At the Madrid Masters, Serena Williams heaved a sigh of relief after she was able to finish the longest match of her career so far.
Williams spent a good 3 hours and 26 minutes fighting off Russia’s Vera Dushevina in a 6-7(2), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) match which resulted in William’s favor.
Regarding her performance, Williams said, “I definitely feel really proud because I definitely wasn’t playing my best tennis and I was far off playing well… Also, at that point I wasn’t going to lose. After three hours, I’d better win.”
During the match, Williams left the court to receive treatment – at the time she was ahead 3-2 in the third set. By the time she came back in the game, her right thigh was already strapped. However, no news regarding the extent of the injury has been released.
Williams, while top seeded, was almost able to close the match earlier on. However, her early lead was wasted a few minutes later, where she was able to trail 4-0 right up to the tiebreaker. It was only until she was able to save a match point where she was able to seize the opportunity to grab the win.
After her win against Dushevina, Williams has successfully reached the third round of the Masters, although there is no indication whether her injuries will derail her from achieving the championship title in the end.