Tennis
Venus’ 24th Wimbledon ends at first hurdle
Five-time champion Venus Williams returned to Wimbledon a quarter of a century after her first win on the All England Club lawns but was unable to summon the old magic in a first-round defeat by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Monday.
The 43-year-old American, appearing at the championships for a record 24th time, retains the easy power that once made her the queen of Centre Court but went down 6-4 6-3.
Former world number one Williams, whose last Wimbledon title came in 2008 against sister Serena, won the opening two games but she looked in serious trouble in the next as her bandaged right knee buckled under her while she moved to intercept a volley.
The Centre Court crowd winced as she crumpled to the turf, but after staggering back to her chair and receiving treatment the old warrior spirit kicked in and she battled on.
The 28-year-old Svitolina, who at least was born when Venus first appeared at Wimbledon, unlike 53 players in the women’s draw, won four games in a row and took the opening set despite a fierce struggle to hold serve at 5-4.
Williams had more treatment before the start of set two but dropped serve immediately with a forehand into the net.
The crowd offered plenty of vocal encouragement, one fan shouting “You’ve still got it Venus” as she fought to extend the 355th Grand Slam singles match of her career — a total surpassed only by her sister Serena (423).
But former world number three Svitolina, who enjoyed a fairytale comeback from maternity leave by reaching the French Open quarter-finals last month, was ultimately just too sharp as she moved into a 5-1 lead.
But Williams, who also won the title in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007, was not going to go down without a fight, unleashing some thunderous strokes to claw back two games.
Svitolina got the job done though and as the evening sunshine turned to shade, Williams walked off beaten, waving what might have been a final farewell to the crowd.
-Reuters
Argentina’s 36-year-old Marco Trungelliti proved tennis dreams do not come with an expiration date when he became the oldest first-time tour-level finalist in the Open Era after beating the top seed at the Grand Prix Hassan II semi-finals in Marrakech on Saturday.
Trungelliti, who came through the tournament’s qualifiers, upset Italy’s defending champion Luciano Darderi 6-4 7-6(2) to break the previous record held by Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic, who reached his first final aged 34 years in 2015.
Darderi, ranked 19 in the world, was only six-years-old when Trungelliti turned pro in 2008. With the victory, Trungelliti secured just his second career top-20 win.
“Of course, I believed it, that’s one of the reasons that I’m here. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible,” Trungelliti said in the on-court interview.
“I’ve worked a lot, me and my team and also my wife, my kid. We all believed in breaking the record basically and that’s exactly what we have done now.”
The milestone caps a remarkable journey for Trungelliti, who made his first ATP Tour semi-final in 2018 in Umag, Croatia – 402 weeks ago.
Having entered the tournament ranked 117 in the world, Trungelliti’s breakthrough week has already guaranteed he will crack the top 100 for the first time. He is currently ranked number 75 in the live rankings.
“It’s been happening the whole week, leaving the court with a victory,” added Trungelliti, who has dropped only one set at the tournament. “So hopefully (there) is one more to go.”
He will face Rafael Jodar on Sunday after the Spaniard prevented an all-Argentine final with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
-Reuters
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Serena Williams has been listed as eligible to return to tennis by the sport’s drug-testing body (ITIA) as of February 22, though it remains unclear whether the 23-time Grand Slam champion will make a stunning comeback to the women’s tour.
The 44-year-old raised eyebrows late last year after rejoining the tennis anti-doping testing pool, though she denied at the time the move signalled she was preparing to return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.
She reignited speculation last month when she deflected questions about a possible return during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show.
The Women’s Tennis Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open.
-Reuters
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Serena Williams has re-entered the tennis anti-doping testing pool but the 23-times Grand Slam champion denied on Tuesday that the move had anything to do with her making a return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed to Reuters that Williams, who has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open, was among the list of players in its testing pool, which requires individuals to provide their whereabouts at any given time, every day, and participate in random testing
But as the story of 44-year-old Williams’ inclusion on the list, first reported earlier on Tuesday by The Athletic, gained traction and sparked talk about her potential return, the tennis great took to social media to deny a comeback was in her plans.
“Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,” Williams wrote on X.
Her agent did not immediately respond to an email from Reuters asking why the player had re-entered the testing pool.
Williams’ name appears on the ITIA website’s list of retired players and would be able to return to a sanctioned event after making herself available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months.
Last week former world number one Williams posted a series of photos on Instagram showing herself on a tennis court with her youngest daughter, Adira River, whom she gave birth to in August 2023.
In August 2022, ahead of her final U.S. Open, Williams announced in a Vogue article that she was “evolving away from tennis.”
Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, had been chasing an elusive 24th crown that would have drawn her level with Australian Margaret Court, who holds the record.
The American came tantalisingly close to achieving that feat, featuring in four major finals since giving birth to her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017.
-Reuters
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