By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, July 3, 2017
"There are no words to describe how devastating (it feels). I am completely speechless," said Venus Williams, who broke down in tears in her post-match press conference today.
Photo credit: Stephen White/Camerasport
Venus Williams' eyes rarely left the lawn as she opened her 20th career Wimbledon against Elise Mertens today.
Contesting her Open Era record-extending 75th Grand Slam, Williams brought familiar focus and a heavy heart to a 7-6 (7), 6-4 triumph that sent her into the second round for the 18th time. Williams raised her Wimbledon record to 82-14.
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Records and rounds aren't occupying the former No. 1's mind these days.
The 37-year-old Williams is facing a wrongful death lawsuit following a June 9th car crash in which a 78-year-old man was injured and died two weeks later.
The Australian Open finalist conceded she was “devastated and heartbroken” by the accident in a Facebook post on Friday.
The challenge of compartmentalizing real-life tragedy while playing a Grand Slam tennis match confronted Williams in a somber start today.
The emotional trauma Williams is enduring from the accident erupted today in her post-match press conference.
When asked if she wanted to add any comment to her Facebook post, Williams, narrowing the vanilla visor she wore on court and in the presser, could not complete her answer before breaking down.
"There are no words to describe how devastating (it feels)," Williams said softly. "I am completely speechless. I’m just..."
Pinching back tears, Williams could not complete her answer and the press conference ended shortly afterward.
Williams was driving a 2010 Toyota Sequoia that turned in front of a car driven by Linda Barson causing the crash in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, according to the police report published by CNN.
Mrs. Barson’s husband, Jerome Barson, a passenger in the car, was taken to the hospital after the accident. Following a few surgeries, Mr. Barson died on June 22nd.
Williams, who was driving at an estimated speed of 5 mph at the time of the accident, was not cited for a traffic violation, according to the report.
"(Venus Williams) is at fault for violating the right of way of (the Barsons)," the police report.
“I am devastated and heartbroken by this accident," Williams wrote in a Facebook post. "My heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of Jerome Barson and I continue to keep them in my thoughts and prayers."
Asked how she's been coping with preparation for the grass-court Grand Slam, Williams said she's reminded of life's uncertainty.
"Life you can’t prepare for everything," Wiliams said. "I prepare for a lot of matches and try to get ready for what my opponent might throw at you. You can’t prepare for everything. I have no idea what tomorrow brings, that’s all I can say. That’s what I’ve learned."
Turning her attention from the tragedy to tennis, Williams often took a bit of pace off her slider serve to open up the court. She served 72 percent and was effective flowing forward. Williams won 19 of 24 trips to net compared to 6 of 10 net-points won by her opponent.
This match was a rematch of the Roland Garros opening round in which Williams dropped just four games powering through a 62-minute rout.
Nine minutes into today’s clash, Williams surged to a 3-0 lead.
In her Wimbledon main-draw debut, Mertens grew more comfortable as the match progressed.
The Belgian No. 1 cites grass as her favorite surface and trains at the Kim Clijsters Academy in Belgium where she occasionally hits with the former world No. 1. Clijsters was on hand watching this match and must have been impressed by Mertens’ comeback to force the tie break.
The five-time Wimbledon champion took a 6-3 tie break lead, but Mertens answered with aggressive shotmaking to save all three. A backhand down the line gave Williams a fourth set point. The stubborn Belgian saved it cranking a crosscourt forehand.
The backhand was Williams steadiest shot today and a crosscourt backhand gave her a fifth set point.
When Mertens put a forehand into net, Williams had the set on the strength of her eighth consecutive tie break win at Wimbledon.
Throughout the match, Mertens answered deficits with bolder ball striking. She broke for a 2-0 second-set lead only to see Williams dash forward for a forehand volley winner breaking back for 2-1.
That break sparked a run of four straight games as Williams went up 4-2.
When Mertens sent a forehand long, Williams had her first match point after 90 minutes of play. Mertens slid a serve down the middle to save it then saved a second match point with a slick drop shot and lob combination, eventually holding for 4-5.
A near half-hour rain delay halted play.
When play resumed Williams missed a fourth match point whacking a wild backhand.
On her fifth match point, Williams the former No. 1 with a forward thrust snapping off a smash to set up a second-round match with 55th-ranked Qiang Wang, who earned her first Wimbledon main-draw win today.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was asked what advice he would give Venus. Murray said sometimes there are no words for someone coping with the aftermath of a horrific accident.
"I don't know exactly what happened... But it's obviously, you know, horrific when anything like that happens," Murray said. "I'm sure it must be tough for her to focus on her tennis just now. But, yeah, I don't know how you advise someone on that. Yeah, it's obviously horrible. I think, unless you've been through it, you don't know. You don't know what to do."
The court can be a sanctuary for champion's facing life challenges. Williams, who has had her share of off-court pain with the murder of her older sister Yetunde and her ongoing battle with the energy-sapping Sjrogren's Syndrome, said stepping back on the SW19 lawn felt like a homecoming of sorts.
"Today walking on the court I love it here," Williams said. "It’s always a feeling of coming back home. It’s a special time of year. I definitely played a lot of tennis. It’s a good thing to be on court."