
Kimiko Date-Krumm recoils during a bee capture attempt.
When it comes to being outdoors, there’s nothing quite as disruptive as a pesky insect. For some unfortunate people, bee stings are a matter of life and death. For the rest of us, they’re mostly an annoyance. Given the relatively fragile state of the Williams Sisters in recent years, it makes sense that Venus wouldn’t be taking any risks when confronted with a bee. After all, she might be allergic. The US Open match between Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm was disrupted by a wayward bee.
“The bee was a challenge,” admitted Venus, whose opponent, Date-Krumm of Japan, tried non-violent methods to get the bee to leave. Following what Williams called “such class”, she said, “I would’ve been remiss to swat it. I came up with a strategy to follow her example.”
The bee was eventually captured in a towel by tournament staff and escorted off the court. As for the match itself, Kimiko Date-Krumm gave Williams all she could handle, but in the end, Venus bested Date-Krumm 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round match. The two have a combined age of 77, making them the oldest pairing in any Women’s Grand Slam event. Venus is 34 and Date-Krumm is 43!
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