Reinvigorated Venus falls just short in champions battle

Venus Williams of the U.S. reacts during her women's singles tennis match against Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic on Centre Court at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London June 27, 2014. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

LONDON (Reuters) - American veteran Venus Williams played like the great champion she has been at Wimbledon on Friday but fell just short, losing a high-quality Centre Court slug fest against Petra Kvitova.

A match-up between two of the best exponents of grasscourt tennis always looked like being a classic and it lived up to expectation as 2011 champion Kvitova edged it 5-7 7-6(2) 7-5.