Five-time champion Venus Williams once called Wimbledon the love of her life, which only adds to the poignancy of her 6-1, 6-3 first-round loss to Elena Vesnina.
Vesnina, whose best result at Wimbledon came in 2009 (fourth round), is a fine player and put in an excellent performance. But Williams, who continues to struggle with Sjögren’s Syndrome, was a shadow of her former self on Court 2. Opening the match with consecutive double faults, she looked lost and listless, quickly going down a double break to trail Vesnina 4-0. The American’s footwork was slow and she frequently misjudged and her serves and groundstrokes; the shots missed by feet, not inches.
Williams was immediately put under pressure by deep returning from Vesnina in her next service game. But she had a chance to get back to 30-30 with a short ball that invited a forehand winner; instead, Venus put it long and missed another backhand to go down 5-0. On the verge of suffering her first ever bagel-set loss at Wimbledon, Williams strung three fine points together to break back, but she missed another short forehand sitter to give up set point soon after. Vesnina cracked a flat return winner up the line to take the first set, during which Williams served just 33 percent and won only 30 percent of points behind her second serve.
A sense of urgency returned to Williams’ play as the second set began, and she held serve for 1-1 with a ripped, inside-out, cross-court forehand which had patrons out of their seats in applause. She earned a break point on Vesnina’s serve, then got to 0-30 as the Russian served at 2-2. But Vesnina continued to shut the door on her decorated opponent, serving well, mixing up slice and topspin on her backhand, and showcasing excellent net play.
Serving down 2-3, Williams led 40-15 before she missed another attacking forehand long, and two deep returns from Vesnina gave her break point. Williams played a scorching forehand down the line, but Vesnina put a testing ball cross-court; Venus missed a backhand to trail 2-4.
It seemed inconceivable that Williams would go out so tamely, and with Vesnina serving for the match at 5-3, Venus once again got to 0-30—and once again couldn’t capitalize. Vesnina raised her level, played a delicious backhand volley right into the corner for 30-30, then hit an ace down the T and one last service winner for one of the biggest wins of her career. All that was left for Williams was a warm smile at her victorious opponent, a wave to the crowd, and the long walk back to the locker room.
It was the old Court 2, demolished before the 2011 Championships, which was known as the ‘graveyard of champions’, after the many high-profile names who met unexpected defeat there. After today, the new Court 2 might take over the title. After all, there aren’t many Wimbledon champions greater than Venus Williams, nor many results more surprising than her, despite well-documented struggles, suffering her first defeat in the first round since 1997.