TENNIS
Go to the tape: Venus streak now 16
WIMBLEDON, England — Venus Williams ambled onto sun-splashed Court 1 at Wimbledon on Thursday, a slight hitch in her step and an odd-looking wrap around her left knee. White tape here, brown tape there.
Good thing the five-time Wimbledon champion didn’t need to run to hit serves, huh? Powered in part by her big-as- can-be deliveries, Williams overwhelmed 73rd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine, 6-3, 6-2, in the second round to stretch her All England Club winning streaks to 16 matches and 27 sets.
Afterward, Williams was coy about the bandaging, saying it was “just for support.”
“I really hate tape — like, hate. But I just needed it this time. I accepted that, and I realize that this is Wimbledon. So since it was Wimbledon, I taped,” said the American, trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three consecutive titles at the All England Club.
Asked why she needed help for this match after not wearing anything on that leg in the first round Tuesday, Williams said: “Well, what happened was, I needed some support, and then I went and got the support, and then I wore it in the match.”
The Great Tape Caper produced the closest thing to real intrigue Thursday at a tournament that has largely been devoid of surprises, other than Maria Sharapova’s loss a day earlier. There were, however, two young American qualifiers who both made their way into the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time: 17-year-old Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., and 21-year-old Jesse Levine of Boca Raton, Fla.
Andy Roddick, twice a Wimbledon runner-up, got to the third round with a 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over Igor Kunitsyn of Russia.
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