Venus Williams overcomes Wimbledon SCARE to beat angry Johanna Larsson
VENUS WILLIAMS almost became the latest seed to lose in the first round of Wimbledon but she rallied to beat Johanna Larsson 6-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Williams, 38, was broken three times in the opening set and had to save two set points in the 12th game before forcing a tie-break.
The American lost four points in a row to drop the opener but soon established herself in the match and began to find her range from the baseline.
Larsson meanwhile began to crumble in the face of such clean hitting and lost nine straight games to find herself 5-0 down in the decider and audibly angry.
The Swede did break back once to give the scoreline an air of decency but she could not consolidate and eventually fell to the five-time Wimbledon champion.
Williams showed glimpses of the talents and grace that have earned her the affections of the Wimbledon crowd in the first set but could not sustain the her level.
The wind on No 2 Court, the furthest show court from Centre at the All England Club, gave both players problems and they combined for 28 unforced errors - but it was Larsson who pinched the tie-break.
It was Williams’ second serve rather than her first that had looked particularly vulnerable but she began to find the mark on both in the second set, only losing one point on her first.
It left Larsson, who was broken twice in a row as Williams levelled in a hurry, frustrated and angry, smashing a ball out of the arena after losing a fifth game in a row at 1-0 down in the third and then warned for an audible obscenity when she was about to lose sixth.
By the time she went 5-0 down, it hardly seemed worth her time getting angry.
But the 29-year-old had some success swinging for the fences and broke back when Williams served for the match - only to lose her serve for a ninth time in the match to seal it.
Williams was understandably delighted - Larsson had never won a match on grass - at having avoided such a banana skin. With so many seeds out on day one, she cannot be underestimated.