LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Venus Williams, five-time champion, made her first appearance at Wimbledon in 25 years and lost in the first set.
It had been her maiden victory on the All England Club lawns, but she was unable to rekindle the same magic in Monday’s agonizing first-round loss to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
The 43-year-old American lost 6-4 6-3 after a terrible early tumble restricted her movement.
She was competing in the Wimbledon singles for a record 24th time and still possesses the effortless power that once made her the queen of Centre Court.
“Grass is inherently going to be slippery. You’re going to fall at some point. It was just bad luck for me,” former world number one Williams told reporters later.
“I started the match perfectly. I was literally killing it; then I got killed by the grass.”
Williams won the first two games. She last won Wimbledon in 2008, losing to her sister Serena.
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However, she appeared to be in serious difficulty in the following as she went to intercept a volley, and her bandaged right knee gave way under her.
The Centre Court crowd gasped as she collapsed to the ground, but as she struggled to her chair and received aid, her inner warrior spirit returned, and she continued to struggle.
“I’m not sure what I’ve done. I’m going to have to investigate it tomorrow. It’s late today. But it was quite painful,” she said.
Despite a valiant effort to hold serve at 5-4, the 28-year-old Svitolina claimed four straight games and took the opening set.
At least she was born when Venus made her Wimbledon debut, unlike 53 other players in the women’s field.
Williams received additional care prior to the beginning of set two, but she immediately lost serve by forehand into the net.
Reuters reports that while Venus battled to extend the 355th Grand Slam singles match of her career – only her sister Serena (423 Grand Slam singles matches) has more – the fans cheered her on loudly, with one supporter yelling, “You’ve still got it, Venus.”
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Though she made a fantastic return from maternity leave by making it all the way to the quarterfinals of the French Open last month, former world number three Svitolina was ultimately just too quick as she took a 5-1 lead.
Williams, who also won the championship in 2000, 2001, 2005, and 2007, came out strong and clawed back two games to give hope of a comeback.
Williams was defeated, but Svitolina succeeded, and as the afternoon heat gave way to shade, she waved to the audience in what may have been her final farewell.
When asked if she had contemplated quitting after making a mistake, Williams responded that her only thought had been to find a way to triumph.
“Try to fight to live another day,” she said.