By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, March 7, 2019
Venus Williams withstood a medical timeout, a second-set bagel and Andrea Petkovic fighting into an Indian Wells second-round clash vs. Petra Kvitova.
Photo credit: Dan Huerlimann/Beelde Images
Spirited drive has propelled Venus Williams on a Hall of Famer career track.
The 38-year-old veteran's battle with the energy-sapping Sjogren's syndrome sometimes leaves her feeling like a Formula I car running on a half tank of gas.
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A depleted Williams took a medical pit stop, endured a second-set bagel and lacked the screaming sting on her serve.
Ultimately, Williams relied on fight to fuel in her adventurous 6-4, 0-6, 6-3, conquest of Andrea Petkovic in her Indian Wells opener.
Playing her first match since losing to world No. 1 Simona Halep in the Australian Open third round, Williams had a lot riding on her desert return.
The 2018 Indian Wells semifinalist would have fallen from the Top 50 had she lost and though she looked sluggish at times there was no surrender from the world No. 36.
"Thank you everyone for getting behind me," Williams told the Stadium 1 crowd afterward. "I played a tough match and played a great opponent. It was great to be back home in Southern California and get a win."
Asked exactly what was ailing her, Williams, who had her blood pressure checked by the tournament doctor leading 5-4 in the first set, didn't get into detail.
"I don't know; honestly I'm still trying to to figure it out," Williams told Andrew Krasny afterward. "Every day is not your best day out here, but it doesn't mean the heart and desire isn't there."
Early on, Williams' legs weren't there as she struggled to push up and out on her vaunted serve and sometimes armed the sere into the box.
Petkovic pumped a forehand pass by a flat-footed opponent breaking for 3-1 at the 12-minute mark.
Trying to summon energy, Williams came back to earn triple break point. Though Petkovic saved all three, Williams danced around a backhand and drove a forehand down the line breaking back for 2-3.
The pair exchanged breaks in the sixth and seventh games.
Though the former No. 1 wasn't striking with her usual vigor, she was connecting on some down the line strikes working through a gritty hold to level at 4-all.
As the breeze picked up a bit, Williams whipped a series of forehands testing the German's forehand wing and banging out a netted forehand to score the fifth break in nine games for a 5-4 lead.
At about 1:15 p.m. local time, the trainer came out to check Williams' blood pressure before calling for the doctor. After about a five-and-a-half minute medical timeout, Williams returned to serve for the set.
Moving methodically between points, Williams took her cracks aggressively and singed the center stripe with her second ace to snatch the 42-minute opening set winning four of the last five games.
The 68th-ranked Petkovic opened the second set with more energy and aggression, while Williams' accuracy and vitality was flagging. The German broke for 2-0 then blistered through a love hold for a 3-0 second-set lead.
A lethargic Williams was hitting first serves in the 80 mph range and a couple of second serves slower than 75 mph. Slapping a double fault, Williams donated the break and a 4-0 lead as concerned fans grew silent.
Sixty-six minutes into the match, the world No. 36 pasted a flat backhand into the net as Petkovic capped a shutout set while Williams walked slowly to her court-side seat.
Ebbs and flows in energy and momentum shifted sides again as Williams broke to start the final set.
Coach Dusan Vemic came out to exhort Petkovic after she held in the third game, but the German wasn't testing Williams' movement and paid the price for leaving too many balls hanging in the center of the court.
Williams breezed through a strong hold for 3-1. The American was punishing her forehand and eliciting shorter replies bursting out to triple break point. Petkovic saved all three break points only to see Williams pound out a pair of errors breaking again for 4-1.
Serving for the match, Williams double faulted on her first match point then netted successive forehands as Petkovic posted the sixth break of the match drawing closer at 3-5.
Shrugging it off, Williams gained a second match point on a Petkovic error. Attacking the German's forehand, Williams drew one final netted forehand closing a gritty effort in one hour, 45 minutes.
The good news for Williams is she found a way to fight through on a day when she looked physically depleted.
The bad news is the victory vaults her into a second-round clash with two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, who has won four of their six prior meetings though Venus won their last match in a thriller at the 2017 US Open.