Fresh off a title win in Auckland, number eighteen seed Venus Williams eased through her second round match against compatriot, Lauren Davies 6-2 6-3. Williams, who has Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease, has battled many injuries in the latter part of her career, but has been injury free for the best part of a year. She’s made the most of this, rising to number nineteen in the world at the end of last year and consistently pushing the top players. Her match against Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon was the toughest Kvitova would face during her title run.
Twenty-one year old Davies came out hitting and was rewarded with an early break which she consolidated with a hold, taking a 2-0 lead. Williams looked slightly restricted in her movement in the early stages of the match, but as she worked herself into form, it soon became clear that she would have too much for Davies. Precision, power tennis was the call of the day and Williams provided it, the Davies ball bouncing straight into her hitting zone. Williams has often talked about her willingness to come to net and the thirteen-time grand slam champion approached twelve times during the course of the match, converting eight of them. Having quickly regained the break, Williams took control, dictating play with her flat groundstrokes and applying pressure on return by stepping well within the baseline. This pressure led to four double faults from Davies over the course of the match and frustration as she failed to take a controlling role during rallies. Finishing the set at the net, Williams had won six games in a row, to take the set 6-2.
Davies left for a comfort break and came back firing, quickly finding herself with triple break point and converting on a Williams error. It was a short reprieve. Davies failed to back up the break with her serve and as a backhand sailed long, she bounced her racket on the court. Williams raced away with the set, playing well within herself; she occasionally let out groans of frustration as balls hit the net but generally managed her mental state well. Leading 4-1, it was clear the match was only headed in one direction. Williams served out the set for 6-3 and secured a berth in the third round in an hour and sixteen minutes.
Looking at Williams’s quarter, why is no one talking about a potential semi-final match against her sister, Serena Williams? Agnieszka Radwanska looms large in the fourth round and Kvitova is a potential quarter-final opponent, but Williams is playing good, power tennis and has prior experience when it comes to winning a slam as a lower seed (Wimbledon 2007). In her press conference, Williams asserted, “That’s my focus really is (sic), how close can I get myself to be in that winner’s circle.” A hungry and determined Williams will not be an opponent anyone wants to face. First, however, Williams will face Camila Giorgi of Italy, a dangerous player who knocked out number twelve seed, Flavia Pennetta.
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