Black Tennis Pros

Serena Williams blitzed her way into the third round with a display that combined discipline and bravura in equal measure. She saw off the South African journeywoman Chanelle Scheepers 6-1, 6-1 in 49 minutes.

“I’m always the favorite,” acknowledged Serena afterwards. “It’s been that way for the last three years and maybe years before that. So it can create pressure. But it’s OK – I’d rather it was that way.”

“I’m trying to figure out when this [press conference] is going to end,” she said. “I’m really losing focus up here. The longer these interviews go... Maybe that’s why at Wimbledon they have them long. This is getting... The questions change from tennis to Novak and then Rafa. It’s no longer about the match. Is this the last question?”



American Madison Keys, a winner last week in Eastbourne, took her winning streak to seven matches thanks to her 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-2 dismissal of 31st seed Klara Koukalova, the slight Czech who was out-gunned in the power stakes but who kept herself alive in the contest on Court 12 with speed, guile and anticipation.

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For a fourth day in succession the French stepped out on court at Wimbledon, but only Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will return for a fifth. Having given in to bad light at 9-9 in the final set on Wednesday, the Frenchman finally found a way past Sam Querrey on Thursday to post a 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 6-3, 14-12 victory and book his place in the third round.

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Ladies' Doubles - Round 1

Madison Keys, USA and Alison Riske, USA
defeated
Petra Cetkovska, CZE and Vania King, USA
7(7)-6, 5(5)-2



Gentlemen's Doubles - Round 1

Raven Klaasen, RSA (13) and Eric Butorac, USA (13)
defeated
Ryan Harrison, USA and Kevin King, USA
6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4

Dustin Brown, GER and Jan-Lennard Struff, GER
defeated
Ken Skupski, GBR and Neal Skupski, GBR
5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2


Mixed Doubles - Round 1

Raquel-Kops Jones, USA (11) and Juan-Sebastian Cabal, COL (11)
vs.
Bye

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A Frenchman and an American serving one another into oblivion as the sun sets over the All England Club; it all sounds a little too familiar, doesn’t it? Yet here we are again, trading John Isner and Nicolas Mahut for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Sam Querrey. The duo will resume their second-round showdown on Thursday after play was suspended with proceedings all square at 9.21pm and the score teetering at 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 6-3, 9-9. Some matches are destined to go the distance.

The umpire announced the suspension of play at 8-8, but both the players and the crowd refused to budge. New balls were called for, and Tsonga attempted to finish the job before the ball disappeared in the twilight. He came close, bringing up break point, but Querrey stood firm, forcing a forehand error before serving his way out of trouble. The Frenchman also negotiated a dicey service game, which seemed enough to convince both player the time was right to call it a night.


source: wimbledon.org

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It would seem that the reports of Williams’s demise have been exaggerated. At the age of 33 and suffering from Sjorgen’s Syndrome, she is supposed to be a spent force, past it, consigned to history. But you write off Venus at your peril. The former champion has no intention of going anywhere for a very long time to come.

She moved impressively into the third round with a 7-6, 6-1 win over the diminutive Kurumi Nara on Wednesday, the world No. 41 from Japan, and much as a couple of wins does not constitute a championship-winning run, she clearly has plans to stay in town for a while. She served well enough, she hit 46 winners, she kept the error count down to a respectable 16 and she bossed the show once the first set was done.

Back in 2011, Venus revealed that she had been diagnosed with Sjorgen’s Syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that leaves the sufferer with a range of symptoms from a dry mouth to joint pain and chronic fatigue. Yet, through diet, careful management of her schedule and grim determination not to be beaten, she has found a way to compete at the top level despite everything. There are still good days and bad days, but Venus will not give in. And as she pushed Nara this way and that on No. 3 Court, it was the Japanese who was struggling physically, not Venus.

As for the future, Venus was adamant. Nothing, not a disease, not a syndrome and not another birthday, was going to stop her.

“I feel like I am still a great tennis player,” she said earlier this year. “When I’m ready to go, I’ll go.”

But clearly not just yet.


source:  wimbledon.org

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