Venus is eclipsed after error in scoring

Tennis Wimbledon 2004The transit of Venus across the tennis planet and out of the competition was completed yesterday amid glaring controversy at Wimbledon. In the first major upset of the championships last night on Centre Court, Williams went out 7-6, 7-6, despite playing through the second-set tie break on the wrong score against her teenage opponent Karolina Sprem.

Just minutes later 47-year-old legend Martina Navratilova also departed, to the teenager Gisela Dulko, ranked 59 in the world.

Williams lost the first set in an error-ridden performance and was forced to a tie break in the second set at 6-6. As Sprem was serving at 2-1 down, a fault was clearly called by the line judge.

Although Sprem served from the same side of the court, the umpire called 2-2, thus handing Sprem a point. The tie break then continued amid total confusion to everyone except, seemingly, the two players and the umpire.

It is the first time anything like this has ever happened at a Grand Slam event and although the players seemed to hesitate, they said nothing to the umpire, Ted Watts, and continued playing with an incorrect score being called. None of the line judges brought the error to the umpire's attention either.

"It is the players' responsibility," said tournament referee Alan Mills afterwards. "If they feel the score is wrong then they challenge the chair umpire. But there, nothing happened. It is a bizarre situation but Venus didn't question it. The result stands and I'm afraid Venus has left the tournament."

Williams, unusually serene about the error, thought she had simply suffered another memory lapse and had forgotten the score. She declined to blame the umpire for the mess and actually accepted it gracefully and with some degree of dignity.

"It was very confusing, yes," she said after the match. "Sometimes I do lose track of the score and felt maybe that I'd lost track again. I don't question a lot of calls. I just play and do my best. And really that's what I did at that point. I'd like to think it doesn't make a difference but obviously it was a wrong call, yes.

"Like I said, I thought I'd lost track but I couldn't be sure. I just didn't want to lose my focus. But it did seem . . . I thought I remembered her having only one serve but then again you know it's a long time ago now. I don't think one call makes a match. I had some opportunities out there and I should have made the most of them."

Her exit again asks questions about the dedication of her and her sister Serena to the sport. Both of them also have interests in fashion and films and Venus, twice a winner here, in 2000 and 2001, has not progressed beyond the quarter-finals in the three Grand Slams of 2004.

In Australia she was upset in the third round and at Roland Garros reached the quarter-final before being defeated by the eventual winner, Anastasia Myskina.

She also earned two set points in the first set yesterday and three in the second but was unable to convert any of them.

"I work hard at everything I do," said Williams in her defence. "I guess I'm not thinking too much about what the next person thinks. I only really care about what I think. I thought I was playing very well at this event. She just came out and played like she'd nothing to lose."

Sprem, who has yet to win a singles title, is ranked 30 in the world and had played Williams just once before, losing to her on the clay in Berlin in May of this year.

"I didn't know," she said afterwards. "I was confused. When she took the ball and started to serve I didn't think about it. I was 100 per cent in the match and I just wanted to play.

"I think that she (Venus) is playing great tennis, still," said the Croatian in Williams's defence. "She's a great person, a great player. So I don't know. She will get good results for this year, for sure. Today, I was just going on the court and I just wanted to do my best."

Navratilova began her second-round match in style taking the first set 3-6. It looked then that she would have the advantage over Dulko following a humiliating 6-0, 6-1 defeat in Paris just four weeks ago. But the younger player picked up her game, running out a clear winner 6-3, 6-3 for the match.