There was expectation at the time of what Venus Williams was capable of in her return to the slopes at 43 years old. The American received an invitation to compete in the WTA 1,000 in Indian Wells for the first time since 2019, when she was a quarterfinalist. She had a favorable opponent, the Japanese qualifier Nao Hibino, 29 years old and 80, and although she started well, she ended up giving up with rosco included in the third set: 2-6, 6-3 and 6-0 at 2h01.
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She had not played since the US Open last year, a bad season for her due to a knee injury, and it was clear that she is not ready to compete at the highest level. From more to less, the eldest Williams collapsed before losing the last nine games of the match and, therefore, the match itself. Nao, who had not won until now at the BNP Paribas Open, will face the Russian Veronika Kudermetova, 17th favorite, this Friday.
Nothing to do with what happened to Naomi Osaka who, like her compatriot Hibino, advanced to the second round with a resounding victory (6-3 and 6-1 in 69 minutes) against the Italian veteran Sara Errani (36 years old) . The Japanese, unseeded champion in 2018, showed that she still knows how to play well on hard courts, a surface on which she achieved her seven titles before temporarily abandoning tennis to become a mother. Osaka, who won ten of the last 11 games of the clash, will face the dangerous Russian Liudmila Samsonova, seeded number 14, on Saturday.
2024-03-08 02:07:13
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