Wednesday, June 22, 2011

2011 Williams Watch-Venus Rising

It was Big Sis' turn to play at Centre Court, and the folks in attendance there got an entertaining three hour show in her match with Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm.

Date-Krumm at age 40 is the second oldest woman ever to make it to the second round at Wimbledon and served notice early in this match she was more than willing to go through Venus to get to the third round..  

She built up a 5-1 lead in the first set before Venus battled back by winning five straight games to force a tiebreaker.  

In the tiebreaker, Date-Krumm raced out to a 6-2 lead, and once again Venus fought off four set points to tie it at 6-6.  She eventually dropped the tiebreaker 8-6 after Date-Krumm hit a shot that clipped the line and was confirmed by video replay and Big Sis hit her next shot into the net. .

Big Sis focused and took the second set in convincing 6-3 fashion thanks to breaking Date-Krumm twice

The third set was as tight as the first one, with both players getting early breaks but staying on serve until Venus broke her to clinch a hard fought match 8-6 after Date-Krumm sent a shot wide.

Next up for Big Sis in the third round is Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who sent Jelena Jankovic home early  in the first round.    Should be fun to watch, but as a certain former Houston Rockets coach said, never underestimate the heart of a champion.

You also never underestimate a Williams Sister at Wimbledon either.