Venus Williams battles back yet again to beat Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru
There have been plenty of opportunities to write Venus Williams off. When Sjogren's syndrome sapped her energy and she went 13 Grand Slams without making a quarter-final. When this year, at the age of 38, she did not win a match at the first two majors of the season.
And here again at Wimbledon when the No 9 seed lost the first set of her second-round match, out-rallied and outrun by Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru.
But this remarkable athlete has confounded all attempts to draw a line under her storied career and she bounced back once again, winning 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 in just under two hours to reach the third round.
Venus Williams celebrates her win over Alexandra Dulgheru at Wimbledon on Wednesday
The five-time All England Club champion remains a majestic sight. Her forehand in particular is such a fluid, graceful shot and she is a natural mover on a grass court.
As in her opening match against Johanna Larsson, Williams lost the first set but cruised through the next two. Having become rather bogged down early on she ramped up the aggression and by the end was in full flow. She will play either No 20 seed Kiki Bertens or Anna Blinkova.
In a women's field which lost four of its top 10 seeds in the first round, Williams has an opportunity to repeat her run of last year, when she lost in the final to Garbine Muguruza.
World No 141 Dulgheru is embarking on a far less high-profile renaissance of her own. Her two career titles came in 2009 and 2010, and she was ranked inside the world's top 30 before a succession of knee injuries hampered a promising career.
Williams had to fight back after losing the first set to the Romanian qualifier
The 38-year-old American icon hit top form again in the second and third sets
The 29-year-old was outside the top 300 this time last year but she is now just outside the top 100 and is determined to bounce back one last time.
Dulgheru's gameplan was to draw Williams into long rallies and it worked a treat in the first set. Williams wasn't getting many free points on her serve and was struggling to pierce the Romanian's defences.
Dulgheru moves well round the court and has a counter-punching style. She returned superbly in the first set and put the Williams serve under pressure again at 3-1. But Williams smote a backhand winner down the line and then hit a superb overhead from almost on the baseline to hold.
The Dulgheru serve is no weapon, but in the first set Williams was unable to take advantage on the return as she so often does.
She and sister Serena both favour a first-strike style of tennis. They look to land a heavy blow with their first shot of the rally, be it serve or return, and then dominate from there. But Dulgheru was neutralising Williams's power well and drawing her into extended rallies.
Dulgheru hits a double-handed backhand during her three-set defeat by Williams
One spectator on No 1 court gets particularly animated during the Williams match
Williams responded well by doubling down on the aggression. One sweetly struck forehand, which sent up a puff of white as it skipped off the line, took the breath away.
She won eight points in a row on her own serve to force Dulgheru to serve for the first set at 5-4.
Williams just could not find her rhythm and sent a backhand long to concede the set.
Dulghuru was off the court for six minutes for a bathroom break after the first set. It is an odd trend in tennis and a terrible look for Wimbledon to have their second show court with no action for so long.
And the delay could well have worked in Williams' favour as the American broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set.
Having made only six unforced errors in the first set, Dulgheru suddenly began to miss.
At 5-0 down she called for the trainer to take a look at her troublesome knee. Serving to stay in the set, Dulgheru sent down a double fault and Williams had a 6-0 'bagel' set.
The assault continued in the decider as Williams began to move forward purposefully and slide winners down the line. Dulgheru could do little but hope her opponent began to miss. But Williams is an excellent frontrunner and she stormed through.
She gave a graceful twirl to her adoring fans and was off into the third round.