It was her third match of the year… and yet she took a set offKarolina Muchova, the world number 13. At 45 years of age, Venus Williams returned to the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year that she has won twice, thanks to a wild card from the tournament.
The American fought for two hours, but finally gave in to the Czech, a semifinalist in the last two editions of the tournament, 6-3, 2-6 and 6-1. Venus, now ranked 597th in the WTA rankings, left the court to a standing ovation from the crowd.
It was the 25th time in her legendary career that Venus had competed in the US Grand Slam. She started with some inaccuracies and lost her serve immediately against Muchova. That cost her the first set, which went to the Czech
But Venus improved her level in the second set. She broke Muchova’s serve in the first game and did not give the Czech any chance of a comeback, so the match was tied thanks to a 6-2 scoreline.
However, the American could not maintain that game. Muchova, after going to the locker room, did not concede any break balls and took advantage of the two options she had to pave the way to the final 6-2.
Read the full article here
