Venus is better late than never
THIS may be the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, but Venus Ebony Starr Williams was not going to rush for anybody’s rules.
Her opponent, Kurumi Nara of Japan, was in her chair, baking quietly in the piercing midday sun. A sprinkling of spectators grew impatient and started a slow handclap.
Finally, nine minutes late, out strolled the long limbs of Miss Williams. She walked over to her chair and promptly sat down.
Now, Court 3 is situated between the perimeter wall and the path to the first-aid centre, undeniably on the edge of the club but hardly on another planet. So why this delay?
‘Was I late?’ she pondered, before adding philosophically: ‘ What is late? I mean, I guess she got there early. I don’t know what time she got there.’
Williams l ater denied that a change of underwear from coloured to regulation white was the cause, so we can only assume that cool hauteur had something to do with it. Five times a champion in SW19, I’ll show up when I’m jolly well ready. She even walked off after knocking up. But, the intriguing preliminaries observed, it was rip-roaring tennis from the moment Williams threw her Amazonian shoulders into the very first point: a big forehand winner.
Nara, just 5ft 1in and a full foot shorter than her opponent, scampered, chased and fought gamely. She barely made a mistake. Sometimes she was stretching up to hit the ball at eye- l evel, whereas Williams collapsed her knees to do so.
Williams, who suffers from the energy- sapping Sjogren’s syndrome, still struck the ball mighty hard. Her first serve averaged 118mph; poor little Nara’s 86mph.
But Nara started strongly, taking a 3-0 lead before Williams levelled the scores. The pendulum swung towards Williams at 5-3, but the first set went to a tiebreak. That, too, went one way and then the other: Nara led 4-1 before Williams rattled off six straight points.
Nara needed treatment at the end of the first set, returning to the court with a strapped left thigh. It did not seem to limit her too much — and she did not blame the injury afterwards — but Williams won six consecutive games to win 7-6, 6-1.
What an athletic specimen Venus is at the age of 34. Don’t take my word for it; hear what she thinks. ‘Wisdom has served me well,’ she said. ‘I’ve worn my sunscreen so I haven’t aged terribly. My knees are very tight, not saggy. And the crow’s feet have been kept at bay. So I’ll give myself an A+.’
But in truth nobody expects much of the elder Williams sister these days. She is seeded 30th here, and before yesterday had reached the third round only twice in her last nine grand slams. Her most notable contribution of recent times was to pose naked for ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue.
Yet her durability is magnificent given the Sjogren’s syndrome, an incurable auto-immune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain — a handicap in the world of highperformance tennis. She has fallen asleep at the wheel of her car and is exhausted if she trains too hard. A vegan diet and recuperation are her remedies.
So is she contemplating drawing a line under her dazzling career? ‘Well, I don’t like watching tennis on TV,’ she said, while wearing not so much earrings as napkin rings. ‘I want to be out there. I’m not about the easy life. Life is a challenge.
‘When I leave tennis, I want it to be on my own terms. I want to know I rose to every challenge. I want to look back with no regrets. So far I can do that. Everyone messes up. Everyone chokes. Everyone l oses matches they should have won. But as long as you walked out there and gave it your all, you can look back with no regrets.’
Next up is Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion. Please rest up Venus, but don’t forget to set your alarm. We don’t want you late again.