Williams Off-Kilter But Still Gains Win

By ESPN

LONDON -- She didn't look right. Not at the start.

Early on, there were plenty of moments Wednesday at Wimbledon when the unfathomable strain currently endured by Venus Williams appeared to have gotten the best of her. She took to Court 1 looking focused, as she always does, but her face and footsteps also betrayed a weary burden.

Across the net Wedneday was China's Qian Wang, 25, a game but unremarkable pro whom Williams, 37, had dispatched in straight sets at the French Open. Wang should have been easy prey. She wasn't.

Williams was clearly off-kilter. She seemed a step slow, and the result was the mixing of an occasional winner with torrents of unforced mistakes. She lost the first set 6-4 when Wang began to find her range and rhythm. Soon enough, in the middle of the second set, Williams faced break points. At that moment, it appeared Williams was about to be the victim of a mammoth upset. Who could have been surprised?

Not after the events of the past month. Not after she'd been involved in a June car crash near her Florida home that led to the death of an elderly passenger in a car that slammed against Williams' SUV. She was not cited or charged. There were no signs of alcohol or drug use, nor was there any indication she'd been distracted by a mobile phone.

But a police report did find her at fault for failing to adhere to the right-of-way when she slowly eased her Toyota Sequoia through a Palm Beach Gardens intersection and was T-boned. Last week, the family of Jerome Barson, 78, who died at a hospital from injuries suffered in the wreck, filed a wrongful death civil suit.

Ever stoic, unceasingly private about her inner life, Williams' halting, tearful news conference after her first-round win Monday laid bare her pain.

But there's a reason she is also one of the sporting world's greatest champions. In her 20th Wimbledon, down a set on a muggy afternoon, Williams, a five-time All England Champion, found her way. By the end of the second set, she finally looked spry. She turned the tables on the stat sheet, making more winners than errors. She won 90 percent of the points on her first serve, an eye-popping number at any level, much less in the pros at the most prestigious event in the game.

The third and final set ended with clean and efficient speed: 6-1. Now Williams smiled brightly and bounced on her toes and waved at the crowd as she walked from the court.