LONDON, July 5: For the second time in four days a Wimbledon champion called Williams found herself being whipped by a high school teenager but in the end it was Serena Williams dishing out the punishment on Thursday.
Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan, 18, appeared to have being inspired by fellow qualifier and teenager Cori Gauff’s sensational first-round win over Williams’s elder sister Venus, a five-time winner at the All England Club, as she came out swinging to break Serena twice in the opening set. An ugly smash into the net not only handed Juvan the set but also left an angry Williams staring at the ball in disgust – and if looks could kill, the ball would have turned to dust.
But if the Court One fans feared that it might be a case of “Gone on the Fourth of July” for America’s most decorated tennis player, she stormed back for a 2-6 6-2 6-4 second-round win.
The 37-year-old missed easy slam-dunk smashes, she belted the ball wide while on breakpoint and glared down on the net after yet another of her shots got tangled up at the bottom of the black mesh.
But despite producing more unforced errors (26) than winners (25), she put on a winning show for her friend Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, to seal a place in the third round against Germany’s Julia Goerges by firing down her sixth ace.
“I play my best when I am down; it brings out the best in me. I’m just a fighter and I never give up,” said a relieved Williams, who is chasing a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
That was certainly true on Thursday because during the first hour of her contest with Juvan, things were not exactly looking rosy. Williams had never lost to a player ranked outside the top 100 at the All England Club nor to a qualifier at any of the slams.
