Venus crushes Wozniak to keep gold bid on track

LONDON (AFP) –

Venus Williams of the US returns the ball to Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak during their London 2012 Olympic Games women’s singles second round tennis match at the All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Williams underlined her desire for a fourth Olympic gold medal as the American raced into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Wozniak at Wimbledon.

Venus Williams underlined her desire for a fourth Olympic gold medal as the American raced into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Venus hasn’t won a Grand Slam since 2008, but the American has always thrived at the All England Club and is clearly determined to emulate her singles success at the 2000 Sydney Games.

The 32-year-old, who has also won two doubles golds with sister Serena, was far too powerful for Wozniak and took just 63 minutes to set up a last 16 clash with German seventh seed Angelique Kerber, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this month.

When Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion, crashed out against Elena Vesnina in the first round of the grass-court Grand Slam last month, the result was seen as further evidence of the American’s struggles with Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease which leaves her fatigued and with painful joints.

But she has looked back to her ferocious best over the last two days in south-west London.

She crushed French Open finalist Sara Errani in the first round and Wozniak, the world number 54 who is actually ranked 15 places about Venus, was clearly out of her depth on Centre Court.

When Wozniak began the match with a double-fault, Venus immediately smelled blood and pressured her opponent into surrendering her serve twice to take the first set.

Venus was equally merciless in the second set, breaking three times to secure a smooth passage into the last 16.