Returning Elina Svitolina ends potential fairytale of 43-year-old five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams
WTAMonday, 03 July 2023 at 20:06
Elina Svitolina has stopped any potential Venus Williams fairytale in its tracks with the returning Ukrainian seeing off the 43-year-old on Centre Court on Monday night at Wimbledon 6-4, 6-3.
There were doubts that Williams would even get through the game. She had a horrific fall on her knee at the start of the game and let out a shriek.
But unlike Camila Giorgi who celebrated at Birmingham, Svitolina showed respect and came over with a towel to help out.
She soldiered on though albeit to a straight sets loss to Svitolina who like Williams was only in through a wildcard.
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Svitolina took full advantage of the Williams fall in the early going opening up a 4-2 lead but Williams continued to show glimpses of her power to make it 4-3.
The new balls came out and Svitolina had the first go on her serve targeting the problematic right side and forced a return into the net and moved 5-3 up from there.
The fight continued from Williams right to the end of the opening set. She moved quickly to a 30-0 lead but errors brought her back in.
Another mistake allowed Williams to get a break point but she didn't take it and she saved a second before sealing the set.
There was another medical timeout to begin the second set as Williams hobbled to the baseline to serve the first game and Svitolina went up a break.
She broke again at 4-1 off the help of a lovely cross court forehand and in the latter half of the game, a double fault from Venus Williams saw her take a double break. It continued to be ruthless as Svitolina went one away from the match.
But yet again back came Williams as she held despite a double fault and a mistimed error and Svitolina could not serve it out.
Finally though, Svitolina had it with Venus Williams shaking her head all the way to the handshake after a shot that looked to go long was called in at the end.
Svitolina looked a tad emotional and slightly in disbelief walking to the net but she moves through.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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