It was not for the want of trying, but there will be no fairytale run to the final at Wimbledon for Venus Williams. The five-times champion and 2017 finalist lost 6-2, 6-7, 8-6 to the 20th seed, Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, who is into the fourth round for the first time at the sixth attempt.
The defeat for the 38-year-old Williams means eight of the top 10 seeds in the women’s draw are out in week one, the most in Open-era history. Bertens, who hit 34 winners and made only 20 unforced errors, will play the Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova, who recovered from a set and 4-1 down to beat the 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania 3-6, 7-6, 6-1.
“I just ran out of time in the end,” Williams said. “She played really well. I think she was just a little bit luckier than I was in the end. Sometimes it takes luck and skill. She definitely deserved that one.”
Bertens reached the semi-finals at the French Open two years ago and her love for clay is matched only by her suspicion of grass. Having failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, she lost the tie-break 7-5 and trailed 2-0 in the third. The 26-year-old continued to attack and eventually, at 7-6, she got the vital break.
“I can play well on grass,” Bertens said. “Everyone keeps on telling me that. I still find it tough to believe I can play really well, to beat the top players. But, yeah, today I did.”
Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova followed up her win over the second seed, Caroline Wozniacki, by beating Lucie Safarova 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. She will play the Italian Camila Giorgi, a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 winner over another Czech, Katerina Siniakova.
The No 13 seed, Germany’s Julia Görges, edged out the No 23 seed, Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic. She will face the 22-year-old Donna Vekic, after the Croat beat Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 7-6, 6-1.
