Venus Williams was among the upset victims in the first round of the 2019 Wimbledon women’s singles, as she fell prey to 15-year-old Corey Gauff. Well, Venus’ sister, Serena Williams, has zero plans of following the same path, as she is set to face off with 18-year-old Kaja Juva in the second round of the tournament. Read on for a preview of this “experience vs youth” matchup below.
If there were any doubts on Williams’ form at Wimbledon, she shushed at least most of it in the first round in which she defeated Giulia Gatto-Monticone, 6-2, 7-5. Williams attacked the net with ferocity, scoring nine nets points to just one by Gatto-Monticone. She also won 65 percent of her return points, which were all crucial in her breaking Gatto-Monticone twice in the match. Williams hasn’t played much this year, and didn’t play in any tournament in between the 2019 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon, but it looked like the gas his body saved from that long rest will enable her to go deep in London, where she has won seven Grand Slam titles. Williams, however, is on double duty at Wimbledon this year, as she’s also going to play side by side with Andy Murray in the mixed-doubles tournament. Hopefully for Williams, that will not take much from her reserve of energy.
Juvan has extended her winning streak to four matches, dating back to the Wimbledon qualifiers. In the first round of the main draw, Juvan dominated Kristyna Pliskova, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Pliskova had her moments, but Juvan showed a more well-rounded game to weather the Czech. Juvan put just 62 percent of her first serves in and won 67 percent of her points off first serves. She will have to bring a much better service game in the second round, as she can’t afford too much to let Williams deal with weaker second serves. Juvan is only 18, so she lacks experience, but if anything, at least she’s going to bring some sort of mysteriousness to Williams. Having a great start against Williams will be crucial for Juvan, who was a former Wimbledon champ at the junior level. Juvan made her Grand Slam debut at the 2019 French Open, where she lasted just one round.
