Williams shows she can still handle the kids
It was inevitable after such an energetic performance in her second-round win over Stefanie Voegele at the Australian Open on Wednesday that Venus Williams would be asked about transcending the generations.
The 36-year-old, seven-time major winner played the first of her record 73 Grand Slam tournaments at the French Open in 1997. Back then, she got to play against the likes of Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova.
In a 6-3, 6-2 win over the 26-year-old Voegele, Williams mixed up her game, clearly not content on relying purely on the power that helped her make a mark on the sport.
“I have to talk about this in every interview,” Williams said in reply to what has become a regular post-match question to the oldest player in the women’s draw here.
“I’ve played some of the greats. It was an honor and a privilege to start that young and play this old.”
Venus and younger sister Serena withdrew from a scheduled first-round doubles match later on Wednesday, citing an injury to Venus’ right elbow.
The pair have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, four at the Aussie Open.
Venus put plenty into her second-round singles match, which lasted one hour and 23 minutes.
In the second set, serving on game point, she chased the ball like a teenager from one side of the court to the ? other, and back, trying to fin
ish off. Her forehand landed
Courtside
Federer’s musical mad Sweary censure for Sears too long, but her intention was clear — get through the round as soon as possible. She won the subsequent two points to hold.
At 15-15 and 5-2 in the second, she was still remonstrating with herself after missing a point. She finished off the match later in the same game, another break, to reach the third round. Williams lost to eventual semifinalist Johanna Konta in the opening round last year.
In the next round she’ ll play China’s Duan Yingying, who beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 3-6, 10-8.
Venus is playing her 17 th Australian Open, but has never won the title. Her best run was to the final in 2003, when she lost to Serena.
Birthday present
Angelique Kerber smiled and waved her arms like an orchestra conductor as the Rod Laver Arena crowd sang Happy Birthday after her 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-2 second-round triumph on Wednesday.
The defending champion didn’t enjoy the entire performance on her 29th birthday, angrily swiping her racket in the second set in a burst of frustration that momentarily Kyrgios drops a bomb threw her concentration — and allowed Carina Witthoeft back into the match.
Top-ranked Kerber was cool and controlled in the first set, but struggled against some deep, powerful forehands late in the second.
In the tiebreaker, she led 3-2 but double-faulted twice — once on either side of the change of ends — and didn’t win another point as Witthoeft leveled the match.
The tension mounted when she dropped her serve to open the third set, but Kerber recovered her composure and took a 4-1 lead, saving two break points in the fifth game.
Witthoeft, who had lost both her previous matches to Kerber, skewed a forehand wide on match point, then went to the net, shook hands and gave her fellow German a kiss on each cheek.
“I’m always playing on my birthday — always in Australia,” said Kerber, who had her major breakthrough here last year by beating Serena Williams in the final. She later won the US Open and replaced Williams as the year-end No 1.
“I feel like at home here,” Kerber added. “I’m 29. I’m getting older, but I think I’ ll have a great day today.”
Roger Federer revealed a penchant for musicals and said he was moved to tears watching ‘Finding Neverland’ in New York.
“We don’t have that many musicals in Switzerland,” said 35-year-old Federer, who is aiming to win his 18th Grand Slam in Melbourne.
“I went to see ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ in Perth. I met the cast afterwards. I really enjoyed that. I saw ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Finding Neverland’ in New York. I liked both of those. They were completely different. ‘Finding Neverland’ was super emotional. We were all crying, all seven people that were there. My daughters, my wife, my mom, everybody.”
Federer said he also enjoyed watching Bradley Cooper in ‘The Elephant Man’ in London.
“The amount of memorizing (actors) have to do, I find that mind-blowing. I’m not very good at remembering stuff like that. I’m always one of the first guys to give standing ovations because these guys are amazing.” Murray, knighted in Britain’s New Year Honors, said his wife couldn’t get away with such behavior now.
“No more swearing during my matches any more, for any of you who saw that a few years ago,” the Scot replied when asked what his knighthood would change for Sears.
Appetite for destruction
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios hit a bum note during a well-attended practice session when a flying ball hit a young spectator square on the head at Melbourne Park.
According to the Herald Sun, Kyrgios smacked a ball into the air as high as he could, and it came down hard on the head of a young girl, drawing a collective intake of breath from the spectators. But the girl was reportedly more surprised and embarrassed than hurt.
Earlier this month, troubleprone Kyrgios tweeted that he would have been “suspended until 2025” for an incident involving Novak Djokovic, who hit a loose ball close to an official while playing in Doha.
The racket had it coming. It had been annoying him for some time and deserved it, according to Alexander Zverev.
So the 19-year-old from Germany took matters into his own hands and smashed it twice into the Hisense Arena ground at the start of the fourth set in his firstround clash with Robin Haase on Tuesday.
It worked. The cathartic release ended a flurry of unforced errors and double faults flying off his racket and enabled him to fight back and advance to the second round with a 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the 29-year-old Dutchman.
“I think letting my frustration out in the beginning of the fourth helped me a little bit,” Zverev said.
“Sometimes you just have to let go.”