Eventually, the top-ranked Williams did indeed come through, edging McHale 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4 for a thrill-a-minute victory at a tournament so rain drenched this week that matches will be scheduled on the middle Sunday for only the fourth time in 139 years.
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Frustrated with herself, Williams smashed her racket to the ground a few times before accidentally tossing it into a cameraman behind her. She received a code violation for the incident, but the emotion shown would set the tone for the remainder of the match.
On the women’s side, defending champion Serena Williams said she was ready to kick up a racquet at Wimbledon after smashing one up on court.
“I’ve cracked a number of rackets throughout my career. In fact, I look at it like I didn’t crack one at the French Open or Rome, so I was doing really good”, Williams said. “I felt like I could take it. But she played too well”.
Part of that reasoning was because only three players – Venus, Roger Federer and Venus’ next opponent Carla Suarez Navarro made the fourth round on another Wimbledon day littered with rain.
“It’s definitely a fine [up to $20,000]”, she said later. Williams beat the Spaniard, now ranked No. 12 in the world, in their only Wimbledon meeting in 2009. “I thought, ‘Really?!'” Venus added. Even with her return to the top 10 and her first slam quarter-final berths in five years last season, eight years after her last Slam triumph, and in lieu of the constant success that defined the first decade of her career, it’s widely agreed that the main reason Williams is still out there traveling around the globe is down to her enduring love for the sport.
“I was just really, really, really angry”, Williams said in her post-match news conference.
Having led 5-1 in the opening set on Court No1, Williams was pegged back to 5-5 by Kasatkina, the No29 seed, who at 19 is one of the most promising young players on the tour, a good athlete with a fine all-round game.
“It wasn’t easy, she’s such a competitor and she was playing so well today”. I didn’t know what was happening.
Venus match was delayed four times by rain, including once when she held a match point at 7-6 in the third set. Williams lost the ensuing tiebreaker after leading it 3-1, partly because she threw in two double faults. I just kept fighting.
The eighth seed, 36, was 7-6, 40-30 up on Kasatkina’s serve in the final set on Court One when the tie was halted by the second rain delay of the day. “I’ve brought some lunch and might treat myself to some Pimm’s later”.
Williams needed to work hard in order to seal her place in the last-32 of The Championships.
But the draw sees many seeded players take to the grass at SW19, in an attempt by schedulers to get the tournament back on track.
Williams finished her match just slightly later than her sister Venus, who also had a seesaw battle, with No. 29 seed Daria Kasatkina. “I’m not saying he cost me the match, but he cost me an important point which could have changed the outcome of the match”.
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“I do believe that every match I do plan on getting better”, said the 34-year-old American.
