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 Venus earns first Wimbledon victory
Posted: Tuesday June 23, 1998 06:54 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Court 13 at Wimbledon is tucked in a remote corner past the rose bushes at the end of a narrow walkway. Venus Williams found it just in time Tuesday. Following a three-hour rain delay, Williams showed up for her opening-round match 10 minutes late, meaning she was within five minutes of being defaulted. Once on the court, getting to the second round was no problem. Williams beat Jana Nejedly 6-3, 6-3 to earn her first Wimbledon victory. Williams, who wears a watch while playing, denied that she was late for her match. But she admitted being confused about the location of her court, and a WTA Tour official said Williams barely avoided a default. "I could never figure out where Court 13 was," Williams said. "I thought I was playing on Court 18. I thought that was Court 13, but no. So generally I got there on time, I believe." If the layout at Wimbledon was a problem for Williams, the grass and rain weren't. She easily dispatched Nejedly, a Canadian ranked 98th, then proclaimed herself a contender for her first Grand Slam title. "Everyone wants to win Wimbledon, especially the players who are doing well this year," she said. "I'm one of those players." The seventh-seeded Williams, who turned 18 last week, is the oldest member of the tour's heralded teen-age vanguard, which also includes her 16-year-old sister, Serena. The sisters could meet in the fourth round. Their quarter of the draw now looks easier due to the withdrawal of 17-year-old Anna Kournikova because of a thumb injury. Venus' victory Tuesday represented a personal breakthrough. She lost in the first round on grass at Eastbourne last week and lost a first-rounder in her Wimbledon debut a year ago. "I think through the years I'll play better on grass as I understand more," she said. Williams, still sporting the beaded hair that gave the tournament a flashy new look last year, said she has just one complaint about staid old Wimbledon: the extensive electronic security. "It's not so bad, except that people generally want to scan you out, and I'm not into all that scanning," she said. "When you come in in the car they want to scan, and when you leave ... they want to scan. When you come in the gate they want to scan. "Only one scan a day." Once Williams passed through security and found Court 13, she hugged the baseline for most of her match, settling into rallies of up to two dozen shots. The 6-foot-1 1/2 American preferred to hit slice forehands rather than charge the net, conservative strategy from such a powerful player. The cautious approach probably wouldn't work against, say, defending champion Martina Hingis. "I wasn't really trying too many new things," Williams said. "My plan was more or less make my shots and get off the court before it rains." That didn't happen because a two-hour delay interrupted the second set. Williams finished strongly, then promised to serve and volley more as the tournament progresses. "More would be at least one," she said with a chuckle, "because I didn't attempt it at all today." So Williams may show up at the net more in the second round. She'll likely show up on time, too.
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