Venus Williams upset 48th-ranked Camile Giorgi 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6) after more than three hours at the Birmingham Classic on Monday for her first victory over a player in the top 50 in nearly four years
Monday 19 June 2023 22:17, UK
Venus Williams claimed her first win over a top-50 player in nearly four years after snatching a dramatic victory in the opening round of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.
The 43-year-old upset world No 48 Camile Giorgi 7-6 (5) 4-6 7-6 (6) after three hours and 17 minutes, securing the win in a final-set tie-break to book her place in the last-16.
Williams was out for six months with a hamstring injury and lost to 17-year-old Celine Naef on her return to action in last week's Libema Open in the Netherlands, with the world No 697 forced to take a medical timeout during the opening set on Monday.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion claimed an early double break in the first set and recovered from the timeout to win the set in a tie-break, before Giorgi claimed an early double break of her own on her way to taking the second.
Giorgia rallied from 5-2 down in the third to force a tie-break, where Williams - who received the bulk of the support from the crowd - prevailed 8-6 to claim just a second singles victory in almost two years.
"It was touch and go there, and I felt the support," Williams said after her victory. "I thought I played really well today, and she played incredible.
"I'm so surprised she's not No.1 in the world. There were so many moments where I thought, 'This match is over,' then she would hit a shot from out of nowhere.
"She pushed me to be better than what I thought I could be, and it's great for me. I haven't played a lot of matches, and it's great to come through."
Williams will face either No 2 seed Jelena Ostapenko or 18-year-old Linda Noskova in the next round, with the five-time winner of the Wimbledon singles now looking to win consecutive matches for the first time since her run to the 2019 Western & Southern Open quarter-finals in Cincinnati.
There were different emotions for another former top-10 player returning to grass, with Elina Svitolina beaten 6-2 6-0 by Czech 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova in less than an hour.
Svitolina made a brilliant comeback on clay following the birth of daughter Skai last October, reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open, but was unable to find her feet on the grass.
Wearing the colours of her native Ukraine, the 28-year-old quickly lost the first four games and made far too many errors against a much steadier opponent.
"Linda played really well [on Monday], from the start until the end," said Svitolina. "I don't think she did anything wrong at any point. I was struggling at the beginning and obviously on the grass you have no time to adjust. For me, it didn't happen today but I'll go on the practice court and try to do better next time."
Third seed Magda Linette had to battle her way into round two, coming from a set down to defeat Italy's Jasmine Paolini 3-6 7-5 6-4.
Nottingham champion Katie Boulter begins her campaign on Tuesday against China's Lin Zhu while Jodie Burrage and Harriet Dart play each other.
