Venus gracious in defeat

WHAT a pity the clash of Venus Williams and Elena Bovina didn’t happen at the beginning of the Trilogy Challenge instead of almost at the end by which stage the crowd, who had paid a lot of money for the privilege of sitting in the Simmonscourt arena at the RDS, had become accustomed to one-sided matches favouring the Americans.

So when Williams, ranked 2nd in the world, won the first set of Saturday's match by 6-3, it looked very much like more of the same. At that stage, the Americans had won all five previous matches in straight sets and the likelihood of Bovina there only as a substitute for the injured Jelena Docic coming from behind to beat such a formidable adversary was unreal. But that's just what happened.

The 19 year-old was the one to wake up the crowd the biggest of the three days with most of the 4,650 seats in use with the way she carried the match to her illustrious opponent. Every time she won a point, she pumped the air, the fans loved it and roared their approval when the Russian ensured a third set. It was terrific stuff with Bovina unafraid to attack and the atmosphere was electric when she served for the match at 6-5. She duly pulled it off and nothing could detract from the extent of the achievement. Venus Williams certainly didn't attempt to do so.