Top ladies admit they must raise their games

Monday 2 July 2012

Serena Williams believes she must improve if she is to lift her fifth Venus Rosewater Dish.

Custom byline text:

Staff writer

After straight-sets wins over Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova and Melinda Czink, the American was below par against China's Jie Zheng on Saturday, before triumphing 6-7, 6-2, 9-7.

The 30-year-old needed to dig deep to see off the 25th seed to move into the last 16, where she today faces Sara Errani's tormentor-in-chief Yaroslava Shvedova, who pulled off a golden set – winning 6-0 without dropping a point – against 10th seed Errani.

"I have to make sure I do better," said Williams, a 13-time grand-slam winner. "Usually I return well but I hit so many errors off my returns against Zheng. I was just off against her, although she played unbelievably. I still think I can play better."Shvedova lost in straight sets the only meeting between the two players three years ago, and this is the first time she has made the fourth round at SW19. "Someone told me that she got a golden set. I asked them what it was. I never knew it existed," the four-time Wimbledon champion continued. "I thought she had won four grand slams in a row and the Olympics. That's the only golden thing in tennis I know."Most of Shvedova's success has come in doubles game, but her win over Errani has left Williams wary."She's a really good player and is playing well," said Williams, who will face Shvedova first on Court Two. "She does everything really well. Hopefully I'll be able to win a point in the first set. That will be my first goal, then I'll go from there."World No.1 Maria Sharapova takes on 15th seed Sabine Lisicki on Court One, while reigning champion Petra Kvitova has improved hugely since her opening win over Akgul Amanmuradova, losing just five games in seeing off GB's Elena Baltacha and Varvara Lepchenko of Russia.Kvitova also reckons she must improve if she is to make Saturday's final, but says she is still getting used to players raising their game against her thanks to her status as defending champion."That's what I was like when I was ranked 60 in the world," said fourth seed Kvitova. "I wanted to play the best players in the biggest stadiums in the world. I'd always play my best against them. I was nervous in the first round but I played well in the last two and will try to have a better game next."Kvitova plays 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the first match on Court Three, with the 32-year-old Italian aiming to make her second quarter-final appearance at the championships."Wimbledon is special. It's not like another tournament," she said. Second seed Victoria Azarenka faces Ana Ivanovic on Centre Court while third seed Agnieszka Radwanska plays Italian Camila Giorgi on Court Two. Kim Clijsters takes on Angelique Kerber.

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Top ladies admit they must raise their games

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED