Venus Williams Loses in First Round

Venus Williams Loses in First Round

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
Published: June 25, 2012
WIMBLEDON, England — Pursed lips and grimaces are like shouts and howls for Venus Williams, the more poker-faced of the two sisters who have won so many Wimbledons.
But Williams’s subtle body language shouted volumes Monday, the opening day of this year’s championships. She has not always been at her sparkling best on the grass of her beloved All England Club, but she has perhaps never looked as lost on any lawn as she did against Elena Vesnina.

To the uninformed observer on Court 2, it would have come as quite a surprise to know that Williams
was the player who had won five Wimbledon singles titles and that Vesnina, an unseeded Russian, had never been past the fourth round.

Williams, moving sluggishly on a warm and sunny afternoon, missed her first five serves, then lost the first five games on her downbeat way to a 6 -1, 6-3 defeat in the first round.

“She looks like a shadow of her grass-court self,” said Pam Shriver, the former champion and analyst sitting courtside.

It was Williams’s earliest loss at Wimbledon since her first visit in 1997 at age 17, and it was tempting to view it as a bookend to a career that is clearly fading.

But Williams, now 32 and struggling with an autoimmune disorder, declined to subscribe to that line of thinking. Proud, even prickly, she rebuffed any retirement chatter and said she planned to be back at Wimbledon next year.

“I feel like I am a great player; I am a great player,” she said. “Unfortunately, I had to deal with circumstances that people don’t normally have to deal with in this sport. But I can’t be discouraged by that, so I’m up for challenges.

“I have great tennis in me. I just need the opportunity. There’s no way I’m just going to sit down and give up just because I’ve had a hard time the first five or six” events back. “You know, that’s just not me.”

Roger Federer certainly looked like a six-time champion in his first-round match, rolling past Albert Ramos of Spain, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, and feeling confident enough about the outcome to try out more serve-and-volley than usual. Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 seed and defending champion who is in Federer’s half of the draw, advanced with a straight-sets victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero on Centre Court. But there would be a men’s upset to follow as the talented but inconsistent Ernests Gulbis of Latvia surprised the No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych, a former finalist here, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).

“I’m very happy I didn’t choke in the end as usual,” said the 87th-ranked Gulbis, whose record on the main tour this year was just 6-11 before Monday.

Gulbis has found his form and rediscovered his once-fluid forehand with the help of his new coach Gunter Bresnik, who once worked with the Wimbledon champion Boris Becker. But Gulbis also acknowledged that it was premature to start celebrating.

“I’m really well known for my mental strength,” he said sarcastically.

John Isner is well known for his ultramarathon matches and appeared headed for another as he and Alejandro Falla of Colombia arrived at 5-5 in the fifth set. But Isner failed to capitalize on two break points on Falla’s serve in that game, then lost his own serve as Falla closed out the victory, 7-5.

It was the latest setback for Isner, who reached the final at Indian Wells in March and has been brilliant for the United States in Davis Cup this year under the changeover-by-changeover guidance of the captain, Jim Courier. But the 6-foot-9 Isner, who has one of the most fearsome serves in tennis, was beaten in the second round of the French Open and now the first round in Wimbledon, spoiling any chance of a third installment of his Wimbledon maxi-series with the Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

“I get out there in the match and I’m so clouded,” Isner said. “I just can’t seem to figure things out. I’m my own worst enemy out there.”

The same applied to Williams. Although Vesnina did produce some timely serves and convincing aggressive tennis, Williams put only 38 percent of her first serves in play — a woeful strike rate — and made off-balance unforced errors in bunches. She also was slow to reach short balls and appeared to labor between points.

“I pretty much played like I felt,” Williams said while complimenting her opponent.

Technically, this was not a big upset. Williams, after all, was unseeded at Wimbledon, too, for the first time since 1997. But Vesnina, a 25-year-old who has struggled this year, certainly reacted as if she had done something momentous.

“I think that’s the biggest win in my career; to beat Venus in Wimbledon is just something amazing,” said Vesnina, who had played Williams only in doubles until Monday.

Williams is still in the doubles here with her sister Serena.

Williams’s disorder, Sjogren’s syndrome, often leaves her sapped of energy and kept her off the tour for more than six months. She returned in Miami in March ranked 134th with the goal of playing her way onto the United States Olympic team for the London Games, where the tennis will also be played at the All England Club.

Williams succeeded in making the qualifying standard and the American team, but her singles game clearly needs work.

“It’s tough to watch sometimes, and I think everybody sees it,” said David Witt, Williams’s longtime hitting partner.

Williams has said she cannot predict how she will feel on a given day, but Witt said he was concerned that Williams was not making every attempt to feel her best during matches.

“She sleeps a lot during the day and then she doesn’t sleep,” Witt said. “It doesn’t matter what sport you play. You’ve got to train your body like an athlete. You’ve got to eat when you’re supposed to. You’ve got to sleep when you’re supposed to and then you train when you’re supposed to.”

Asked if she was taking naps to get energy, Witt answered, “I don’t know if she needs to take naps, or if she just likes to take naps.”

Asked if he felt there was a motivational issue as well as a health issue, Witt thought for a moment before answering. “I’d probably put it down to a little bit of everything,” he said. “Confidence, motivation and health.”

. NOTES

In other matches Monday, the French Open champion Maria Sharapova also eased into the second round, defeating Anastasia Rodionova of Australia, 6-2, 6-3. Kim Clijsters, a four-time Grand Slam winner playing in her final Wimbledon, beat 18th-seeded Jelena Jankovic, 6-2, 6-4. Third-seeded Agnieska Radwanska and the Grand Slam champions Sam Stosur and Li Na won in straights sets to move into the second round.