US player Venus Williams (R) reacts after beating Japanese player Kimiko Date-Krumm during the women's single at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Tennis Club, in southwest London on June 22, 2011.
Photograph by: CARL DE SOUZA, AFP/Getty Images
LONDON — They say that with age, comes wisdom. The trouble for a tennis player is that by the time you’re wise enough, you may be too old to put it into practice.
With the wisdom of their combined 71 years, Venus Williams of the U.S. and the astonishing Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan made a mockery of that Wednesday under Wimbledon’s retractable Centre Court roof.
Ultimately, it was the five-time champion Williams who prevailed 6-7, 6-3, 8-6 in a two-hour, 56-minute display of brilliant all-court tennis that was in doubt until the final minute or two.
“She took a lot of risk, and they landed. I wasn’t giving her easy volleys, either. They were all at her feet. She was on the stretch. Everything was landing for her today,” Williams said. “I played a very tough opponent today. She doesn’t play anywhere near her age.”
The two, amazingly, had never met on court. Date-Krumm, now 40, had retired very young, just as Williams was coming onto the scene. Since the Japanese veteran returned to the game three years ago, Williams’s attendance has been spotty, at best. But Date-Krumm is a much better player now than she was in her first career. She has more stamina, and even in the last year, she has improved both her slice and her net play.
She was tactically perfect against Williams, coming to the net more than 50 times. It was nearly, but not quite, enough.
The first set, in which Date-Krumm raced off to a 5-1 lead, only to watch Williams — getting louder with every game, the screaming echoing in the cozy confines under the roof — catch up, was dazzling.
“She runs down every ball. She hits every ball basically on the baseline, hard and flat. If you get it anywhere near the midcourt, she hits for the corners and comes to the net,” Williams said. “I thought she played unbelievable today. I thought she had some luck on her side, too, with net cords, balls hitting lines. I just thought today was a perfect storm for her to try to get a win. Thankfully I had some answers.”
Date-Krumm has struggled this season, mostly because of a string of top-ranked early-round opponents. Wednesday, perhaps the final opportunity she will ever have to get on Wimbledon’s famed Centre Court, she likely played the finest match she has ever played in defeat.
“I played here on the Centre Court in 1996, and then in the quarter-final I beat Mary Pierce, then in the semifinal I played Steffi Graf in two days because of the darkness,” Date-Krumm said. “Then after 15 years I come back on Centre Court with roof. I was very, very happy to hear. Then I played a great match. So I’m very happy even (though) I lost.”
The match was the only game in town early Wednesday afternoon, with a steady rain pelting the roof and hundreds of umbrella-covered fans sitting on Henman Hill watching it on the giant screen. By 3 p.m., the rest of the courts were being uncovered, and most of the scheduled matches were played.
On the men’s side, defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal of Spain had no trouble with Ryan Sweeting of the U.S. in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory that put him into the third round against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. Muller moved through when Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., had to retire because of a hip injury.
No. 4 seed Andy Murray of Britain defeated Tobias Kamke of Germany 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, while No. 8 seed Andy Roddick of the U.S. beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Several seeds were upset, the most surprising of which was No. 14 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who lost 7-6, 6-3, 7-6 to Simone Bolelli of Italy.
Also out is No. 25 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, who is not a big fan of the grass. He was beaten by Alex Bogomolov of the U.S. 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 21 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain, drained by his five-set comeback win against Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic the previous day, went down 6-3 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
On the women’s side, the only seed to lose was No. 30 Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. went down 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 to qualifier Misaki Doi of Japan. No. 24 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia posted a 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 win over 29-year-old Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, who was a semifinalist here as a teenager in 1999.
The rest cruised into round three. No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia defeated friend and countrywomen Elena Vesnina 6-1, 7-6. The two reached the doubles final together at Wimbledon a year ago.
No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3, while No. 8 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic routed Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-2, 6-1.
Montreal Gazette
smyles@montrealgazette.com
With the wisdom of their combined 71 years, Venus Williams of the U.S. and the astonishing Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan made a mockery of that Wednesday under Wimbledon’s retractable Centre Court roof.
Ultimately, it was the five-time champion Williams who prevailed 6-7, 6-3, 8-6 in a two-hour, 56-minute display of brilliant all-court tennis that was in doubt until the final minute or two.
“She took a lot of risk, and they landed. I wasn’t giving her easy volleys, either. They were all at her feet. She was on the stretch. Everything was landing for her today,” Williams said. “I played a very tough opponent today. She doesn’t play anywhere near her age.”
The two, amazingly, had never met on court. Date-Krumm, now 40, had retired very young, just as Williams was coming onto the scene. Since the Japanese veteran returned to the game three years ago, Williams’s attendance has been spotty, at best. But Date-Krumm is a much better player now than she was in her first career. She has more stamina, and even in the last year, she has improved both her slice and her net play.
She was tactically perfect against Williams, coming to the net more than 50 times. It was nearly, but not quite, enough.
The first set, in which Date-Krumm raced off to a 5-1 lead, only to watch Williams — getting louder with every game, the screaming echoing in the cozy confines under the roof — catch up, was dazzling.
“She runs down every ball. She hits every ball basically on the baseline, hard and flat. If you get it anywhere near the midcourt, she hits for the corners and comes to the net,” Williams said. “I thought she played unbelievable today. I thought she had some luck on her side, too, with net cords, balls hitting lines. I just thought today was a perfect storm for her to try to get a win. Thankfully I had some answers.”
Date-Krumm has struggled this season, mostly because of a string of top-ranked early-round opponents. Wednesday, perhaps the final opportunity she will ever have to get on Wimbledon’s famed Centre Court, she likely played the finest match she has ever played in defeat.
“I played here on the Centre Court in 1996, and then in the quarter-final I beat Mary Pierce, then in the semifinal I played Steffi Graf in two days because of the darkness,” Date-Krumm said. “Then after 15 years I come back on Centre Court with roof. I was very, very happy to hear. Then I played a great match. So I’m very happy even (though) I lost.”
The match was the only game in town early Wednesday afternoon, with a steady rain pelting the roof and hundreds of umbrella-covered fans sitting on Henman Hill watching it on the giant screen. By 3 p.m., the rest of the courts were being uncovered, and most of the scheduled matches were played.
On the men’s side, defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal of Spain had no trouble with Ryan Sweeting of the U.S. in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory that put him into the third round against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. Muller moved through when Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., had to retire because of a hip injury.
No. 4 seed Andy Murray of Britain defeated Tobias Kamke of Germany 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, while No. 8 seed Andy Roddick of the U.S. beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Several seeds were upset, the most surprising of which was No. 14 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who lost 7-6, 6-3, 7-6 to Simone Bolelli of Italy.
Also out is No. 25 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, who is not a big fan of the grass. He was beaten by Alex Bogomolov of the U.S. 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 21 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain, drained by his five-set comeback win against Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic the previous day, went down 6-3 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
On the women’s side, the only seed to lose was No. 30 Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. went down 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 to qualifier Misaki Doi of Japan. No. 24 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia posted a 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 win over 29-year-old Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, who was a semifinalist here as a teenager in 1999.
The rest cruised into round three. No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia defeated friend and countrywomen Elena Vesnina 6-1, 7-6. The two reached the doubles final together at Wimbledon a year ago.
No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3, while No. 8 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic routed Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-2, 6-1.
Montreal Gazette
smyles@montrealgazette.com
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