Wimbledon: Venus Williams beats Kimiko Date-Krumm, but not easily

At first, Venus Williams was made to look as if she’d never played tennis.

Williams is a five-time Wimbledon champion, and at 31 a veteran who has been ranked No. 1 in the world and always walked onto Centre Court as if she was able to command every blade of grass to do her bidding.

But for 2 hours, 56 minutes Wednesday, in a second-round Wimbledon match, Kimiko Date-Krumm, who stands only 5 feet 5 and who is 40 years old, charmed the fans and befuddled the 6-foot-1 Williams by playing tennis from a different time.

Date-Krumm served and volleyed and hit forehands that sliced through the still air and seemed programmed to skid off every line. She hit spinning lobs and slipped clever off-speed ground strokes into tiny spaces under Williams’ racket.

But at the end it was the former champion who snuck into the third round. Williams survived Date-Krumm’s creativity with a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 8-6 victory.

Three American men also won on a rain-shortened day of play. Eighth-seeded Andy Roddick, three times a runner-up here, moved to the third round with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over Victor Hanescu; 10th-seeded Mardy Fish had an equally easy trip out of the second round with a 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-4 win over Denis Istomin; and 28-year-old Alex Bogomolov upset 27th-seeded Juan Igancio Chela of Argentina, 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.

Also advancing were top-seeded and defending champion Rafael Nadal, who swept past American Ryan Sweeting, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, and fourth-seeded Andy Murray.

But only Williams and Date-Krumm earned a standing ovation.

The 23rd-seeded Williams offered praise to Date-Krumm, who retired from the game after the 1996 season.

“I thought she played unbelievable,” Williams said. “I thought she had some luck on her side too, with net cords and balls hitting the lines. I just thought today was a perfect storm for her to try and get a win. Thankfully, I had some answers.”

Date-Krumm raced to a 5-1 lead in the first set playing retro tennis but doing it only because of modern technology. The Centre Court roof, which debuted in 2009, had to be shut because it was raining.

“After 15 years I come back on Centre Court with a roof,” Date-Krumm said. “I was very, very happy to hear [about the roof]. Then I played a great match. So I’m very happy, even though I lost.”

If she was pleased with the new roof, players from a previous era are easier for Date-Krumm to relate to.

“I like Martina Navratilova,” Date-Krumm said. “And, for example, Steffi Graf could hit the backhand slice or power and she could play some more different things. She could hit the backhand slice down the line or crosscourt. She could mix it up.

“Now it’s many powerful players, speedy tennis, everybody is like that. But I will continue my style.”

Williams, who missed nearly five months this year while recovering from a hip flexor injury she suffered at the Australian Open, could have a tricky third-round match as well.

She will play Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 28, who is adept at the net and who angered Venus’s sister, Serena, two years ago at the French Open. Serena hit Sanchez in the arm with a shot. The umpire missed the call, but Sanchez could have given the point to Serena and didn’t.

Serena Williams was heard by a reporter sitting near the court saying, “I’m going to get you in the locker room for that; you don’t know me.”

Both Williams sisters know Sanchez now.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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