O'Donoghue's brave defeat is a typically British triumph

Venus Williams, 22, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, had never heard of Jane O'Donoghue, 19, of Wigan, Lancashire, before their first-round match yesterday, and by now she might already have forgotten her. For O'Donoghue, however, the memory of taking two games from the defending Wimbledon champion on Centre Court, which included a break of that mighty serve, will last a lifetime. The confidence she gained from not being totally obliterated might also, eventually, help propel her into the world top 100 from a distant 344th.

The match, or rather mismatch, finished 6-1, 6-1, and lasted 44 minutes. The World Cup semi-final between Germany and South Korea was unfolding at the same time. This, by contrast, was Germany against Dagenham & Redbridge.

Among the onlookers were Serena Williams, the champ's sister, and Lennox Lewis, another kind of champ. Had O'Donoghue been stepping into the ring with Lewis, she could hardly have been longer odds to win. The bookmakers William Hill had Williams at 200-1 on ­ which means a £200 bet would yield just £1 of winnings ­ making her the hottest favourite ever in a two-horse race.

Against such overwhelming odds, O'Donoghue performed creditably and even inflicted an early defeat on her opponent, albeit only by winning the toss.

"I thought I'll make her serve first, put a bit of pressure on," said O'Donoghue at her post-match press conference to widespread laughter, including her own.

In fact, Williams opened with an ace and then all but aced O'Donoghue three times more. No sooner did the umpire, Sandra De Jenken, declare, "Play" than she was saying, "Game Miss Williams." The writing, it seemed, was on the wall in fluorescent pink. And indeed, in the first set, O'Donoghue won only a single point on the formidably deep and powerful Williams serve which at times clocked 117mph.

When the teenager did get the frame of a racket on it, the ball pinged off in all sorts of exciting directions, nearly decapitating the umpire one moment, a line-judge the next, Terry Wogan in the Royal Box after that. It was like watching Phil Tufnell batting, and somehow surviving, against a rampant Curtly Ambrose.

Yet O'Donoghue stayed admirably calm, and she served well too. She won the fourth game to enthusiastic applause, which became positively tumultuous when she exhorted the crowd to ratchet up their support. The cries of "C'mon Jane" began to ring out. "Oh, good girl," cried a woman in a printed floral dress. A brave British loser, a genteel British crowd, it rather felt like time for a cream tea.

But there was still some tennis to enjoy. Williams won the first set in 22 minutes, and promptly broke O'Donoghue to lead 1-0 in the second. Then came the moment we had not been waiting for, because we thought it could never happen. O'Donoghue smacked a winning forehand off an unusually vulnerable second serve by the champion to go 15-40 ahead, then ripped a double-fisted backhand past Williams as she approached the net. One game all, and a sitting ovation.

It could not last. It did not. Williams powered back into a commanding lead, but at least accorded her young opponent total respect in the form of a full repertoire of grunts and shrieks. The "uhhhh!", I noticed, is reserved principally for the backhand. The "aagh!" comes mainly on the forehand.

With or without sound effects, the Williams forehand is a ferocious weapon and at 6-1, 5-1, it produced the shot of the match. O'Donoghue serve-volleyed deep to the corner, which Williams not only reached but somehow converted into a brilliant cross-court pass. "Nobody else on tour would make that cross-court forehand," O'Donoghue said later. "I was waiting for the down-the-line. I thought, 'there's no way she can make it cross-court.' She took two strides, and was there, bang, winner cross-court.

"I just thought, 'too good'. That's what you're dealing with." Williams, for her part, was magnanimous in victory. "To be honest, I think [O'Donoghue] played really well," she said. "I don't think she should be at all discouraged because, you know, I've had a lot more time and a lot more matches. Her serve was very good, very solid. If she keeps playing like that, she'll definitely make a breakthrough."

O'Donoghue undoubtedly will go far; her next event is in Casablanca. Williams, meanwhile, is looking no further ahead than a third Wimbledon singles title. "I think there's something about the grass," she said. "I can play as fast as I want to and I can do exactly what I want. I think that's what makes it so comfortable for me." The others, including Serena, have been warned.