Venus Williams yesterday beat Julia Goerges at the Wuhan Open to reach 700 career wins, the only active women’s player to achieve the milestone other than her sister Serena.
The 35-year-old, still winning despite her ongoing fight with Sjogren’s Syndrome, said she had no idea she was approaching the milestone before her 6-4, 6-3 victory in China.
“I didn’t know. I’m glad nobody told me before. I would have been a little bit nervous,” she told reporters.
Photo: AFP
She added, with a smile, that her first thought now was how long would it take her to get to 800.
Williams, who is the oldest player at Wuhan and turned professional in 1994, when Goerges was not yet six, becomes only the ninth player to reach 700 wins.
Martina Navratilova (1,442 wins), Chris Evert (1,309) and Steffi Graf (902) head the list, while Serena hit 700 in April and is now on 737.
Williams was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an immune system disorder, in 2011 and later switched to a vegan and raw foods diet to curb its symptoms.
Williams shows few signs of slowing down and she said she now had her sights set on next year’s Rio Olympics, where she hopes to add to her haul of four gold medals.
“The Olympics — that will be awesome to be able to play there, represent the US again. That will be an honor,” she said.
In the first round of the doubles, Anastasia Rodionova won a sibling rivalry when the Australian and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland defeated her sister, Arina Rodionova, and Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei 6-2, 6-2.
On Monday, Maria Sharapova’s comeback from a leg injury lasted less than three sets before she retired with a left forearm problem against unseeded Barbora Strycova.
The world No. 3 had been out with a persistent leg injury since July, when she lost a Wimbledon semi-final to Serena Williams, and pulled out of three events including the US Open.
However, the Russian’s long-awaited return proved short-lived, as she was pushed to two tie-breaks by the Czech Republic’s Strycova before withdrawing when 2-1 up in the third.
“I got pain in my left forearm. It just got worse and worse as I continued,” Sharapova said after the match.
Sharapova’s retirement leaves a question mark over the rest of her season with only one big tournament, the China Open, left before the year-ending WTA Finals in Singapore.
“Obviously, Singapore and Fed Cup is a big priority for myself. I’ll do everything in order to be healthy for that. I don’t know how long it will take for this to recover so I can’t really give myself or you a definite answer about next week,” Sharapova said.
The other upset of the day saw the late withdrawal of Canadian Eugenie Bouchard linked to ongoing symptoms from the concussion suffered at the US Open earlier this month.
Bouchard’s pullout left Swiss youngster Belinda Bencic to play lucky loser Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia. A visibly tired Bencic had to fight hard for a two-set win over Tomljanovic.
Agnieska Radwanska did not fare so well against Venus Williams, losing in two sets 6-1, 7-6 (7/4).
Eighth seed Karolina Pliskova downed Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in a closely fought three sets in the second round, while this year’s shock finalist at the US Open Roberta Vinci of Italy took three sets to knock out qualifier Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 in the first round.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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