It took Venus Williams six minutes to hold her first service game against Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova. She looked rickety and uncontrolled. A 36-year-old American against a 28-year-old Kazak ranked 96 in the world with just one career title.
Venus like her sister Serena was shaking off a slow start and grinding through the gears, finally stealing a first set in a tiebreak that throughout she looked destined to hand over. The second set was a 6-2 rout.
As a snapshot of Wimbledon it could have been seen as the glass half full or half empty, a shallow field of two irrepressible and gifted players. Venus won 7-6, 6-2, her younger sister 6-4, 6-4 against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
A 36-year-old and a 34-year-old into the semifinals of the biggest tennis tournament in the world and yet it seemed few could take their eyes off them. Nobody saw it coming. The two carving up the tennis world was a thing of the past. For Venus, it has been a second career.
Autoimmune disease
In 2011 she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that dries the mouth and eyes, saps strength and causes joint and muscle pain, coughing, and limb numbness. For years, she went through a series of misdiagnoses.
And from that came this. “Yeah, the road was six years,” she said. “But I’ve been blessed, been really blessed, to have an opportunity to be here, have had an opportunity in the past to do this. I don’t have any regrets about anything that’s taken place in between. It’s been a journey, but it’s made me stronger.
“The most difficult part of the journey is just not being in control because when you’re an athlete, you’re used to being in control, being able to work for anything. Not being able to do that is a challenge.
"Also it was a relief for me to know what was wrong with me because I hadn't felt well in a while. That was . . . okay, I'm not crazy. So that was a good moment." The two sisters have won 11 of the previous 16 Wimbledon titles and, while neither of them are yet in the locker room for the final, their genetics tell us there's a good chance.
The intimidation was there and when the confidence inflated for periods in both matches the two became untouchable. The dominance that they have thrived on maybe wasn’t consistently present but when they expressed themselves in the ripping forehands and serves or Serena on one knee hitting her dipping backhand, they stepped beyond the games of their opponents.
Fifteen years ago Venus was adamant that she wouldn’t be playing tennis at even 30 years old. It was merely a path towards other world-conquering ideas she had.
“Well, you have to understand that 21-year-olds are foolish,” she replied. “I didn’t think I was going to be here at 36. Now, if I’m here at 46, I will say that 36-year-olds are foolish.”
Strong player
The semi-final opponent of Venus is lefty, fourth seed German,
Angelique Kerber
, a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist, who beat Serena in the final of the
Australian Open
earlier this year.
She is a strong player but accompanying Venus was a clam, stoic presence that came through. Her conversations are often masked or guarded but there was some serenity and reflection. For moments, she appeared to be talking about her life and personal struggle as much as tennis.
“It’s easy to be afraid,” she said. “You have to let fear go . . . you just have to believe in yourself, you just have to. There’s no way around it. No matter how things are stacked against you, you just have to every time.
“This has been my life. What can I say? I wouldn’t wish it any other way. It’s been my life. It’s been a beautiful life. It’s been a great experience. It’s been everything.”
Wedding planned
Serena faces the unseeded Elena Vesnina, ranked 50 in the world. The Russian 29-year-old beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2 but maybe her mind wasn’t entirely in it as Cibulkova had her wedding planned for Bratislava on women’s final day.
Kerber defeated Simona Halep 7-5, 7-6(2).
The sisters are back.
