The baseline wasn't the starting line, but it sure looked that way to Venus Williams. Waging an ongoing battle with Sjögren's Syndrome, Williams compares playing pro tennis with the energy-sapping illness to piloting a Formula One race car running on only a half tank of fuel.
Today, a revved up Venus played with the pace of a woman looking to lap her opponent from the outset. The 2000 Olympic singles gold medalist floored it, winning 10 of the first 13 games to roar past seventh-seeded Sara Errani, 6-3, 6-1, to reach the second round of the London Games.
Venus set the tone for the match in the opening game, throwing down three aces to hold at 15, then cracking a backhand return down the line to break for a 2-0 lead. The race was on.
When she's on her game, French Open finalist Errani is a patient player who hits heavy topspin shots to create openings. Errani won't hit through you with one imposing shot—she's skilled at displacing you with a series of strokes. But while the rust-colored clay affords her time and accentuates the bounce of her shoulder-high shots, the slicker green grass is a much faster track, and Williams' low, lashing drives rushed the 5'4" Italian into defensive replies.
On serve, Errani's kicker out wide sets up her first strike effectively on clay, but Venus blew up that blue print on grass. The combination of the lower-bouncing surface and the wide wingspan of the 6'1" American was devastating, as Williams repeatedly stepped into the court to blast backhand returns down the line. She broke in five of Errani's first six service games.
The five-time Wimbledon winner elicited a sustained chant of "USA! USA!" from the small but vocal Court 2 crowd after slamming down an overhead to hold at 15 for 4-1. Williams whipped a forehand down the line that rattled Errani's Babolat racquet to collect the 35-minute first set on the strength of 19 winners compared to her opponent's seven.
At 32, Venus is still one of the fastest women on tour, and she showed that speed in running down a drop shot and poking a forehand winner to break in the first game of the second set. Swooping forward, Williams unloaded on a backhand swing volley to break again for 3-0. If Williams, who has a favorable draw, can impose her net skills even more and continue to serve as effectively as she did today—and most importantly, navigate the unpredictable effects of her illness—she is capable of making a run.
A battered Errani, who suffered a golden set loss at the hands of Yaroslava Shvedova in her last singles match at the All England Club, gamely tried to extend the thrashing, but floated a meek double fault into net on the third match point. Next up for Venus, who finished with 32 winners, is a second-round meeting with Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak. In their lone prior meeting in Miami this March, Williams fought off a match point to subdue Wozniak, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a two-hour and 53-minute thriller.
—Richard Pagliaro