New York: Most of us crave for coffee whenever we feel anxious or nervous. That’s what happened during the women’s singles clash between Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina on Wednesday evening which the American lost. During the first set of the second-round match which Venus lost 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 51 minutes to Elina to bow out of the competition, the former grand slam champion ordered a cup from her entourage in the stands.
To Venus’ dismay, the coffee delivery from the stands remained unsuccessful at first, as the ball boy tasked with handing over the cup briefly stole the show. As Venus’ entourage handed the ball-boy the cup, the 39-year-old was already making her way off the court. By the time he caught up, the former US Open winner had already made her way towards the locker room.
The boy, who could not catch Venus, then paused in front of the restricted area, embarrassed and red-faced. However, the crowd came to the aid of the bespectacled helper as the spectators signalled for him to leave the cup on the player’s bench on the court. US Open posted the moment and captioned it: “Coffee delivery for Ms. Williams…Ms. Williams?”
The mid-match espresso did seem to work wonders for the American as she raced away to a 3-0 lead before her No. 5 seed opponent came back strongly and won the set 6-4. The Ukrainian went on to win the second set with the same scoreline and ousted Venus from the US Open.
It was not the first time Venus had ordered a coffee mid-match. During a changeover in a match against Donna Vekic at the Cincinnati Masters, she had told her coach that all she wanted was a cup of coffee.
