Venus Williams trounces Sara Errani in the opening clash – London Olympics 2012
Something special was witnessed by the spectators at the All England Lawn Tennis Club on the eve of Monday and it was none other than the former world number one, Venus Williams, who sent packing the ninth ranked Italian, Sara
Errani, in the opening round clash of London Olympics.
With five aces and 32 winners, Williams dispatched the ninth seed Errani in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to book a spot in the second round of the tournament. It was a marvellous achievement for someone who has been struggling from a
chronic disease of Sjogren's syndrome.
Venus Williams stated in a post match interview, "Oh my gosh; it was really great. There were definitely nerves, but grass is my favourite surface and I felt great out there. It's never easy to draw a top seed. I'm unseeded here,
and now I feel like I'm the No.9 seed, and hopefully I'll meet another seed and become their number too. So, one by one! I fought so much to be here. There are a lot of people happy to be here, but I'm not just happy, I want to do something about it and play
well for my country."
Errani was playing her second match against the 32-year-old American having lost the first encounter in the Australian Open last year. It was the biggest upset of the day that was registered in the women’s category of London Olympics
and no one better could do that with such immense authority than Williams.
The 25-year-old Italian failed to hold serve in the second game of the match and drowned to a trail of 1-4 at the start of the clash. Both players swapped breakpoints towards the ending stages of the set that kept the lead of the
American intact. Williams held serve to 40:30 in the final game and led the set scores one nil.
A terrific onslaught from the American veteran earned her two back-to-back breakpoints at the beginning of the second set. She held her serve with little pressure on both the occurrences after breaking her rival’s serve and led
the scores 4-0.
Both players held their serves to love in the following two games that pushed the scores to 5-1. More importantly, it allowed the Italian number one to restore some respect by avoiding a bagel in her maiden appearance at the Olympics
Games. However, she couldn’t hold Williams for long and lost another breakpoint in the seventh game.
Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada will be the next test for Williams at Wimbledon.
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