second victory this season, on the grass of Birmingham. The eldest of the Williams sisters dominated the Italian Camila Giorgi (48th) in three hung sets (7-6 [5]4-6, 7-6 [6]), this Monday.
Her last success dated back to January, in Auckland, New Zealand, where she had dominated her compatriot Katie Volynets, before losing and especially getting injured in the next round against the Chinese Lin Zhu. Touched in a thigh, the ex-world number 1 waited until last week to return to the WTA circuit, marked by a defeat in the first round against the young Swiss Céline Naef (17), on the grass from ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands).
“She (Giorgi) played really well too, I’m so surprised she’s not world number one”
“I thought I played very well today (Monday), and she played very well too, I’m so surprised she’s not world number one,” Williams said on the court. There were so many moments where I thought this match was over, and she was coming out shots out of nowhere. She pushed me to be better than I thought I could be, and it’s great for me, who haven’t played a lot of games, to pass. I started the game well, but my leg hurt in the third game and I was like, “Oh no, not that.” It was hard to control my emotions but I managed to ignore it. »
In the next round, Venus Williams will face either Jelena Ostapenko or Linda Noskova, who meet on Tuesday.
