Sore Ankle Fails to Slow Serena on Grass

Posted 6:58PM on Thursday 23rd June 2005 ( 19 years ago )

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Nursing a sore ankle, Serena Williams said she was unsure until last week whether she would play at Wimbledon. Now she's into the third round, and perhaps one win from another sibling showdown. Williams dropped the first set for the second match in a row but rallied to beat qualifier Mara Santangelo 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday. Venus Williams also won, and the sisters, both two-time champions, could meet in the fourth round. Serena Williams was sidelined for six weeks by a sore ankle before entering Wimbledon. On Thursday, she said for the first time that the injury was a slight fracture. "I'm working on playing through the pain," she said. "Some days it feels good. In general, as long as I tape it, it's OK. But I have to have pretty heavy taping on it." Williams said she made a late decision to play. "I was like, `Oh, I'm not sure if I'm going to go,'" she said. "Every day I was like that until my flight came on Tuesday and I was on it: `Guess I'm going to Wimbledon.'" The reigning Australian Open champion, Williams is bidding for her eighth major title. To win it, she said she must play better than she did in the first two rounds. "I think I have the best chances of people left in the draw," she said. "I'm probably the most mentally tough person out here. I want to win this title really bad." --- LUCKY LOSER: To ease a back ache so he could play at Wimbledon, American Justin Gimelstob last week received a cortisone shot - his third this year, and the 13th of his career. But the 28-year-old Gimelstob, whose stocky physique bears little resemblance to muscular Rafael Nadal, said he's not worried about violating tennis' doping rules. "I don't know if you guys have seen my body. There's no anabolic-ness there. This is as natural as it gets," Gimelstob said with a grin. "This is part Jewish, part Christian, part upper-class upbringing working-as-hard-as-you-can genetics." Gimelstob, who plays 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt on Friday, retired after one game in his final qualifying match last week. He still made it into the main draw as a "lucky loser" when another player withdrew, then drove all over London looking for a doctor to give him an injection. "I feel this desire and this need to eke out every possible ounce of talent and memory that I can drag out of my body and my tennis," he said. Gimelstob is one of the more outspoken players on the men's tour. He's quick to voice his opinion even when watching a match from the stands - as he did Tuesday when three fans were complaining about England's Tim Henman as he struggled. "I finally snapped and I just said to these guys, 'I just want you to know, you guys are the biggest idiots I've ever come across in my life,'" Gimelstob said. "You guys have an unbelievable ambassador to England, he conducts himself unbelievably well, he deals with pressure - the pressure you guys put on him in this country - as well as anyone can handle.' "Maybe he won't ever win Wimbledon, but since when is the barometer of success or failure being the absolute greatest at something?" Henman's 12th bid for a Wimbledon title ended Thursday when he was upset by Dmitry Tursunov. --- DOUBLING UP: Venus Williams has finally accepted Mark Knowles' invitation to play doubles together. Williams will bid for her ninth Grand Slam doubles title but her first since early 2003 when she plays mixed doubles with Knowles, who has won two major titles in men's doubles. "I love playing doubles and I love playing mixed," Williams said. "I just haven't been that healthy in the past. Finally I'm starting to feel decent. ... "He's always asking me. I'm like, `I don't know. I don't trust myself.' Finally this time I was like, `I think I can do it.'" Williams and Knowles are seeded eighth and received a first-round bye. --- INSIDE EDGE: Mashona Washington has an inside scoop on how to win at Wimbledon - brother MaliVai reached the 1996 final. Washington, 29, plays sixth-seeded Elena Dementieva in the third round Friday. It's already her best showing at a major event. "I feel pretty good," she said. "It's my eighth week on the road, which is a long time for me. I've always gone home between the French and Wimbledon. I stayed this week and it seems to be a good thing that I did. I think if I get through tomorrow, I'll really start turning heads." Washington beat 28th-seeded Amy Frazier and Selima Sfar of Tunisia to reach the third round. She said she speaks to her brother almost every day. "We don't really talk about when he was here and when he played because it was so different from '96," Washington said. "But he definitely understands the pressure." MaliVai Washington lost to Richard Krajicek in the 1996 final. --- BIG SERVES: Alexander Popp played for four hours and endured a barrage of aces from Wayne Arthurs to win their second-round match. Arthurs hit 38 aces but lost 6-3, 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 14-12. Popp hit 24 aces. "We were both serving really well, so I think it was kind of tension in the air," Popp said. "Both of us knew if you lose your serve, it's over." There were only three service breaks in the match. GOOD ODDS: Rose Henman, Tim Henman's 2-year-old daughter, has been given 100-1 odds to win a women's title at Wimbledon by oddsmaker William Hill. Henman, a four-time semifinalist, was eliminated in the second round on Thursday - his earliest exit since 1995. © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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