Venus Williams’ valiant efforts on the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham resulted in a second-round defeat by Jelena Ostapenko.
The 43-year-old pulled off her finest victory for almost 4 years with a three-hour win over Camila Giorgi within the first spherical on Monday regardless of combating a proper knee drawback.
She had the joint strapped up once more on Thursday and took an extended medical timeout in the course of the second set for therapy to her proper thigh in what regarded like being a straight-sets loss.
But Williams saved a match level at 3-5 within the second set after which reeled off three straight video games as second seed Ostapenko misplaced her rhythm.
When she moved 2-0 forward within the deciding set with night drawing in, it appeared Williams is likely to be on track for back-to-back wins for the primary time since 2019.
But Ostapenko, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, recomposed herself and ultimately powered her approach to a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory.
The Latvian mentioned: “Of course I could finish it a bit quicker. I got a little bit disappointed after the match point in the second set. But Venus is a great player, a great champion and it’s an honour to share the court with her.
“She’s a really harmful participant, particularly on grass. She was serving rather well. It was somewhat bit laborious, however I’m actually pleased that I managed it and I used to be preventing till the final level. She’s an idol for lots of people so it was very particular.”
Williams, who made her Wimbledon debut in 1997, will now hope to recover in time for another tilt at the All England Club, having been awarded a wild card.
Ostapenko will next play Pole Magdalena Frech, who battled past eighth seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-7 (1) 6-4 in a match delayed for nearly two hours by rain.
Britain’s Harriet Dart will take on fourth seed Anastasia Potapova, who defeated American Caty McNally on a deciding tie-break.
Meanwhile, there will be an all-Czech quarter-final between top seed Barbora Krejcikova and 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova.
Fruhvirtova was already by way of to the final eight and former French Open champion Krejcikova joined her by seeing off one other Czech participant, Tereza Martincova, 6-4 6-4.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
