Wimbledon 2016: Venus Williams follows Serena into quarter-finals

Venus Williams 
Venus Williams defeated Carla Suarez Navarro on MOnday Credit: REX

Moments after covering up against the drizzle and conducting Mexican waves to counter the boredom of yet another rain delay, the crowd on Court One were gifted a sight that makes such frustrations disappear.

They were witness to Venus Williams – briefly, fleetingly and perhaps for the only time this season – peeling back the years and playing at her very best. It happened with her 5-4 up in the second, decisive set against the Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, as she served for the match.

Her serve flying, her forehand fizzing, dominating the court with a sense of total control, she drove her way to victory, winning the final critical game with her opponent barely laying her racket on the ball.

It was magnificent, regal, Venus in furs. And how the crowd loved seeing her at her best, cooing out their delight as she stood in the middle of the court grinning wide in acknowledgement of their applause. 

Yet it was a conclusion few could have expected after the opening of the match, in which Williams found herself 0-3 down within ten minutes. As her busy Spanish opponent accumulated points, she had looked finished, showing every one of her 36 years, the strapping on her thigh bearing pointed witness to her seeming physical decline.

Age was withering her before our eyes.  But were it possible to make a scan of Williams’s inner workings, it would be clear her temperament is constructed entirely of tungsten. She may have started badly, but there was no way she was going to slip away without a fight, no way she was ready to depart her stage before time.

And so she clawed her way back into contention, breaking back her Spanish opponent’s serve and finding herself in a tie break for the first set. At which point up went the umbrellas in the stand and for what must have been the 485th time this Wimbledon fortnight, there was a break in play. 

“When the rain came, I was like: oh no not again please God. I was definitely dismayed. It’s emotionally draining,” she said of the off-on nature of this year’s play. “Luckily, when we came back, she gave me a few points.” 

Indeed the short hiatus in the dressing room seemed to refocus the stalwart ex-champion. She returned from the delay to storm the tie break. And the second set went entirely to reputation. It was clear she was on song as her grunt was getting louder than the rumbling score announcements of the match referee - Kader Nuoni, Wimbledon’s Barry White soundalike.

She broke her opponent in the third game, drawing the Spaniard to the net at the decisive moment in a rally, then spooning the ball past her into the unoccupied territory at the back of court.

It was a masterful display of cunning and control.  “I love it, I get to work outside,” she said of her enduring fondness for her career. “It’s such an honour for all of us to play here. We feel good out there.”

And so she moves to her first quarter final at the All England Club since 2010, up against Yaroslava Shveodva of Kazahkstan, a player she has never encountered before. Not that she appeared worried by the lack of knowledge. 

“I’ve been here before, I’m not like a deer in the headlights,” she said. “It's wonderful when everything is working. But I don't focus so much on: oh, my gosh, everything feels good. Or: oh, shoot, it feels bad. It's about: can I make this play right now? If I don't feel great, can I still make this play? That's the mentality I go into my matches with now.” 

It is an approach that for this old stager is clearly working. 

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