Venus is oldest player in last 16 since 1994
WHEN the Osaka kids played tennis growing up, passers-by would ask if they were the next Williams sisters.
And yesterday a similar scene was played out for Naomi Osaka, but with the public court replaced by Court No 1 at Wimbledon, and her Venus-impersonating sister Mari replaced by the real thing.
For much of this superb contest, Osaka did a reasonable impression of reigning champion Serena. The 19-year-old, who has lived in the US since the age of three but represents her country of birth, Japan, has a ferocious forehand and a serve that delivered eight aces. Venus won 7-6, 6-4, and it is looking ever more likely that Serena’s pregnancy does not mean there will be a new name on the trophy. At 37, Venus is the oldest woman to make the fourth round here since Martina Navratilova in 1994 and looks set for a deep run.
After her second-round win, which set up her first meeting with either Williams, Osaka was told the five-time champion had been complimentary about her game. ‘I’m honoured,’ said Osaka, after visibly and audibly squirming with delight. ‘I don’t think I’d have started playing if they weren’t there for me growing up.
‘I’m kind of more of a Serena person. I super love Venus, too, but Serena was my No1. I remember when me and my sister used to train at public courts, random people would be, like: “Are you the next Venus and Serena?” ‘I always wanted to be Serena.’ Serena is not here, of course, as she awaits the birth of her first child. But Venus’s form is raising the question of whether a new surname will be inscribed on the honours board after all.
The first player to take advantage of Serena’s absence from the tour was Jelena Ostapenko, who powered her way to the French Open title a month ago and is through to the second week here despite accusations of dirty tricks from her opponent’s father.
The Latvian was a bolt from the blue at Roland Garros but is well on her way to proving that lightning can strike twice.
She beat Camila Giorgi 7-5, 7-5 yesterday with her best display of the tournament so far. After the match, Ostapenko accused Giorgi’s father and coach Sergio of deliberately coughing when she was about to serve.
She said: ‘A couple of times they were shouting before my serve. I told the chair umpire and she kept an eye on it.
‘It was just before my serve, somebody started to cough. It’s a bit unsportsmanlike. I think it was her dad or her box.
‘I couldn’t not hear it. It was just before my serve, after first serve and before second serve. That was disappointing.’
After a second round in which the two pre-tournament favourites Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova were knocked out, yesterday saw the seeds hit back. No2 seed Simona Halep beat Shuai Peng 6-4, 7-6 and No 4 seed Elina Svitolina saw off Carina Witthoeft.