One of two things can happen when a top-seeded player starts to feel a little pressure from a lesser opponent under the bright lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
She can panic, crumble, and unravel. Or she can remain composed and seize back control.
When it comes to 37-year-old Venus Williams, playing in her 19th U.S. Open, we should know which of those things to expect.
Williams was tested twice in her second-round 7-5, 6-4 victory against Oceane Dodin on Wednesday night, and both times she passed.
Early on, it looked like Williams would cruise to victory. She didn’t lose a point on her serve until the fifth game of the match, breaking Dodin’s serve in the following game and eventually seized a 5-2 lead. The first set, even the match, seemed a sure thing then.
But the 48th-ranked Dodin of France, who was playing Venus for the first time, stormed back, winning three straight games to even it at five apiece. This was the first test for Williams, and she responded with two gems to take the set.
In the second, it once again appeared that the seven-time Grand Slam champion had guaranteed the outcome, assuming another 5-2 advantage. And once again, Dodin proved resilient, winning consecutive games to make it 5-4 with a chance to knot things up on her serve.
Williams wouldn’t let it get any closer. She broke to secure the match, hitting a beautiful forehand winner down the line to seal the deal.
Though she surely could sniff the third round and a meeting with Maria Sakkari out of Greece, the oldest player in the women’s draw stayed focused and poised for the full hour and 27 minutes of competition.
“The match isn’t over until you shake hands,” Williams told the exuberant Open crowd after she had taken care of business. “I understand that at this point.”
Williams later shrugged off her ability to withstand the two threats from Dodin: “I just try to win the game, win the match. Experience should help.”
It certainly should, and it certainly did.