Venus hurtles out of orbit
WIMBLEDON, England – A look at Wimbledon on Monday: Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 72 degrees (22 C). Men’s Seeded Winners: No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Roger Federer, No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic, No. 13 Gilles Simon, No. 15 Juan Monaco, No. 17 Fernando Verdasco, No. 18 Richard Gasquet, No. 26 Mikhail Youzhny, No. 28 Radek Stepanek, No. 29 Julien Benneteau, No. 31 Florian Mayer. Men’s Seeded Losers: No. 6 Tomas Berdych, No. 11 John Isner, No. 23 Andreas Seppi, No. 24 Marcel Granollers. Women’s Seeded Winners: No. 1 Maria Sharapova, No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 5 Sam Stosur, No. 8 Angelique Kerber, No. 11 Li Na, No. 15 Sabine Lisicki, No. 17 Maria Kirilenko, No. 20 Nadia Petrova, No. 23 Petra Cetkovska, No. 30 Peng Shuai. Women’s Seeded Losers: No. 16 Flavia Pennetta, No. 18 Jelena Jankovic, No. 27 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 29 Monica Niculescu. Stat of the Day: 1997 The only other time Williams lost in the first round at Wimbledon. She was beaten 6-1, 6-3 by Elena Vesnina on Monday. Quote of the Day: “She was like, ‘Mama, do I have to wear white, too?’’’ Kim Clijsters, who beat Jankovic in straight sets, talking about her 4-year-old daughter’s concern over Wimbledon’s dress code for players. On Court Tuesday: No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs Thomaz Bellucci, No. 4 Andy Murray vs Nikolay Davydenko, No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Lleyton Hewitt, No. 30 Andy Roddick vs Jamie Baker; No. 2 Victoria Azarenka vs Irina Falconi, No. 4 Petra Kvitova vs Akgul Amanmuradova, No. 6 Serena Williams vs Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, No. 7 Caroline Wozniacki vs Tamira Paszek. Tuesday’s Forecast: Cloudy, with a chance of rain. High of 64 degrees (18 C). Online: http://www.wimbledon.org AP
WIMBLEDON, England – Racket bag slung over her shoulder, resignation written across her face, Venus Williams weaved through fans milling about on the sidewalks that players must traverse to get from Court 2 to the Wimbledon locker rooms.
The 32-year-old Williams had just absorbed a lopsided first-round loss at the Grand Slam tournament she once ruled, a poor performance that raised questions about how much longer she will keep playing tennis while dealing with an energy-sapping illness.
She trudged by as her hitting partner, David Witt, was saying: ‘’It’s tough to watch sometimes. I think everybody sees it. I don’t know what else to say.’’
Looking lethargic, and rarely showing off the power-based game that carried her to five Wimbledon titles and seven majors overall, Williams departed meekly Monday with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat against 79th-ranked Elena Vesnina of Russia. Only once before – as a teenager making her Wimbledon debut in 1997 – had Williams exited so early at the All England Club.
She hadn’t lost in the first round at any Grand Slam tournament in 6 1/2 years. Still, Williams said she’ll be at the London Olympics next month and is ‘’planning’’ to be back at Wimbledon next year.
‘’I feel like I’m a great player,’’ Williams said, sounding a tad like someone trying to convince herself.
She repeated that affirmation as she continued: ‘’I am a great player. Unfortunately, I had to deal with circumstances that people don’t normally have to deal with in this sport. But I can’t be discouraged by that. ... There’s no way I’m just going to sit down and give up just because I have a hard time the first five or six freakin’ tournaments back.’’
Later, as part of a slightly testy and awkward exchange with reporters, Williams said: ‘’I’m tough, let me tell you. Tough as nails.’’
Her loss, in her first match since a second-round ouster at the French Open, was part of an odd Day 1, even if the true tournament favorites in action won easily: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova. Among those sent home were sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, the 2010 runner-up at Wimbledon; 11th-seeded John Isner; No. 16 Flavia Pennetta; and No. 18 Jelena Jankovic, who was rather easily beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Kim Clijsters, a four-time major champion who has been beset by injuries in her last season on tour and, like Williams, is unseeded.
Other seeded losers: No. 23 Andreas Seppi, No. 24 Marcel Granollers and No. 27 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who was upset by 100th-ranked Jamie Hampton of the United States 6-4, 7-6 (1).