Venus takes on rising Russian in Wimbledon second round
The name Ekaterina Makarova probably still doesn’t ring too many bells outside of tennis circles, but after the Russian’s title-winning performance at the Aegon International last week, Venus Williams will be well aware of just how dangerous her Wimbledon second-round opponent may be.
Makarova, then ranked as the world No. 100, arrived in the English seaside town of Eastbourne earlier this month to play qualifying for the main draw of the Wimbledon warm-up tournament and after accomplishing that goal then set about an impressive run of top-20 victories.
Beginning with Flavia Pennetta in the first round, the 22-year-old won her way past Nadia Petrova, dual Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, French Open runner-up Sam Stosur in the semi-finals and Wimbledon 14th seed Victoria Azarenka in the final. In all, Makarova won a total of eight matches without dropping a set to claim her maiden WTA Tour title on the eve of the grass-court major.
The left-hander arrived in Wimbledon as the new world No. 67 (she has been ranked as high as world No. 35) and on an impressive winning streak, which she continued with a straight sets first-round victory over the unseeded Agnes Szavay.
Makarova was certainly one of the form players on grass heading to the All England Club, but can she cause the same difficulties for Venus as she did for a host of top players in Eastbourne? When reporters asked the world No. 2 what she thought of her second round opponent, she said only: “Each match is a challenge. I feel like I'm ready and up for each one, so I'll be ready.”
And with five Wimbledon titles under her belt already, and arguably the best grass-court game of any current player, the second seed has every reason to be confident ahead of this match.
Based on current form though, so too does Makarova, and that could make for an interesting contest between the pair on day three in SW19 this year.
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