Venus Williams of the USA advanced easily to round 3 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over unseeded No. 59 ranked Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain at the French Open in Paris.
The match pitted two of the older players on tour against each other – Venus, age 29 versus Arantxa, age 27.
Even with a shaky serve, the veteran Venus was a formidable foe. Her normally reliable first serve was a late arrival to the first match at Court Philippe Chatrier, and it nearly cost Williams her first service game, if not further concern. Venus often took an inordinate amount of time pondering her service toss. And when she finally lifted the ball skyward, she occasionally chose not to hit it until another time. But the in-match experimenting paid off, and Williams stabilized, stole a number of breaks and settled in for the 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Venus reached the final at the French Open in 2002, losing to sister Serena Williams, but has not advanced past the quarterfinals since then. The past three years, she has lost in the third round. So it seems Venus is out to prove something.
We will soon know if Venus can survive the 3rd round this year when she faces No. 26 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
