Venus edges out Date-Krumm in three sets at Wimbledon

     LONDON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams needed to fight for nearly three hours to edge out the 40- year-old Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in the women's second round at the 125th Wimbledon Champoinships on Wednesday.

    The 23rd seeded Williams met strong challenge from Date-Krumm, who once reached the semifinals at the grass-court Grand Slam 15 years ago, but the American showed her quality as a great champion, eliminating the tough opponent 6-7(8), 6-3 and 8-6.

    "It took me a while to adjust in the first set," said Williams, who lost the tiebreak 6-8 in the opening set although she managed to come back from 1-5 down.

    "She runs down every ball. She hits every ball basically on the baseline, hard and flat," the seven-time Grand Slam champion talked about Date-Krumm.

    "If you get it anywhere near the mid-court, she hits for the corners and comes to the net."Date-Krumm, once ranked fourth in the world and retired¹ for 12 years before returning to the tour in 2008, admitted that she was very disappointed as she was so close to a daunting² win. "But most important, I played my tennis and then I can fight with Venus. She 's a five-time champion here. She's a great player. I can fight with her, so it's a very good match for me."Williams, absent from the tour for half a year due to injury since Australian Open, will play Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the third round.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。