[9] Venus Williams (USA) vs. [95] Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Venus Williams knew from experience that her opponent was dangerous; their only previous encounter had gone the distance, so she needed to bring her “A” game today. The first set despite the score was highly competitive, with both players attacking the ball and trying to dictate play. Understandably, they both made more errors than winners; however, that did not detract from the intensity of the match.
How would Maria Sakkari respond in set two? Her forehand went a bit astray in the first set; would she be able to reel in her forehand in the second set? Williams looked pretty determined to avoid going three sets, but so too was her opponent to avoid losing in straight sets.
Williams broke to take the early lead in set two, but quickly lost her serve at love to get back on serve. There were five breaks in the set. Williams had a lot of reasons to be distracted, her baby sister went into labor today and delivered a baby girl, so she had to be a tad distracted. Perhaps that’s why she double faulted four times in a row to lose her serve immediately after she broke her opponent.
You can never tell by Williams’ expression if she is upset, she maintains the same facial expression no matter the score; yet, she must get frustrated on the inside. Something went awry in the second set and the double faults mounted along with the foot faults. It was a bit reminiscent of her second set performance at Wimbledon, when suddenly she could not find her serve.
Somehow she managed to tough it out to secure the 6-3, 6-4 victory and advanced to her fourth round of sixteen at the majors this year. Considering she’s the oldest woman in the draw, she is doing really well.
SOURCE OF IMAGE: Bing search
