LEGENDS.  Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm are two of the most well respected players on the WTA tour and the pair fought out a rollercoaster first round match on day one of the 2014 US Open.  Venus won 2-6 6-3 6-3 in exactly two hours, fending off a late charge from the 43-year-old Japanese player.  I still remember Venus and Kimiko’s match at Wimbledon in 2011, which remains one of my favourite WTA matches from the past couple of years.  The ending to this match was reminiscent of that encounter with the pair trading blows in some sensational all-court rallies.  Excluding the terrific conclusion to the match, this was an erratic affair for two and a half sets…

Venus started the match in superb form, swatting winners and serving with plenty of pace.  However she was unable to take advantage of five break points as KDK held her first service game from *0-40 down.  From that moment, Venus completely went off her game, missing shots off both wings and seemingly unable to find any rhythm up against Date-Krumm’s funkiness.  It was a very consistent set from KDK.  I continue to marvel at some of KDK’s shotmaking and the pace she can generate, which is very deceptive.  Even in a reasonably one-sided second set, Venus never looked entirely comfortable and in control of her shots.  It was her serve that kept her ahead as Kimiko’s dropped considerably.

The third set started in pretty horrid fashion as Venus raced into a 5-0 lead, securing a gutsy hold at *2-0.  KDK’s level fell off a cliff.  However at 5-0, plucky and determined as ever, KDK rediscovered some of her very best tennis.  For the first time in the contest, both were playing at a reasonably high level and KDK displayed real tenacity, breaking Venus twice (on one of the breaks, Venus double faulted on break point) and getting the score from *5-0 to 5-3*.  In what turned out to be the final game featuring some more brutal baseline exchanges, Venus broke KDK’s serve for the seventh time to book her place in the second round.

It wasn’t an easy match for Venus and it certainly wasn’t one of her cleanest performances.  Venus has now won five of her last six three set matches and at this stage of a Grand Slam, it doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you get through you remain in the game! Venus has a reasonable draw and can draw on inspiration from her victory today and some incredibly gutsy wins in Canada earlier this month where she reached the final.  She will get a day off before playing Kiki Bertens or Timea Bacsinszky on Wednesday.

In an interesting sub-plot to this match, an over-friendly bee tried to upstage the contest.  First it went for Kimiko eventually being swatted away by three ballboys and a couple of towels.  Then it came back a few games later, following around a frustrated Venus before a ballboy caught it in a towel and launched it into the bin…  Poor bee.