Venus Williams was stretched to the full for nearly two hours but recovered well to defeat a determined and gritty opponent and in the process remind everyone that she is still a player to be reckoned with on the lawns of Wimbledon.
But in the early stages of a match which swung one way and then the other, it was 19-year-old Alla Kudryavtseva who was clearly taking the upper hand and threatening to extend the infamous jinx reputation of Court No. 2, the "Graveyard of Champions".
Early on, Venus - a three-time champion at Wimbledon - was prone to so many errors that she looked in real danger of joining that court's famous victims.
It seemed that the elder of the Williams sisters had forgotten to pack her serve and tactical brain in the golden handbag she placed next to her chair, for she never looked in contention in the early part of the match, spraying her shots around the court, dropping serve on four occasions and regularly finding herself outmanoeuvered by the Russian world-ranked 59.
Williams, playing her 38th Grand Slam event, had to draw on all her experience to halt Kudryavtseva’s momentum, which she eventually did in the fourth game of the second set, regaining some rhythm following several lengthy baseline exchanges.
Still not entirely comfortable in the blustery conditions Williams maintained her run to lead 4-2, saved two break points in the sixth game, the first with an ace timed at 112mph, and the second with a 117mph service winner before going 5-2.
Kudryavtseva was still battling as the momentum swung away from her. She held serve, fending off two set points and pushed Williams further as she served for the set, but an acutely angled forehand service return skipped off the net wide to concede it.
With honours even after 67 minutes of play, the match went into the decider with Williams finally showing some of the form that has helped her to five Grand Slam titles, but she still had to contend with a determined youngster who was clearly aiming to make a name for herself on her debut at The Championships.
The two protagonists exchanged service breaks in the decider where inexperience as much as experience, played a part. While Williams now looked calm and collected, Kudryavtseva was finding reason to question calls as she could see the big prize evaporating before her.
Nevertheless, to her great credit, the youngster continued to go for her shots only to have her serve crucially broken in the 11th game. With that the Russian's fighting spirit finally drifted away as Williams stepped up and served out to love.
For Williams there would have been relief, evident as she acknowledged her victory with a salute to the crowd. The fans in turn applauded their appreciation of an excellent contest. Meanwhile, a tearful Kudryavtseva waved wanly back as she trudged off court no doubt turning over in her mind what might have been.
Match Statistics
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