Naef beats Venus Williams in the legend's comeback

WTA
Tuesday, 13 June 2023 at 17:41
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Venus Williams played her first match since January and proved pretty good on grass but not good enough as she was beaten by Celine Naef in three sets 3-6 7-6(1) 6-2 at the Libema Open.

Williams hasn't played since the early weeks of this year when she was in action in Australia. The veteran got injured once more and missed several months of action before her return.

She teased that return on social media for a very long time with recent reports confirming it would be coming during the grass season. The first stop is the Libema Open in Den Bosch. She got a wild card and used it to play a solid match but not good enough overall.

It was a solid match from both players but Williams clearly proved the more experienced player on grass early which was crucial in taking the opening set. Naef didn't serve that well in the opening set allowing her opponent a lot of looks on the second serve which Williams used. The American took the opening set 6-3 and then played even better in the second one. Naef was better as well but once again she didn't play the most crucial rallies better allowing Williams to take an early lead.

Still, she kept grinding and eventually, Williams made some mistakes allowing the Swiss player to get back into the match. She pushed hard and eventually saw Williams crumble in the tiebreak which Naef won 7-1. The final set saw the players trade early breaks but eventually Naef took control of the match cruising past a tired Venus. The American simply couldn't stay with Naef which was somewhat expected.

It was still a valiant effort from the veteran who will certainly be in a more competitive shape after a few matches and then we'll probably see her win as well.

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