Wimbledon 2011 Results: Venus Williams Survives 40-Year-Old Kimiko Date-Krumm 8-6 In Third Set

Match results from Day 3 of Wimbledon 2011, where heavy downpours have delayed much of the morning’s play.

Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams lost the first set in her second round match against forty-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm, but recovered to advance with a final score of 6-7(6), 6-3, 8-6.

Date-Krumm raced out to a 5-1 lead in the first set, but Venus was able to save several set points on her way to clawing her way back to 5-5. But Date-Krumm steeled herself when it mattered most, using her unconventional game and aggressive court positioning to take the tiebreak 8-6.

Venus asserted herself quickly in the second set, breaking twice to win the second set 6-3 by two breaks.

It looked like Venus would roll through the third set as well, as she broke in the second game of the set to go up 2-0. But Date-Krumm broke right back in the third game, and survived a marathon service game to hold for 2-2.

The two stayed even all the way past regulation, with Date-Krumm’s short swings effectively reflecting back Venus’ power.

But serving to stay in the match for the third time at 6-7, errors finally started to fly off the Japanese veteran’s racquet, and Venus finally took the match when a Date-Krumm passing shot missed by millimeters.

Date-Krumm’s best result at Wimbledon was way back in 1996, when she lost in the semifinal to Steffi Graf. Yep, she’s that old.

The last time Venus lost in the second round of Wimbledon was in 2004 against Karolina Sprem, a match in which her opponent, was awarded a phantom point in the deciding tiebreak (an incident that has come to be known as the “Sprem Donation”).

Due to the heavy rain that fell in SW19 for much of the early afternoon, this was the only match being played for several hours, thanks to the roof over Centre Court. But the skies have now cleared and the tarp has come off, and action continues on all nineteen courts.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream for more results from Day 3 of Wimbledon 2011. Get live scores at the tournament’s official website, and watch matches online for free on ESPN3.