Venus Williams was on the brink of defeat in her second round match against Lisa Raymond on Thursday. Down one set and 5-2 in the second set, Williams won 11 of the match's final 13 games to defeat Raymond 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2 and advance to the third round at Wimbledon.
Raymond, ranked 84th in the world, was as close as two points away from winning the match before Williams began her spectacular comeback.
Williams turned dominant in the final stages of the match, actually winning 34 of 39 points and 18 straight while putting the match away.
In gentleman's play, French Open champ Rafael Nadal also made a dramatic turnaround, coming back to win after losing the first two sets against qualifier Robert Kendrick, 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, 6-4. It was just the second time in Nadal's career he overcame a two-set deficit to win a match.
Nadal will face American Andre Agassi in the third round. Agassi advanced to the third round in his final Wimbledon with a 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over Italian Andreas Seppi.
Agassi is looking forward to the challenge of facing Nadal. 'He's very confident, great competitor,' Agassi said of Nadal, a clay court specialist who has never been past the third round on the grass at Wimbledon. 'Needless to say, very talented and fit. So it's going to be a hard match.'
Agassi has already announced his retirement from pro tennis after this year's U.S. Open in September.
