Sport Tennis
Venus Williams ends her long dry spell
Status: 15.08.2023 | Reading time: 2 minutes
Venus Williams wins in Cincinnati
Source: Getty Images via AFP/AARON DOSTER
Venus Williams is now 43 years old and still on the pro circuit. At the tournament in Cincinnati, the American shows that she can still keep up as number 533 in the world tennis rankings. You manage a rare victory.
Venus Williams was twice behind in her second round game at the WTA tournament in Cincinnati, twice she fought back impressively. And in the end it was the Russian Veronika Kudermetova who congratulated the American as the loser of this match. For Williams, the former world number one, now 43 and number 533 in the world, this is more than just another achievement to add to the tally of her long career.
The American, who turned the first set after a 1: 4 and the second after 1: 5, won in the end 6: 4, 7: 5 and thus has against a player from the top 20 for the first time in four years won the world. Since 2019, the seven-time Grand Slam winner had lost ten games in a row against top 20 players up to this day. Now she defeated her opponent who was 17 years her junior and who was seeded 16th at this tournament.
In Cincinnati, things have come full circle, because Williams also celebrated her last win against an opponent from the top 20 – at that time the Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens – at this tournament. “I just said to myself: Win this point, not the game, just this point,” Williams said after her win two weeks before the start of the US Open.
Veronika Kudermetova congratulates Venus Williams after the match
Source: Getty Images via AFP/AARON DOSTER
Another number is also amazing: 28 years ago, Williams defeated a player from the top 20 for the first time. Back then, as a 15-year-old teenager, she triumphed at the Oakland Open against Amy Frazier, at the time number 18 in the world.
“Serena believes in me”
One of the first well-wishers was Sister Serena (41), who is pregnant for the second time and is not in Cincinnati. “She texted me and had a lot of encouraging words,” Venus Williams said at the post-game press conference. “She just encourages me to do my best because she believes in me and knows what I’m made of.”
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Williams doesn’t think about quitting. “I love this sport. The past few years have been difficult due to some injuries,” she said. “I want to be able to get back on the pitch and show my strength.”
Sloane Stephens also advanced to the second round of the hard court tournament, which is worth around 2.8 million US dollars. She won 7:5, 6:2 against Elisabetta Cocciaretto from Italy and now meets defending champion Caroline Garcia from France. For the men, who also stop in Cincinnati on the ATP tour, Felix Auger-Aliassime from Canada defeated the Italian Matteo Berrettini 4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 3.
