Venus Williams tested, beats Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England — Venus Williams was tested on Friday, but came through with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 third-round win over Naomi Osaka of Japan to reach the second week at Wimbledon for the third consecutive year.
"She played an amazing match today," Williams said. "She really played a match that was worth — she deserved to win. But these sort of matches are always so close."
Williams, 37, is playing in her 20th Wimbledon tournament and has captured the title on five occasions. Her last Wimbledon title, which came in 2008, was the last of her seven Grand Slam trophies.
Williams first played at Wimbledon in 1997, when she lost in the first round. The 19-year-old Osaka wasn’t even born at the time, arriving into the world in October of that year.
"Yeah, it's interesting, for sure," Williams said of the age difference. "But I guess when you walk on the court, I don't think either of us is thinking about the age. You're thinking about, How do I win?"
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Last year, Williams advanced to the semifinals here, which was her best showing at Wimbledon since reaching the 2009 final.
Osaka made her Wimbledon main draw debut this year after withdrawing from last year’s tournament with a right knee injury.
The 59th-ranked Osaka has reached the third round at all four Grand Slams, but has yet to score a fourth-round berth in six Grand Slam appearances.
The only other time these two were scheduled to play was at the Auckland tournament this year. Williams withdrew from that round-of-16 match with a right arm injury.
Williams finally took control of the 1 hour, 25 minute match when she broke Osaka’s serve in the seventh game of the second set. Williams countered her five aces in the match with five double faults. While Williams’ serve was broken once, Osaka’s serve was broken twice in the match.
"In the first set I had a break," Williams said. "She played some great tennis. She had some luck and some great tennis. Also the second was just about trying to get a break or two, if possible. I wasn't successful in the two, but one thankfully was enough."
