Williams sisters lay ghosts of Court No 2 to rest at the double

The siblings had been primed for a fall by the All England Club who decided to keep them away from the two main theatres at Wimbledon, scheduling the pair to play one after another at the so-called ‘Graveyard of the Champions.’

No double trouble: Venus and Serena Williams teamed up to win the doubles on court No 2 after both triumphing there in the singles

The duo may have viewed the task with a certain degree of apprehension. After all, they have both fallen victim to the curse in years gone by.

Ever since Ilie Nastase was beaten by Alex Mayer in the fourth round 35 years ago, the arena has played host to the demise of a number of former title-holders. The roll-call of the fallen includes such famous names as Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.

But there wasn’t even the sniff of an upset as the Williams progressed serenely into the quarter-finals, taking little over an hour apiece to despatch Alisa Kleybanova and Bethanie Mattek.

Having lost on Court No 2 in 2006 to Jelena Jankovic, memories of the upset were fresher in the mind of current champion Venus. But she put any negative thoughts to the back of her mind as she swatted aside Kleybanova.

The Russian youngster is cut more from the mould of Svetlana Kutnetsova than Maria Sharapova and was willing to trade blows with the four-time title winner. However, accuracy in both her service game and ground-strokes were sadly lacking, enabling Venus to cruise home 6-3, 6-4.

‘There wasn’t any fear in my mind,’ said the American. ‘I’ve played a lot of matches out there. The court does play differently to the other courts and it was a case of focusing on that and taking it into account.’

Mattak played better than the 6-3, 6-3 scoreline against Serena Williams suggests. However, after surrendering the first game on her serve, she was unable to exert any real pressure on the sixth seed.

Serena picked up a code violation for an audible obscenity during the second set, but that was the only blot on her copybook as she moved comfortably into the last eight.

‘I didn’t think about the past,’ said Serena. ‘I just focused on winning my match. I don’t have a good memory of what went on against Jill Craybas when I lost. But I think was destined to lose. It wasn’t for me to win that year.’

Just for good measure, the referees’ office sent the Williams duo back to Court No 2 on Monday night for a third-round doubles match. But again they showed the court held no fears for them as they crushed Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 6-4.

Who's been buried in the graveyard?

Court Two has seen many champions fall over the years...

MARTINA HINGIS
2007 — the 1997 champion lost to Laura Granville 6-4, 6-2.

SERENA WILLIAMS
2005 — the champion in 2002 and 2003 lost to Jill Craybas 6-3, 7-6.

Taking the Flach: Andre Agassi leaves Court No 2 after his shock exit in 1996

PETE SAMPRAS
2002 — the seven-time champion lost to 145th-ranked George Bastl 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4.

RICHARD KRAJICEK
1999 — the 1996 champion lost to qualifier Lorenzo Manta 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4.

ANDRE AGASSI
1996 — the 1992 champion (pictured) lost to qualifier Doug Flach 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6.

PAT CASH
1991 — Cash, champion in 1987, lost to Thierry Champion 7-5, 6-7, 4-6, 6-1, 12-10.

VIRGINIA WADE
1984 — Britain’s 1977 champion lost to Swedish qualifier Carina Karlsson 6-2, 4-6, 11-9.

JIMMY CONNORS
1983 — the 1974 and 1982 champion lost to Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

JOHN McENROE
1979 — McEnroe, who would be champion three-times, lost to Tim Gullikson 6-4, 6-2,
6-4.

ILIE NASTASE
1973 — The No.1 seed lost to Alex Mayer 6-4, 8-6, 6-8, 6-4.