Skipping over Venus’ first round is quite easy to do, especially when given a true gem as in her second round match against 40-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm. Edging her veteran opponent, Venus came out the victor 6-7(6), 6-3, 8-6.
Next up on Friday for the No. 23 seed is Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez, who won 6-3, 6-0 in her second round match. The two last met on the grass courts of Wimbledon back in 2008 with Venus winning 6-1, 7-5.
While five-time champion and older sister Venus has been tested, these on-court battles don’t seem quite as comparable to Serena’s own path to round three. In her opening match against France’s Aravane Rezai, the defending champion cried tears of joy after winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Serena said in her post-match interview, “It definitely was so emotional for me because throughout the last 12 months, I've been through a lot of things that's not normal, things you guys don't even know about. So it's just been a long, arduous road. To stand up still is pretty awesome.”
In her second match, Serena got off to a slow start against Simona Halep, losing the first set 6-3. She found her form, however, dominating 6-2, 6-1 in the last two. Quite notably, every time that Serena’s played Wimbledon -- going all the way back to 1998 -- she’s advanced to the third round or better. Injury layoff, or not, she’s done the same this year.
Up next, Serena plays her first seeded opponent, Maria Kirilenko. Although Serena hasn’t had much difficulty with the Russian in past years -- she won their last meeting in the Rome semifinals 6-1, 6-4 last year --, one never knows with this Wimbledon.
But one thing’s for sure, neither sister is giving less than their all on the grass courts of the All England Club. That’s a guarantee when a Williams is across the net, and that’s how it’ll remain -- injuries or not.
To keep following the Williams’ Wimbledon success and that of the other WTT players, please click here.
For more on the upcoming WTT season, featuring Serena and Venus, check out the 2011 WTT Schedule!
—Benjamin Snyder
Originally published on WTT.com