Venus Williams Overcomes Groin Injury at Australian Open to Advance

Filed under: Australian Open, WTA

Against all odds, Venus Williams overcame a serious groin injury and defeated 97th-ranked Sandra Zahlavova 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-4 to advance into the third round at the Australian Open on Wednesday. The second-round match took three hours to complete.

The fourth-seeded Williams suffered the injury defending set point in the first-set tiebreaker while going up for an overhead with her backhand. Venus, who described the injury with ESPN after the match as "sharp" and "acute," screamed during the point as she felt what she described was a pull.

After she lost the point to go down a set, Venus took a medical timeout and went into the locker room to receive treatment. Williams, who has never retired from a Grand Slam in her career, returned to the court for the second set with her upper right leg taped.

Venus seemingly put the sluggish first set and injury out of mind, as she came out scorching in the second set. The seven-time Grand Slam champion managed to generate powerful serves and groundstrokes to batter Zahlavova in the second set. From there on, Venus commanded the speed of the match and began dictating pace as the momentum rapidly changed.

Source: http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2011/01/19/venus-williams-overcomes-groin-injury-at-australian-open-advanc/

Kristen Bell Kristin Cavallari Kristin Kreuk Kristy Swanson Kylie Bax