WIMBLEDON 2007: Two Dramatic Williams Wins!

MadProfessah has been mesmerized in front of the television most of the day watching the NBC and ESPN coverage of today's dramatic events at Wimbledon. First, Venus Williams was competing in a match delayed for two days due to rain and bizarre tradition against Akiko Morigami. Venus was down 6-2, 3-6, 3-5 with the Japanese player serving for the match. Venus broke at love and held to go to 5-5. Venus broke again and when she was serving for the match it started to drizzle; when she faced double break-point at 15-40 the rain really started to fall. Neither her or her opponent wanted to delay the match so they played on. Venus ended up winning the next 4 points and the match 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 with several consecutive huge first serves. She will face Maria Sharapova in a round of 16 match. They last played in the 2005 semifinals where Venus Williams defeated the defending champion on her way to winning her 3rd Wimbledon title. That was Venus' only win in 4 career matches, but she barely lost (7-5 in the third) to Sharapova at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in March and is certainly eager for revenge on grass.

Venus' near-death experience on Court 2 would have been the biggest story of the day but while she was closing out her match her sister Serena Williams was dominating Daniela Hantuchova by winning the first set 6-2 in 26 minutes before the rain delay which coincided with the conclusion of Venus' match.

But after that rain delay Hantuchova was a new player and started increasing her first serve percentage by taking less risk and hitting her strokes more cleanly. She was quickly up 4-1 when Serena re-focussed, quickly won her service game at love and eventually broke back to even up the second set at 5-5. During the change-over at 4-5 Serena could be heard asking for "salt" and that she had pain in her "calf and part of her thigh." The significance was lost on all the commentators (Don't all athletic drinks include sodium and potassium and other electrolytes?) until at 5-5, 15 all this happened (see video of Serena Williams falling):


Eventually the rain came down during the second set tie-break at 2-4 and caused a nearly 2-hour rain delay during which Serena was able to recieve treatment. Despite losing the next five points and the second set tiebreak Serena was able to hold serve in the first game of the deciding set by blasting her serve at speeds approaching 120 miles per hour. Eventually as the set went on she regained more of her movement and she was able to win the deciding set with an identical score to the first set of 6-2 but in nowhere near as dominating a fashion. Overall, she had 34 winners (including 13 aces) to just 21 errors which should bode well for her match aginst World #1 Henin: a much discussed reprise of the Grand Slam quarterfinal clash from the French Open, this time on Serena's best surface of grass.