WTA 250 BIRMINGAM. by Emiliano Naftali
Venus Williams prevailed 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, and 7-6 (8-6) against Italian Camila Giorgi (world No. 48) and became the third player to achieve this since the year 2000. The former world No. 1 is currently ranked 697th.
Age is just a number for Venus Williams. The American continues to defy the passage of time, astonishing with her talent and physical and mental ability to keep fighting at the highest level of tennis. This Tuesday, two days after turning 43, she won 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, and 7-6 (8-6) against Italian Camila Giorgi, after three hours and 17 minutes of intense play, securing a spot in the second round of the WTA 250 in Birmingham.
The former world No. 1 and winner of seven Grand Slams, who had only played one match in the past five and a half months, became the third player to achieve a WTA-level victory in this millennium after her 43rd birthday.
This feat had previously been accomplished by Japanese player Kimiko Date Krumm, who reached that age in September 2013 and achieved several victories on the circuit in the following two seasons, even making it to the semifinals in Monterrey and being a doubles semifinalist in New York in 2014. Czech-American Martina Navratilova, who turned 43 in October 1999, also won three matches after that date, one in 2002 and two in 2004, including one in the first round of Wimbledon, at the age of 47.
On Tuesday, starting from the 697th position and having received a wild card entry, Venus achieved the 817th victory of her career and her first against a top 50 player since the WTA 1000 in Beijing in 2019, when she defeated Barbora Strycova, who was ranked 34th at the time.
“I played very well, and Camila played incredibly. I’m surprised she’s not the number 1 in the world,” she commented, amused, praising her opponent’s performance, a 31-year-old ranked 48th in the world.
“There were moments when I thought, ‘This match is over,’ and then she would strike out of nowhere. She pushed me to be better than I thought I could be, and it was great for me. Additionally, I was able to hit some serves over 190 kilometers per hour, something I hadn’t done in a couple of years, and I said to myself, ‘There it is. I missed that.’ I haven’t been playing many matches, so it’s great to have advanced,” she added.