Mixed fortunes for Williams sisters as Venus’s run ends

SEVEN-TIMES champion Serena Williams moved ominously into the last 16 at Wimbledon when she recovered from a sluggish start to beat France’s Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 7-6(1) yesterday.

The American, seeded 25, looked sluggish initially and trailed 5-3 but the 36-year-old flicked the switch and reeled off six games in a row as Mladenovic wilted in the heat.

To her credit Mladenovic recovered her poise and had a chance to break the Williams serve at 4-4 in the second set. Williams slammed the door shut though and piled on the pressure when Mladenovic served at 5-6.

Mladenovic saved one match point with a forehand winner and forced a tiebreak but there was no stopping Williams as she steamed through it like an express train. She brought up another match point with a 12th ace and finished it off with her 13th.

Williams has now won 17 consecutive matches at Wimbledon including the 2015 and 2016 titles.

She missed last year’s tournament because she was pregnant with daughter Alexis Olympia.

● There was no great escape for Venus Williams as the five- times champion became the latest top-10 seed to perish at Wimbledon after she was beaten 6-2 6-7(5) 8-6 in a pulsating third-round match by Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens.

The American, at 38 the oldest woman in the draw, had to recover from a set down in her first two matches but her days of living dangerously were ended by a opponent who simply would not give up.

The precision serve that had gone AWOL during the first set – with the ninth seed holding serve only once – was back on target for Williams as she produced some exquisite volley winners to snap up the second set when Bertens smacked a forehand long.

But all the effort she put into forcing a decider despite being two points from defeat in the second set came to nothing as Bertens played the match of her life to reach the second week at the All England Club for the first time in her career.

Bertens had come agonisingly close to toppling Williams in Miami this year, when she had held three match points, and she seemed to have learned from that near miss as she dropped to her knees in triumph after watching the American net a backhand to end the two hour, 40 minute thriller. – Reuters

REUTERS BOUNCING BACK: Germany’s Alexander Zverev celebrates during the second round match against Taylor Fritz of the USA.

EPA-EFE NORMAL SERVICE RESUMED: Serena Williams celebrates her victory over Kristina Mladenovic of France.