Venus Williams – aged 43 and ranked No 697 – wins three-hour marathon

Shahida Jacobs
Venus Williams in action
A delighted Venus Williams

Venus Williams admitted it was “touch and go” at some point during her match against Camila Giorgi, but in the end the 43-year-old prevailed against the world No 48 at the Rothesay Classic.

Playing in only her second match in nearly six months after struggling with injury, former world No 1 Williams won a rollercoaster match 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) in three hours and 17 minutes – the joint-13th longest match so far in 2023.

There were a couple of mini milestones for the seven-time Grand Slam winner as it was only her second win in top-level tennis since Wimbledon 2021 and her first victory over a top-50 player in nearly four years.

To put the cherry on the cake, she played with a heavily strapped knee after a heavy fall in the first set.

“It was touch and go there, and I felt the support,” Williams said during her post-match interview.

The American added: “I thought I played really well today, and she played incredible. I’m so surprised she’s not No 1 in the world.

“There were so many moments where I thought, ‘This match is over,’ then she would hit a shot from out of nowhere. She pushed me to be better than what I thought I could be, and it’s great for me. I haven’t played a lot of matches, and it’s great to come through.”

Williams raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set, but her Italian opponent hit back strongly as she got one break back in game four and the former world No 1 took a medical timeout in game five after a heavy fall that resulted in a heavily strapped knee.

Giorgi then drew level in game 10, but Williams managed to edge the tie-breaker.

The world No 48 then made a blistering start to the second set as she raced into a 4-1 lead before Williams got one break back, but Giorgi managed to take it to a decider.

Both players broke once in the third set, but it was the veteran who was stronger in the tie-breaker although Giorgi saved the first match point at 6-5. Williams then got the job done at the second time of asking.

“I got off to a great start, and my leg started hurting in the third game,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘Oh no, not this.’ It was really hard to control my emotions, to be honest. Eventually I just acclimated to what I was going through and tried to ignore it. I couldn’t move as well as I wanted, but I tried to get to every ball that I could.”

Up next is either second seed Jelena Ostapenko or 18-year-old Linda Noskova.

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