Venus Williams Loses In First Match Since January

| by Evita Mueller

Venus Williams made a good comeback to tennis by winning her first set since January but ultimately she lost the match against Naef 6-3 6-7(1) 2-6.

The initial comeback of Venus Williams happened earlier this year during the Australian summer but she also got injured which made it impossible for her to play for a while. The veteran announced her comeback recently and it became clear that she would be playing at the Libema Open in Den Bosche. That event won't be the only one she plays obviously as she also got a wild card entry for the Birmingham Classic coming up after the Libema Open.

She will also be in London for Wimbledon but won't play any doubles unfortunately as she retired from them following the retirement of her sister Serena Williams. The singles though are still looking good for the veteran as she played a really solid match but ultimately ran out of gas towards the end.

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She faced a youngster Naef, a player that generally plays clay tennis and isn't that familiar with grass tennis. It showed in this match as she really didn't use her chances early though there weren't many, to begin with. Williams for example saved both break points in the first set while using the only break point she had taking it 6-3.

The second set was a bit better by the Swiss player but also by Williams who was now rolling, especially on her serve. Much of what he did well on return was on the second serve. She was up a break only a few games away from winning but she couldn't hold. Naef broke her and then outplayed her in the tiebreak 7-1. The final set was a struggle fest for Williams who simply couldn't keep up with the younger opponent.

She still flashes of good play but for the most part she couldn't keep up with the intensity.

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