Venus Williams, the oldest woman to play at the Australian Open on Sunday, admitted she was proud of herself despite facing the first obstacle.
Also available: Venus Williams Still Feeling The Fire Ahead Of The Australian Open Record
Five years after her last major appearance, the 45-year-old American, who has seven Grand Slams, was given a wildcard for Melbourne.
It attracted some criticism because it stifled a younger player, which was made worse by Williams’ first-round defeats at both of her warm-up matches.
The 24-year-old Serbian Olga Danilovic pushed her all the way before losing her final six games to fall apart 6-7 (5 / 7), 6-3, 6-4 in a grueling two hours and 17 minutes.
“It was a fantastic game and moment,” he continued. The crowd had a fantastic time. That really made me feel so much,” Williams said.
She had a fantastic game. Also, a little luck there, too. Simply put, that sport. Sometimes that’s how things work.
She continued, “I’m really proud of my effort today because I’m getting better with each match and getting there,” she continued.
She continued, “I’m just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself and trying to control my errors.”
The former world number one, who is now ranked 578, made a promising start by breaking Danilovic’s first service game after receiving a standing ovation.
However, the Serb quickly retaliated, helping her level the set with a clever net cord.
As the set progressed to a tiebreak, Williams sent down powerful serves and showed no signs of stalling as the game moved to a tiebreak, where she fell 2-0 behind before rallying to win it with a convincing forehand winner.
Williams had no luck in getting an early break in the second set, which gave Danilovic a 4-0 lead in the final set.
But she lost her way, allowing Danilovic to win the crucial 14-and-a-half-minute ninth game, which ended up being crucial.
Williams scored six game points but were unable to convert, and the Serb won the game with a win over her second break point.
Not simple, Danilovic remarked. There were a lot of nerves there. I recently said to myself, “OK, just play, just take everything out, and just play point by point.”
“I’m very happy I got this one, but it was so enjoyable playing such a legend,” I said.
Williams, who first appeared at Melbourne Park in 1998, hasn’t played much in recent years.
She won the doubles title four times, along with sister Serena, and was a five-time champion at Wimbledon. She also won the title four times at the Australian Open in 2003 and 2017.
Kimiko Date, 44, was the oldest woman to compete in singles at the Australian Open before losing in the first round in 2015.
