After French flop, Wimbledon triumph?

Williams sisters Venus & Serena vow to compensate French shock with title win at All England Club

A day that started badly for the Williams family in morning sunlight ended badly for the Williams family in near darkness with flashbulbs going off in the stands. The third-round upsets that eliminated Serena and then elder sister Venus from the French Open on Friday were bookends to the day.

Serena’s 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Katarina Srebotnik was one of the most surprising setbacks of her career, which has experienced major swings in her motivation and on-court fortunes through the seasons, the injuries and the auditions for film and television.

Venus’ 7-5, 6-3 defeat against Flavia Pennetta of Italy was less of a puzzler. The 26th-seeded Pennetta, an athletic shotmaker who can handle and deliver power, had beaten Williams on a hardcourt last year at a minor event in Bangkok.

“Just wasn’t a good day for our family today, but we always learn and get more determined after our loss,” the eighth-seeded Venus said. “We’ll just come back harder.”

That might sound like idle chatter if the next big event were not at Wimbledon, where each Williams has made a habit of compensating for French Open disappointments.
Venus, in fact, has made a habit of converting her French Open flops into Wimbledon gold, as three of her four wins at the All England Club have been achieved in the immediate aftermath of a demoralising first week setback in Paris.

Venus first won Wimbledon in 2000 after making the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
But the following year a first-round defeat at the hands of Barbara Schett quickly became a distant memory when she lifted a second trophy in south-west London.
In 2005, a third-round defeat at the French Open by Bulgarian 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva was used as a launchpad for Wimbledon title number three. Last year, it was the same scenario. A third-round loss in Paris to Jelena Jankovic again prefaced a Wimbledon victory.