WTA Tour: Venus Williams won her first match against a top 50 player in over four years in the opening round of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.
The 43-year-old defeated world No. 48 Camile Giorgi 7-6 (5) 4-6 7-6 (6) in three hours and 17 minutes, winning in a final-set tie-break to go to the round of 16.
Williams was sidelined for six months with a hamstring injury and lost to 17-year-old Celine Naef at the Libema Open in the Netherlands last week, with the world No 697 needing to take a medical break during the opening set on Monday.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion took an early double break in the first set and came back from a timeout to take the set in a tiebreak, before Giorgi took the second with an early double break of her own.
Giorgia fought from 5-2 down in the third to force a tie-break, which Williams won 8-6 to record her second singles triumph in nearly two years.
“It was touch and go there, and I felt the support,” Williams remarked after her win. “I thought I played really well today, and she played absolutely fantastic.
“I’m surprised she’s not world number one. There were so many times when I thought, ‘This match is done,’ only for her to strike a shot out of nowhere.
“She pushed me to be better than I thought I could be, which is fantastic for me. I haven’t played many matches, so it feels fantastic to come through.”
Williams will play either No. 2 seed Jelena Ostapenko or 18-year-old Linda Noskova in the following round, with the five-time Wimbledon singles champion trying to win successive matches for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Svitolina defeated on the grass comeback
Elina Svitolina, another former top-10 player returning to grass, was defeated 6-2, 6-0 by Czech 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova in less than an hour.
Svitolina made an impressive recovery on clay after the birth of her daughter Skai in October, reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open, but she struggled to find her footing on grass.
Wearing her native Ukraine’s colours, the 28-year-old rapidly lost the first four games and made far too many blunders against a far more steady opponent.
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