Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 27 June 2007 /

Venus Williams admitted her relief at scraping through to Wimbledon's second round after a three-set victory over Alla Kudryavtseva.

The three-time champion lost the opening set against the 19-year-old after failing to win any of her opening three service games, before finally turning things around and eventually winning 2-6 6-3 7-5.

Williams, who reached just the third round at the recent French Open, admitted her concern at the performance on court three against an opponent ranked 59 in the world.

The 27-year-old American said: "My balls were just flying out and I didn't have any answers.

"That bothered me. Usually I can figure it out and change my game but I was like 'what am I doing wrong?

"I haven't played a match in two weeks. Hopefully, I've made my mistakes in the first round and hitting balls in pressure situations will help me in the coming rounds."

Matched to small stakes at 100, the older Williams sibling now trades at 20 to win the tournament while her sister Serena can be backed at 4.9.

Venus next plays Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic and is available at 1.09 to make the third round, with her 29-year-old opponent offered at 10.5 to pull off a shock victory.

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