Venus takes heart despite final defeat
Once the men’s semifinals had finally ended — a mere 261⁄2 hours after they began — Angelique Kerber yesterday reminded everyone at Wimbledon that tennis can be short and sweet as well as long and arduous.
While the marathon men’s semifinals culminated in Novak Djokovic playing Kevin Anderson in the final overnight, Kerber needed just 65 minutes to win the women’s singles.
She upended the narrative of this fortnight and ejected the undeniable heroine of SW19 Serena Williams in straight sets. Dramatic tension might have been lacking during her 6-3, 6-3 victory but the shock factor was huge.
Williams choked up with tears at the presentation ceremony. She has talked all fortnight of the responsibility she felt to all the mothers of the world, and her desire to be a role model for them.
Some might have wondered whether she really meant those things, or whether she was simply out for the glory of an eighth Wimbledon title which would have carried her level with Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 majors. But after her emotional post-match interview, the argument is surely settled.
“For all the mums out there, I was playing for you and I tried really hard,” said Williams, her bottom lip wobbling in a manner that will surely convert a new generation of fans.
During her most exalted spells at the top of the game, she has sometimes come across as untouchable and intimidating, but this was a very humanising moment.
We have seen with other tennis champions how the heartfelt emotions of defeat can bring a new approachability to their public image.
Kerber’s profile has been contrastingly low. Even in her home country of Germany, she is barely recognised in the street, despite having won both hard-court majors in her previous annus mirabilis of 2016. But that, too, might be about to change. Michael Venus came within a set of claiming his second grand slam doubles title yesterday.
The Kiwi ace and South African playing partner
Raven Klaasen fell agonisingly short of winning at Wimbledon, falling in five sets to American duo Jack Sock and Mike Bryan.
While he was unable to add to his 2017 French Open title, Venus told the Herald he and Klaasen’s performance was a big confidence booster heading into the final part of the season.
“For the first half of the year, we’d been solid but we just hadn’t gotten over the hump of having that big result. I think we did that here, and it showed us, and [we] have the belief in the partnership that we can do this consistently.
“We showed ourselves we can play with the top guys consistently and perform well at the big tournaments.”
Venus and Klaasen fought back from a set down twice in the final, but were unable to take the deciding set, with Sock and Bryan winning 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in just over
It is often said the German tennis boom of the late 1980s — when Boris Becker and Steffi Graf were at their peak — provided the finance for the redevelopment of the Wimbledon grounds because of the amazing sums broadcasters such as RTL were prepared to pay. Yet no German had lifted a Wimbledon singles title since Graf’s swansong in 1996.
Kerber’s humility is one of her great strengths. This was typified by the way she celebrated her semifinal victory over Jelena Ostapenko, grabbing a meal with her family in Michael Venus earned $274,000 at Wimbledon this month.
three-and-a-half hours.
Tension built throughout the deciding set as neither combination was able to get an early break.
But at 5-5, the blow came for the Americans, breaking Klaasen’s serve and going on to close out the match in the following game.
It ended a successful tournament
Wimbledon village and then jumping on the No 93 bus for the short trip back to her rented house. No chauffeur-driven limousines for her.
She plays an understated game, too, with a shot put-style serve that barely gets over 160km/h and a frying-pan forehand. But those legs. They used to be known as the second strongest on the tour, behind those of the Amazonian Williams. Yet while Williams continues to work her way back towards optimal physical conditioning, Kerber has become the ultimate roadrunner. for Venus, despite walking away without the title, as he also made the mixed doubles semifinals with Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia. The Kiwi played 36 sets in the past fortnight, collecting $247,000 in prize money. “I’ve played a lot of sets the last two weeks,” Venus said. “Now we’ve finished, I’m a little bit tired, but I’m really happy with how my body held up . . . that didn’t play a factor in fading at the end.”
Venus was now looking forward to a week or two of rest before getting into preparation for the US Open at the end of August.
He and Klaasen were likely to return to the courts at the Citi Open in Washington at the end of July, before heading north for the Rogers Cup in Toronto in early August and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati the week after. “There’s three great opportunities in a row, then we’ll take a week off and practice in New York and get ready for the US Open. “There’s plenty of tennis left to be played for the rest of the year and some great opportunities still in front of us.”
How do you beat Williams? The evidence suggests it is not the bighitters who usually get the job done. It is those who run every ball down and force her to play extra shots.
Kim Clijsters, back in the day, had success with this tenacious approach. So did Jelena Jankovic. But Kerber has now beaten Williams twice in major finals — a boast no one except sister Venus Williams has ever been able to make before.
The previous instance came at the 2016 Australian Open final, when Kerber toughed out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory that left a significant psychological imprint. That remains the only time Williams has lost a major final in three sets and it established a precedent. Both players went into yesterday knowing Kerber would refuse to be bullied off the court by Williams’ body language and aura.
Williams has made two comebacks since the complicated birth of her daughter Olympia in September. The first one — which came in Indian Wells and Miami in March — was essentially a toe-in-the-water exercise. The second, which began at Roland Garros seven weeks ago, had previously delivered nine straight wins and one withdrawal, on account of the right pectoral injury she sustained in Paris.
But how often had Williams been tested? At Wimbledon, she had dropped only one previous set and that came against Camila Giorgi, a fast-swinging, short-rally sort of player.
The obdurate Kerber provided a dramatic contrast and required Williams to cover so much more ground. She was breathing hard early and the absence of cheap points gave her little chance to recover.
“I’m sure you will have your next grand slam title soon,” said Kerber, now a three-time major champion. “I’m really, really sure.”
Williams admitted the last two weeks have shown her that “OK I can compete. Obviously I can compete for the long run in a grand slam,” the 36-year-old said. “I can, you know, come out and be a contender to win grand slams.”