2002 More News
Venus Williams has designs on decorating business
By BETH HARRIS
.c The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Venus Williams has designs on more than being one of the world's top tennis players. She's already looking toward the day when she puts down her racket for good.
Williams has started an interior design and decorating company called ``V Starr Interiors,'' a play on her full name of Venus Ebony Starr Williams.
``It's the way I was brought up to always plan for the future,'' she said. ``I love planning and I love putting things together. That's just what I do well.''
The Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.-based company isn't just a vanity project for the two-time Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, who finished the season as the No. 2 player behind younger sister Serena.
As V Starr's president and chief executive officer, Williams is involved at every level.
She began a business plan in April and introduced the company Tuesday during a news conference at the Pacific Design Center.
Unlike most struggling entrepreneurs, Williams has a solid financial base, having earned more than $10 million in prize money and millions more in endorsements since turning pro in 1994.
She designed the company logo, which features a looping V, and decorated its offices. She'll earn an associate's degree in fashion design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale next year, and she was certified as an interior decorator this year.
She deals with the hassles as well. She stepped in when the printer messed up her business cards and she fired the company that worked on a folder given to potential clients.
``It was a whole learning curve,'' she said.
Williams has dabbled in design since 1999, doing free-lance interior decorating for friends and family and designing a line of leather and suede clothing for the Wilson's Leather chain.
As a globe-trotting tennis player, Williams developed an eye for detail and design while staying in fancy hotels, shopping at pricey stores and visiting historical places. She's learned to recognize the finer things, whether it's fabric or fashion.
``You can't fool me anymore,'' she said. ``I can tell if it's cheap.''
She decided Palm Beach Gardens and its wealthy citizenry was the perfect place to set up shop. She's going after high-end clients who will trust her company to design a home and buy and install the furnishings. V Starr already has two clients.
``Sometimes people don't have a clue what they want or they can't do it themselves. That's where I come in and I make it happen,'' she said. ``A lot of people think it is just picking the fabric or a sofa, but there's a lot more that goes into it.''
Her favorite color is green, although she favors bold colors like red and royal blue, and wouldn't dream of covering a sofa in silk if a client has pets that like to jump on the furniture.
``It's hard to say a design is wrong, but if it doesn't function correctly, then it's wrong,'' she said. ``If you place your bed in front of the window, that's wrong.''
Williams isn't going it alone. She solicited resumes on the Internet and interviewed potential design directors before hiring Bonnie Nathan, who was already running her own company in Boca Raton.
``If I don't understand something, I say I don't understand or I ask Bonnie later,'' Williams said, giggling.
``I've already learned a great deal from her,'' Nathan said. ``She is wonderful with people, knows what she wants, makes good decisions and has a passion for design.''
Nathan and others will incorporate Williams' ideas into the actual designs and do the day-to-day work when Williams is at tournaments.
While sister Serena pursues an acting career in her spare time, Venus is happy to immerse herself in books on business management and design. Initially, Williams felt comfortable with her ability to design but was uneasy interviewing furniture and fabric vendors.
``I'm the kind of person that when I get into something, I have to know exactly how it's done or I'll feel embarrassed,'' she said. ``I did feel shy because maybe I didn't know as much as the next designer, but I've gotten over it.''
Venus Williams Retires From WTA Championships With Leg Injury
Nov. 10
LOS ANGELES (AP) Venus Williams' season ended abruptly when a leg injury forced her out in the first set of a semifinal against Kim Clijsters in the WTA Championships on Sunday.
Clijsters, the fifth seed from Belgium, led 5-0 when Williams called for a trainer. After a brief discussion, Williams approached the umpire to say she was done.
Wearing a white wrap on her left calf and heavy tape on her left ankle, Williams walked over to Clijsters, hugged her and then waved to the fans as she left the court to applause at Staples Center. Williams earned $191,000 for her 13 minutes on court.
Clijsters will play either No. 1 Serena Williams or third-seeded Jennifer Capriati in Monday night's final of the $3 million tournament.
Williams said she twisted her left ankle in a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Monica Seles on Friday night, but didn't feel the effects until Saturday night. The official diagnosis was a lower leg strain.
"I wasn't really able to move or get on my toes or change direction," Williams said. "I was taped to the max. Things were already going pretty bad. I was trying to end the points quickly."
Williams' quick exit brought back memories of her controversial departure from the Tennis Masters Series at Indian Wells, Calif., in 2001. She pulled out of her semifinal against younger sister Serena at the last minute with tendinitis in her right knee, triggering massive booing by the crowd.
Serena was booed heavily when she beat Clijsters for the title, causing the sisters' father, Richard Williams, to level racial accusations. Serena has said she will not play at Indian Wells again.
"I'll never forget that," Venus said. "It was a pretty intense moment to go through."
A year ago at the WTA Championships in Germany, Clijsters lost a three-set semifinal to Lindsay Davenport, who injured herself and pulled out of the final against Serena Williams.
"Maybe it's because of me," Clijsters said, grinning.
It was the fourth time in five years that Williams has pulled out from the season-ending championships that determine the WTA Tour's final rankings.
Three of her previous withdrawals came before she even played a match. Last year, she injured her left wrist practicing at home in Florida. In 2000, she had anemia and in 1998 she had left knee tendinitis. In 1999, she reached the semifinals before losing to Martina Hingis.
Clijsters' groundstrokes painted the lines and she won a game with a 111-mph ace as Williams barely moved off the service line. Clijsters broke Williams in the second game, then served a 40-love game for a 5-0 lead before the match ended.
"I saw she wasn't moving as well as she normally does," Clijsters said. "I was telling myself, `Just focus on the ball and don't look at whether she's moving."'
Williams won just six points and had seven errors in her brief time on court. Clijsters hit 21 winners.
"I just wanted to try to see what I could do," Williams said. "I was a lot more disappointed than what I thought I'd be."
A surprised Clijsters remained on court and hit balls with some fans.
Williams was playing her first tournament in a month and only her second since losing to Serena in the U.S. Open final in September. She finished the year with a 62-9 match record in 16 tournaments.
Williams withdrew from the Italian Open in May before her opening match with an injured right wrist.
Venus Williams defeats Seles in WTA Championships
By BETH HARRIS
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Second-seeded Venus Williams saved 10 of 13 break points and beat No. 6 Monica Seles 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the WTA Championships on Friday night.
Williams will play No. 5 Kim Clijsters on Sunday in the semifinals of the season-ending tournament that determines the WTA Tour's final rankings.
Clijsters beat No. 4 Justine Henin 6-2, 6-1 in an all-Belgian quarterfinal.
Seles was clearly the favorite of the crowd at Staples Center, where she saved seven match points in beating Lindsay Davenport in the first round.
``I was very happy to be able to stay with her,'' Williams said. ``I have a lot of respect for her. She was my favorite player growing up. That's why I started grunting; I wanted to be like Monica.''
Seles successfully neutralized Williams' firepower, cracking winners off serves that reached 113 mph. Even when she didn't hit outright winners, Seles got the ball in play and Williams helped by making 38 unforced errors.
Williams had 11 aces and hit 44 winners to Seles' 21.
Seles blew a 4-1 lead in the first set, then had four break points to go up 5-3, but Williams hit a forehand winner and a 114-mph serve to hold at 4-4. Williams later broke Seles at love for a 6-5 lead before hitting a backhand winner off her 115-mph serve to win the set.
They traded service breaks early in the second set before Seles led 3-2. Williams survived nine deuces on her serve and tied the set 3-3 when Seles netted a backhand.
Williams broke Seles in two of the next three games for a 5-4 lead. Williams fired a 116-mph ace to set up her first match point. She won it on her second when Seles netted a forehand.
Williams extended her dominance of Seles, having won nine of their 10 career meetings, including the last three.
Henin offered little resistance against her childhood friend. Clijsters owns a 5-2 record in their rivalry with three of her wins coming this year.
``Maybe that's the worst I've ever played against her,'' said Henin, a friend of Clijsters' since they were youngsters who traveled and roomed together at junior tournaments.
``Those matches are never easy,'' Clijsters said. ``There's always a bit of tension because I know her so well. But that's tennis. We can't choose how the draw was made.''
Henin committed 33 unforced errors in front of a sparse afternoon crowd at Staples Center, where a leak in the 20,000-seat arena's roof caused rain to drop on a third-row seat that wasn't occupied.
``I was really tired. I was sweating a lot and that's not normal for me,'' Henin said. ``It's the end of the season. Everybody is tired. When you're in the top 16, it means you've played a lot of matches.''
Henin, 20, plans to wed Pierre-Yves Hardenne next Saturday in Belgium. But she said she was focused on the tennis ball and not wedding bells.
``I completely forgot that I'm getting married next week,'' she said. ``That's not the reason.''
Clijsters is on the guest list, although she'll be attending alone since boyfriend and men's No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt will be in Shanghai for the ATP Tour's season-ending championships.
What would it mean if Clijsters and Hewitt each won their tour's respective championship?
``It would be nicer if it was in the same facility,'' she said. ``You would notice it a little more but now he's so far away.''
After a season stuffed with 67 tournaments in 33 countries, many of the 16 players at the championships have complained of being tired and are eager for the tennis year to end.
Not the 19-year-old Clijsters.
``It's your last few matches so I'm really motivated to try to finish the year on a positive note,'' she said. ``I feel fine. Maybe some of the other players are really looking forward to going home. I know next week I'll have a few days off.''
Clijsters hit deep groundstrokes and played angles that forced Henin off the court. She won 71 percent of her trips to the net and held a 15-5 edge in winners.
Seles, Venus Williams open with victories
By KEN PETERS
.c The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Monica Seles fought back from seven match points in the second set, then took control in the third Wednesday night to beat Lindsay Davenport in their WTA Championships match.
Seles, faced her first match point in the 10th game of the second set and then was down double-match point in the 12th game. She trailed the second-set tiebreaker 6-2.
The sixth-seeded Seles, however, simply refused to lose. She rallied to win the final six points of the tiebreaker and took the match 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 over Davenport.
In the final match on opening day of the six-day tournament, No. 2 Venus Williams defeated Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6 (7).
Both Seles, who's been coming back from a foot injury, and Davenport, in her ninth tournament since having knee surgery in January, played well in their first-round match, with a string of long rallies and sizzling winners down the lines.
Seles wrapped up her match by winning the last three games of the third set.
Davenport, who finished last year as No. 1 in the world, had reached the finals in four of the events she played since returning to the tour in July. She has not, though, won a title this year.
In afternoon matches, No. 4 Justine Henin defeated Elena Dementieva, and No. 5 Kim Clijsters breezed past Chanda Rubin.
In the last night match, Williams seemed to be rolling to an easy win when she went up 3-0 in the second set, but Schnyder took the next three games and eventually went on to lead the tiebreaker 4-1 before Williams began taking charge again.
She punctuated the match with a closing 111-mph ace.
Top seed Serena Williams begins play Thursday night against Anna Smashnova. The Williams sisters are in different brackets and could meet in the final.
After the afternoon matches drew fewer than 200 spectators, there was a crowd of some 5,000 at the evening session at Staples Center, which seats around 20,000.
Henin, a 20-year-old from Belgium who has been steadily improving, kept Dementieva off-balance and beat her 6-3, 6-3 with a blend of well-placed ground strokes and successful forays to the net.
Henin, who has reached six finals this year and won twice, won 11 points in 13 chances at the net, and her accuracy down the lines kept Dementieva scurrying side to side.
The 21-year-old Russian made 40 unforced errors, 13 more than Henin.
Henin broke Dementieva's service in the sixth game of the opening set to go up 4-2, then held on her next two service games to take the set.
Henin took control in the second by breaking Dementieva's serve in the seventh game.
Dementieva lost the final point of each of the last two games of the match on a pair of poorly executed drop shots. The first went into the net in the eighth game, and the next was a high bouncer in midcourt that Henin easily reached and slashed a crosscourt forehand to end the match.
Clijsters, her groundstrokes crisp and on target, needed only 57 minutes to beat Rubin 6-1, 6-2.
Rubin's second serve was particularly shaky - she double-faulted nine times - and hit just five groundstroke winners, while her 19-year-old foe from Belgium hit seven backhands and six forehands for winners.
The single-elimination tournament pits the top 16 singles players and top eight doubles teams based on points accumulated during the year. The results will determine the final WTA Tour rankings for the year.
The winner of the Monday night's singles final will collect $765,000 of $3 million in prize money.
Venus gets one last shot at sister Serena
By Steve Keating
LOS ANGELES, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Venus Williams will have one last chance to get the better of little sister Serena when the top-ranked tennis siblings take to the court this week for the season-ending WTA Championships.
But as the curtain comes down on the season there are fears the richest event in women's tennis will end the same way as the last three grand slams -- in a family feud with another all-Williams final and defending champion Serena pocketing the winner's share ($765,000) of the $3 million purse.
Fourteen other players have been invited to participate in the WTA's showcase event and all will be hoping Serena and Venus, having seen limited action since they clashed in the final of the U.S. Open, will be rusty and distracted.
Citing fatigue, Serena has not played since early October, withdrawing from events in Filderstadt, Zurich and Linz after claiming her season-leading eighth title in Leipzig.
But the world number one has hardly been at home in Florida recharging her batteries.
Having rocketed up the tennis rankings and the celebrity ladder, the muscular Williams is now a member of Hollywood's A-list and is seen out on the town attending award shows, movie premieres and other high profile non-sporting events.
The younger Williams also recently made a guest appearance as a kindergarten teacher on the television show "My Wife and Kids," and according to reports in the Los Angeles press is keeping herself busy by taking acting lessons.
Still, despite the distractions, there will be few willing to bet against a well-rested and fully motivated Serena, who has utterly dominated the sport this season, winning eight events and 36 of her last 37 matches, including consecutive grand slam triumphs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Another victory at the WTA Championships will help the 21-year-old Williams become the first women's tennis player to win $4 million in a single season.
HUGE HONOUR
"I'm really excited about going to Los Angeles this year and to win there would be the icing on the cake for me," said Serena. "It is a huge honour to play in the Staples Center and I think it will really make all of us want to put on a good show."
The WTA will be desperately hoping for "a good show," having hastily brought its season-ending extravaganza back to the U.S. after the event flopped miserably in Munich last year.
The largest and most lucrative women-only sporting event in the world, the Championships had been a popular fixture at New York's Madison Square Garden from 1979 to 2000.
But the decision to move the event to Germany proved a poor one. The tournament attracted little interest as the season drew to an anti-climactic close, Serena taking the title without lifting a racket when Lindsay Davenport was forced to withdraw from the final through injury.
Now back in the U.S., a line-up top heavy with Americans will ensure crowds at the 20,000-seat Staples Center will have plenty to cheer when play begins on Wednesday.
As always, Serena's major competition is likely to be provided by her lanky sister and world number two Venus, who is back at the event for the first time in three years after illness and injuries kept her on the sidelines in 2000 and 2001.
While Venus's year was overshadowed by her sister's amazing accomplishments, her season was not without its successes, having captured seven titles and more than $2 million in prize money.
Australian Open winner Jennifer Capriati will also be hungry to end a string of frustrating defeats at the hands of the Williams sisters and finish her season the way it began, on a positive note.
Monica Seles, three times a winner of the event, is back. She refused to compete in Germany as a protest over the handling of the case involving the stalker who stabbed her in the back in Hamburg and drove her from the game for several years.
The Williams sisters will also have to be wary of the hard-hitting Davenport, who is back near top form after missing most of the season with injury, and Chanda Rubin, the only player to beat Serena in her last 37 matches.
Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters lead the foreign challenge, the two Belgians riding the momentum of recent confidence-boosting wins at the Generali and Seat Opens respectively.
Russians Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva, young Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, Yugoslavia's Jelena Dokic, Italy's Silvia Farina Elia, Swiss Patty Schnyder, Israel's Anna Smashnova and Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva complete the elite field.
Venus Williams: Gunning for glory
She may have spent much of 2002 accepting Grand Slam runner-up trophies alongside younger sister Serena, but the 22-year-old Venus reached more finals than anyone in 2002, an impressive 11 (winning seven).
For much of 2002, Venus also led the Porsche Race to the Championships, with her seven titles a Tour-best until Serena’s late-season spree in Tokyo and Leipzig. On 25 February, Venus became the 10th woman to be No.1 on the Sanex WTA singles rankings. It was a position she held in three separate reigns for a total of 11 weeks, until Serena ascended the throne after winning Wimbledon in early July.
With four of her eight losses in 2002 occurring against Serena, Venus was unstoppable by all but a few. Her other four losses (Monica Seles – Australian Open QF; Sandrine Testud – Dubai SF; Kim Clijsters – Hamburg final; Magdalena Maleeva – Moscow 2r) were all three-set affairs.
Venus has qualified for the season-ending Championships for the past four years, reaching the semifinals on debut in 1999 but missing 2000 (anemia) and 2001 (left wrist injury). With six of 28 singles titles to date being won indoors, Venus certainly has the ability and experience to add another title to her collection.
A win in Los Angeles would make it a Williams Championships sweep of the past two years, with Serena the reigning titleholder.
Venus vs. Hantuchova in Copenhagen
Venus Williams and Daniela Hantuchova will play an exhibition match in Copenhagen on December 3 as part of a farewell event in honor of Danish player Eva Dyrberg who retired after this year's U.S. Open at the age of 22.
Danish veteran Kenneth Carlsen squares off against Magnus Norman as a warm-up to the female encounter.
According to the event organizers, the financial demands from the managers of Venus Williams were initially too high. But after reading about Denmark on the Internet, the Olympic and four-time Grand Slam champion thought it looked fun, and the parties reached an agreement.
Both matches will be played at the Danish national arena, Parken. The stadium hosted the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest and the boxing brawl between Mike Tyson and local hero Brian Nielsen.
Venus Williams loses in second round of Kremlin Cup
MOSCOW (AP) - Magdalena Maleeva upset top-seeded Venus Williams 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) Thursday in the second round of the Kremlin Cup.
Williams, who had a first-round bye, looked tired and had trouble with her returns against the 27-year-old Bulgarian.
``You know, I didn't play for three weeks and I'm really tired,'' said Williams, who was playing in her first match since losing to her sister, Serena, in the U.S. Open finals. ``She (Maleeva) played really well, she played good at the right points.
``I made a lot of mistakes. It wasn't always going the best from me. Playing against her, I wasn't playing my best.''
In the decisive third set, Maleeva went up 3-1 on a break, but Williams evened it at 3 and both held serve to force a tiebreaker.
At 2-2 in the tiebreaker, Williams double faulted for the eighth time in the match, and Maleeva won the next three points to take a 6-2 lead. Maleeva closed the match with a powerful serve.
Williams will next play at the season-ending WTA Championships in Los Angeles from November 6-11.
``I want another break. It's nice to be at home,'' Williams said. ``It's quite difficult to play all year. Then you need a break because even if you do go home you have to practice.
Venus Williams pulls out of Swisscom Challenge
BERNE, Switzerland, Sept 12 (Reuters) - World number two Venus Williams has pulled out of next month's prestigious $1.224 million Swisscom Challenge, organisers said on Thursday.
Williams, who withdrew from this week's Brazil Open after losing the US Open final to sister Serena at the weekend, will not take part because of "other plans and tiredness."
But tournament director Beat Ritschard told a news conference at Swisscom's Berne headquarters that the rest of world's top ten will attend the October 14-21 tournament in Zurich.
World number one Serena Williams is likely to be top seed, and defending champion Lindsay Davenport, who beat Jelena Dokic in last year's final, will also be one of the eight seeded players.
But Swiss Martina Hingis, currently ranked 10th in the world, is unlikely to be seeded for her home event despite the absence of Venus Williams.
Former world number one Hingis only recently returned from an ankle injury, which prevented her from competing in the French Open and Wimbledon. She reached the fourth round of the US Open 10 days ago.
Anna Kournikova, ranked 38th in the world, is one of three wild card entries. Ritschard said a decision on the other two would not be made until later this month.
The top four seeds will be exempt from the first round and the winner will take a prize $182,000.
Venus Williams, withdraw at Brasil Open
U.S. Open finalist Venus Williams, the world's second-ranked player, withdrew Monday from the $1.22 million Brasil Open, citing a need to recover from an intense hardcourt schedule.
Williams, who fell to sister Serena in Saturday's championship match at Flushing, New York, had played in three straight WTA Tour events and four in the last six weeks.
"I feel that at this point, and after such a long hardcourt season, the best option for me is to rest and look after myself," Williams said.
US Open
Two sisters, but only one can be 1
Venus' serve is perhaps too blistering
By OHM YOUNGMISUK
|
|
|
A blister on her right hand took the sting out of her potent forehand and the steadiness out of her serve.
Venus Williams found herself on Arthur Ashe court, a place she has owned the last two years, suddenly looking mortal. The two-time defending U.S. Open champ even heard the fans cheering for her opponent, 10th-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo.
If there ever was a chance for Williams to be upset, this was it. With her hand wrapped, Williams sprayed shots all over the court and double-faulted 10 times. After splitting the first two sets, Williams served for the match at 5-4, only to fall behind love-40. Anything seemed possible for Mauresmo.
But just as the crowd dug in for a possible 5-5 tie, the second-seeded Williams called upon her powerful serve and blasted her way out of the hole and into her third straight U.S. Open final. She won the next five points and eliminated Mauresmo, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, in their semifinal match. Williams now faces her sister Serena for the second straight year in the Open final and for the third consecutive Grand Slam final. Earlier this year, Serena beat Venus in the French and Wimbledon finals. The winner tonight also takes home the No. 1 ranking in the world.
"I've played really good for the last couple years and it seems like I can't get to that No. 1 ever or just stay there," said Williams, who was No. 1 earlier this year. "It would be nice to definitely be on top."
Like the defending champion she is, Williams picked up her game when she needed it most. After handing Mauresmo three break points in that last game, Williams cracked a 116-mph serve that Mauresmo just managed to get her racket on.
Another big serve set up an easy putaway. Williams followed with a 114-mph ace down the middle before adding a blurring 122-mph service winner to earn match point. Mauresmo finally saw a second serve but she returned that one long. In barely a blink, Mauresmo went from having triple break point to facing match point.
"Four big first serves, nothing I can do," said Mauresmo, who fell to 0-5 lifetime against Williams. "She served unbelievably at that time and that's it."
Early on, it seemed as if Williams would win this one in straight sets. Williams broke Mauresmo, who upset Jennifer Capriati to reach the semifinal, in the eighth game of the first set when she double-faulted on break point. Earlier, Mauresmo had break points in the first and seventh games but Williams erased those with monster first serves each time.
But, after breaking Mauresmo for a 3-2 lead in the second set, Williams lost her own serve twice and at the 4-5 changeover, she asked for a trainer. It wasn't until the next changeover at 5-6 that Williams was able to get her hand wrapped for the blister.
By then, Williams had to take some velocity off her forehand at times and hit more topspin during rallies. Some of her double faults barely reached the net cord as well. With her hand wrapped, Williams lost her serve and the second set rather easily as the crowd backed Mauresmo, hoping for an upset.
But Mauresmo's equally shaky serve resulted in her being broken twice in the third set. Mauresmo also was irritated by two close calls in the set before finally being undone by Williams' powerful serve.
Williams, who had her hand wrapped twice, says she hopes the little blister doesn't haunt her today against her little sister.
"I hope I wouldn't let a blister hold me back from playing my best tennis," Williams said. "But sometimes the little things are the worst."
Venus Outlasts Mauresmo
by Matt Cronin
Friday, September 6
In the most competitive US Open women's semifinal in two years, defending champion Venus Williams overcame a bad blister on her right hand, and a superb performance by France's Amelie Mauresmo in a rousing performance, to move into her third straight US Open final on Friday.
Coming up with huge first serves whenever her back was against the wall, Williams defeated the 10th-seeded Mauresmo 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in a two-hour match that featured all the crucial elements of 21st century attacking tennis.
But in the last game, it was Williams who showed her championship mettle while Mauresmo could only watch while Venus launched lightening bolts on her.
Down 0-40 after Mauresmo strung together three brilliant returns, Williams responded with a 116-mph blast into the body, a huge service and ferocious volley, and a 114- mph service winner. Then, at deuce, the WTA's fastest server came up with a 122 flat blast into the body. The match ended when Mauresmo missed an inside-out forehand return of serve.
"At that point I was really relaxed," said Venus. "I was never really nervous throughout the whole match, I just wasn't able to keep my errors down. I wasn't able to do everything I wanted.....It was a great game -- four great serves to get me to match point. It was nice to have a good service game when I was on the brink of losing it."
Both Williams and Mauresmo spent the entire contest trying to yank control of the center of the court from each other, with the athletic Mauresmo charging the net behind her big inside-out forehand and backhand chips, while Williams not only tried to outstroke her foe from the baseline, but also loped into net in order not to concede the front of the court to her foe.
Mauresmo served extremely well most of the match, mixing hard slice serves with kickers. She held three break points early in the first set, but Venus responded with two huge service winners and a swing forehand volley. In the eighth game of the first set, Venus broke Mauresmo on her fourth break point when the Frenchwoman double-faulted. Venus won the set when Mauresmo committed a backhand unforced error.
Venus appeared to have the match under her control in the second set when she broke Mauresmo with a big backhand return to 3-2, but Mauresmo broke her right back in the next game with a gorgeous backhand swing volley. Venus then began to feel the effects of the large blister on the palm of her right hand and was treated for it on the changeover with Mauresmo ahead 4-3.
Mauresmo then broke Venus again to 5-3 when Williams committed a backhand unforced error, but Mauresmo couldn't serve the set out, playing a shaky game that ended when she dumped a backhand.
But Mauresmo continued to play aggressively while Venus was still disturbed by her blister. Mauresmo broke Venus to win the set when the defending champion missed a forehand and Mauresmo happily pumped her fist.
"I knew I had to hang in there and try to be more aggressive, come into net a little more," Mauresmo said. "That's what I did. In the middle of the second set, I really found my rhythm."
Mauresmo dug herself a hole early in third set when Venus came out firing and broke her to open the set when Mauresmo flailed on a forehand. But the 1999 Australian Open finalist wouldn't back off and broke Venus back to 2-2 when Williams ran through a forehand approach shot.
But like she has done so many times during her career, Williams fought back, gaining three break points on Mauresmo's serve in the next game. Mauresmo powered two aces, but then double faulted to give Venus a 3-2 lead. Venus then held three times to close out the match and gain her fourth U.S. Open final.
"She's 0-40 down and comes up with four big serves. There's nothing you can do about it," said Mauresmo, who added that she had no regrets. "I would have loved to win and be in the final, but that's the way it is. Next time I'm sure it's going to go my way. I just got to this level and it's very new to me. She's played tons of matches like this and I need to be in this position more."
Williams was impressed with her opponent.
"She played really well," Venus said. "She was trying to retrieve balls and really take the game to me. I definitely played a really good opponent today....But I'm a little more experienced and able to stay a lot calmer in those situations, so that was probably tough for her."
For the third straight Grand Slam, Venus will play her sister, Serena, for the title. Venus lost in the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals, but she did beat Venus for the title here last year.
"It's the most amazing thing in sports," said Lindsay Davenport of the sisters' dominance of tennis.
Venus has been working diligently, post- Wimbledon, to firm up areas in her game and said that things are going swimmingly. Venus hasn't lost a match since losing to Serena at Wimbledon and is on an 18-match winning steak. She said that she has found her level -- it's just a matter of whether it will come out versus Serena.
"It's all in the mind," Venus said. "It's not really anything physical anymore. Mentally, I just have to be there."
Venus outmuscles Mauresmo to reach Open final
By Ossian Shine
NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Neither a painful right-hand blister nor a gallant Gallic effort could wrest Venus Williams's grip from her U.S. Open crown on Friday as she outlasted Amelie Mauresmo 6-3 5-7 6-4 to reach her third consecutive New York final.
Glistening in the humidity and panting with effort, Venus eventually fulfilled her half of the deal as the Williamses plan a fourth family final in the last five grand slams.
Top seed and younger sister Serena tackles fourth seed Lindsay Davenport in the second semi.
"I'm happy to be in the final," second seed Venus said as she left the Arthur Ashe stadium court. "I'm certainly not taking it for granted."
The statuesque Venus, champion in 2000 and 2001, was made to work harder than many had expected against a woman she has now beaten in all five career meetings.
The 10th-seeded Frenchwoman took to the court in bright afternoon sunshine with a patched-up left thigh but a healthy disrespect for the champion's authority and attacked from the start.
She almost mugged the second seed immediately, forcing Venus on to the back foot and making her fight off a break point in her opening service game.
Venus did so successfully, but still a flash of indignation crossed her face as she walked round the net to receive Mauresmo's deliveries.
INTELLIGENT BRAIN
The American looks all arms and legs on a tennis court, but there is a highly intelligent brain controlling those athletic limbs.
Intelligent, but conditioned to believe that no-one other than another Williams should better her in competition.
As far as she was concerned, there was no place for Mauresmo in what was planned as a Williams family weekend.
Ten centimetres shorter than the American, Mauresmo is considerably broader in the beam, though, and delivers a knockout punch of her own.
Sizing each other up with searching jabs, they split the first six games before Mauresmo made her move.
Finally getting a grip on the Venus serve -- one which would do damage on the men's circuit -- the Frenchwoman earned two break points in the seventh game.
Venus has not won four grand slam titles by allowing herself to be pushed around, though, and an enormous serve followed by a rasping drive volley saved both.
American industry got the better of Gallic flair a game later when Venus rolled all over the French serve, breaking for the first time on her fourth opportunity.
Having fallen into Venus's trap, Mauresmo watched the opening set slip away from her and the second seed wrapped it up in 34 minutes.
Mauresmo's eyes scanned the crowd, seeking support from French coach Loic Courteau, as her broad shoulders sagged under the weight of Venus's shot-making.
OLIVE BRANCH
A tattoo of an angel toting an olive branch of peace adorns the Frenchwoman's left shoulder.
Her right shoulder, however, wages war, propelling explosive serves and generating sizzling topspin on her groundstrokes.
She is one of the most powerful women in the sport. Venus, though, is a superpower and no amount of blows from Mauresmo could dent her armour as she broke for a second time to lead 3-2.
As the Williams camp passed knowing glances around the players' box, Mauresmo hit right back, pummelling the champion with a succession of firm blows to break back immediately and then hold for a 4-3 lead.
It was not the Mauresmo who had lost all four previous meetings with Venus. This one believed in herself and began pushing the pace.
She stepped up to the Venus serve and cracked a couple of winners as the champion gingerly rubbed a blister which had developed on her playing hand.
A huge serve saved one break point but her 28th unforced error handed Mauresmo the break and gave her the chance to serve out the set.
She took her eye off the ball, though, and allowed Venus back into the set. Grabbing that chance with both hands she then gratefully held her own serve to square the set at 5-5.
A game too late, Mauresmo got her serve back in shape to edge 6-5 ahead and the champion took an injury break to receive treatment on a blister.
Medical staff taped it as Mauresmo mulled another opportunity to level the match.
She was not about to let this one go, and forced Venus into firing a forehand long on set point.
Back on level pegging, the Frenchwoman had no time to relax. Within minutes Venus had taken the lead in the decider, punishing Mauresmo's serve and holding her own for 2-0.
Mauresmo then hit back, winning the next two games, as Venus fretted over her hand.
Mauresmo's third ace saved break point in the fifth game but her third double fault handed Venus a 3-2 lead a point later.
She turned that into a 4-2 lead with some accurate serving as father Richard snapped happily away on a camera courtside.
Four games later she served for the match and clinched it two minutes short of two hours.
Williams storms into semifinals with devastating win
By Steve Keating
NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Twice defending champion Venus Williams rebounded from a hesitant fourth round performance by scoring an emphatic 6-2 6-3 victory over Monica Seles on Wednesday to ease into the semi-finals of U.S. Open.
The win keeps Venus on course for a final showdown with sister Serena, as the season's final grand slam appears headed towards yet another all-Williams showdown.
Following a narrow three set escape against Chanda Ruben a day earlier, Williams immediately returned to the practice court with father and coach Richard.
The results were on full display for another large crowd at the Arthur Ashe stadium, including sister Serena, as a ruthless and relentless Williams broke Seles at the first opportunity and again to surge in front 4-1 to take control of the opening set.
In an awesome display of power, the statuesque Williams lost just one point on her serve, ripping through the first set in 25 minutes.
In eight career meetings Williams had walked away the winner seven times but Seles confidence would have been boosted by her quarter-final victory earlier this year at the Australian Open.
Some of that confidence final began to emerge in the second set as Seles steadied herself; her two-handed groundstrokes began to find their mark.
But Seles, U.S. Open champion in 1991 and 1991, could not find a way to break the second seed.
Following a brief lull and level at 3-3, Williams again turned up the pressure on Seles sweeping the final three games to wrap up the contest in 57 minutes.
Williams will next meet 10th seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, who prevented the semifinals from being an all-American affair with her upset win over Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati.
The other semi-finals sees Wimbledon and French Open champion Serena Williams face Lindsay Davenport, the last non-Williams to win at Flushing Meadows when she lifted the title in 1998.
Venus scrapes through to U.S. Open quarters
By Ossian Shine
NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The sun finally returned to Flushing Meadows on Tuesday but defending champion Venus Williams failed to shine as she stuttered into the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open with a 6-2 4-6 7-5 win over Chanda Rubin.
Winner here in 2000 and 2001, second seed Venus did barely enough to keep on track for another grand slam final showdown with top-seeded sister Serena.
"This was not my best day, that's for sure... I am glad I am still here and talking to you," she smiled after pulling through.
"I had a lot of short balls that I missed and that was unusual for me."
Coming into the contest, Venus had won seven of the eight matches she had played with Rubin -- only losing the first time the pair had met in 1997.
But she was far from convincing on Arthur Ashe stadium court, losing her first set here since the 2000 semi-finals, and will have to step it up before running into either sixth seed Monica Seles or 1997 champion Martina Hingis in the last eight.
After two days virtually washed out by heavy downpours, day nine got off on time under blue New York skies and Venus started the match comfortably, outgunning Rubin from the back of the court to keep the 14th seed off balance and guessing.
She wrapped the first set up 6-2 to take a commanding lead in the match, but Rubin, winner in Los Angeles just before the Open, would not lie down.
Hitting the ball cleanly, the 26-year-old American eventually got a grip on Venus's serve, found her range and pushed the twice champion on to the back foot.
The second seed lost her depth and began to struggle to hold her serve as Rubin swept shots on to the line, running Venus round the court.
Rubin surged ahead in the second set, breaking Venus for a 5-2 lead.
Certainly Venus's father was concerned by the swing in fortunes. "It looks like her techniques have all fallen down," Richard Williams whispered courtside while play was continuing.
"But right now she is so mentally tough there are not many players who can beat her. I hope she can pull through."
SLIDING SERVES
Richard's analysis rang true immediately as Venus showed her steely streak immediately, breaking straight back to trail 5-3 on the hour.
By then, the match had already run 12 minutes longer than Venus's average match at the Open this year of 48 minutes.
Venus's game was beginning to look as lop-sided as the asymmetrical ear-rings she wore for the occasion. A large hoop hung from her left ear and a line of golden discs dangled from the other as she struggled to claw her way back into the set.
She held to trail 5-4 and force Rubin to serve out the set.
Williams stepped in and began to hit with authority, but Rubin was up to the task, sliding serves wide and stretching Venus from one side to the other.
A delicate angled volley brought up set point for Rubin and she grabbed it when Venus hoisted a backhand half a metre long after 67 minutes.
The loss of the set signalled a wake-up call for the second seed and she clicked her serve back into place for the start of the decider.
She nosed ahead for a 2-0 lead when Rubin nudged a backhand into the net.
Venus was still far from convincing, though, and allowed herself to be broken back with some sloppy serves in the third game.
Unbeaten here since 1999, Venus drew on all her big-match experience and broke again for 3-1 before holding for a 4-1 lead with a firm inside-out forehand.
But Rubin held on, fighting off a break point in the next game to hold for 4-2 then breaking back with a searing forehand return to get the decider back on serve.
Four-all, five-all, neither player dared blink as the stakes rose with each game. The pressure finally got to Venus, as she punched a loose forehand long to hand Rubin two break points. But four straight points for the second seed showed her mettle as she took a 6-5 lead.
Pushing forward now, forcing the pace, Venus stepped in to Rubin's deliveries and, after one hour 53 minutes, reached her first match point.
She made no mistake, pummelling a forehand away for a winner.
Venus Pulls Out Fourth-Round Victory Over Rubin
Tuesday, September 3, 2002
Under a bright blue sky with only a single cloud in sight, No. 2 seed Venus Williams narrowly defeated 14th seed Chanda Rubin in the round of 16. Although Rubin put up a spirited fight, she could not go the distance, falling to the world's second-ranked player in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Though Williams easily took the first set, she committed four double faults and 17 unforced errors in the second, allowing Rubin to grab the set with a series of well-placed, stellar shots. Although Rubin dropped the first two games of the third set, she didn't give up, pushing Williams to a five-game tie before Williams, with some magnificent play, blasted past her to capture the match. Overall, Williams posted seven aces, while Rubin had none, but she also committed 41 unforced errors to Rubin's 25.
Of the eight times Williams and Rubin have now met head-to-head, Williams has won seven. This is the only match of the eight that has gone to three sets. Williams, who is the winner of 28 career Tour singles titles, including four Grand Slams, now advances to the quarterfinals, where she will play the winner of the Martina Hingis-Monica Seles match.
Venus Toasts Muller
by Jamie Gross
Saturday, August 31, 2002
A line extended well outside Louis Armstrong Stadium, as fans awaited entrance into the Venus Williams vs. Martina Muller match. Inside the stadium, hordes of people scurried in between games to find seats, with some finding refuge on the stairs dodging the persistent ushers. Yet for all her patience, Venus delivered another rapid win, taking just 41 minutes to cruise past Muller, 6-1, 6-2.
To Muller's credit, the 19-year-old put up a consistent battle, relentlessly rushing down Williams' winners even late into the first set and down, 5-1. Muller was able to garner some well-earned points, charging the net on Venus's low hit shots.
What is there left to say about Venus's game? She is one of the few players able to turn an opponent's would-be winner into her own point. Her third-round match was just another example of her dominating game that will no doubt continue to cause lengthy lines. Williams awaits the winner of the Chanda Rubin-Lisa Raymond match.
Venus joins big-name winners at U.S. Open
NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Defending champion Venus Williams casually swept aside the challenge of Australia's Alicia Molik 6-1 6-2 on Thursday to move into the third round of the U.S. Open.
Venus, second seed to younger sister Serena, wasted no time wrapping up her match on Arthur Ashe stadium court on a day when play was delayed for five hours because of persistent rain.
When the American did get on court she looked in top form and sealed a 54-minute win with a powerful serve.
"I was a little bit distracted because of the atmosphere," Venus said. "But otherwise that was okay. I like to, right off the bat, show her what I can do."
Venus begins U.S. Open defence in ruthless fashion
NEW YORK, Aug 27
Second seed Venus Willliams opened the defence of her U.S. Open title in emphatic style on Tuesday, demolishing Croatian qualifier Mirjana Lucic 6-0 6-0.
The twice defending champion needed just 50 minutes on a half-filled Arthur Ashe Court to dispose the 214th ranked Lucic and join sister and world number one Serena in the second round.
With Venus riding on the momentum of winning three tournaments in the run-up to the Open, Lucic did not help her own cause by hitting 30 unforced errors.
Venus, who lost out to her sister in the Wimbledon and French Open finals this season, will meet Australia's Alicia Molik in the second round.
Pilot Pen
Williams wins fourth-straight Pilot Pen
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport 7-5, 6-0 to win her fourth-straight Pilot Pen title Saturday, building a 13-match win streak going into the U.S. Open.
Williams, the two-time defending U.S. Open champion, has dominated the New Haven hardcourts since her first appearance here in 1999. She's beaten Davenport three times in the past four years for the Pilot Pen title.
Davenport, playing in her fourth tournament since returning last month from knee surgery, started out crisply. She broke the top-seeded Williams in the first game with strong returns and passing shots.
Up a break in the first set and leading 5-3, Davenport began to unravel with several unforced errors and went winless the rest of the way, losing 10 straight games. Williams toughened and began reaching the shots that eluded her earlier in the match.
Davenport's serve also abandoned her down the stretch. The second-seeded Davenport double-faulted one break in the second set and had trouble getting her first serve in. Williams closed out the match by pouncing on Davenport's 86-mph second serve with a backhand cross-court winner.
Williams sets up Davenport final with easy win
By Barry Wood
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Defending champion Venus Williams eased past Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 6-3 to set up a final against Lindsay Davenport at the New Haven Open on Friday
Second seeded Davenport had earlier despatched a weary Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-2 6-2 in their semi-final match.
Top seed Williams was always in control against Hantuchova, who struggled with the American's powerful serve and committed far too many errors.
Williams started badly by hitting double-faults on the first and last points of the opening game, but quickly settled and broke back immediately.
She broke again for 5-3 when Hantuchova double-faulted and was able to serve out the opening set.
In the second set, Williams dropped just three points on her serve and broke the seventh seed at 5-3 to win the match with a crisp double-handed backhand volley.
Williams is thrilled to see Davenport doing so well since she returned from injury, and was looking forward to renewing their rivalry after they had split their career meetings so far at 10 wins apiece.
"At one time I was down 1-8 against her, and if I lost another match I was going to retire. I couldn't handle that any more," Williams said.
"I guess the turning point was at Wimbledon (in 2000). I was still down 9-3, but it didn't matter to me if it was 9-3 or 100-0. It was the Wimbledon final and I didn't care what the odds were against me."
Hantuchova believed that Williams had improved significantly since she took a set from the American at the Australian Open in January.
"She played really well, and especially her serve was unbelievable. There was not much I could have done about that," Hantuchova said.
"But I gave my best and got a lot of experience from the match."
In the four tournaments Davenport has played since making her comeback following nine months of inactivity due to a knee injury, she has reached two semi-finals and two finals.
She was beaten two weeks ago in the Manhattan Beach title match by Chanda Rubin, and also reached the semi-finals in Stanford and San Diego.
TIRED RUSSIAN
Myskina, who upset fourth seed Justine Henin and fifth seed Martina Hingis in her two previous matches, struggled to rise to the occasion against Davenport.
The tired Russian looked slow and was unable to hit the ball with the conviction she had shown earlier in the week.
Myskina made an unforced forehand error to give Davenport a break to lead 3-2 and another poor forehand gave the American a second break for 5-2.
In the second set, the pair exchanged breaks in the first two games, before Davenport swept the last five for the loss of just six points.
"It was really hard for me because when I went to the court I felt I'd been there the whole night," Myskina said.
"I didn't sleep well because we finished late, and I couldn't move well. I made a lot of unforced errors, and she hit harder than Martina (Hingis) for sure.
"With Martina it's more mental, and with Lindsay it's boom-boom, so it was harder for me today for sure. You have to be 100 percent to beat her, and I wasn't.
Davenport admitted it had been a comfortable match for her, and appreciated that it was difficult for Myskina to come back after a big win the night before.
"I didn't feel I was ever threatened today. I felt I was in control of the match and in control of a lot of the points," Davenport said.
"She played really great matches all week and I do believe that you sometimes run out of gas, especially after a really tough match like she had last night."
Venus running out of sisterly love
NEW YORK, Aug 23 There must be a limit to Venus Williams's tolerance levels.
The twice defending U.S. Open champion was magnanimous in defeat when she lost out to younger sister Serena in both the French Open and Wimbledon finals over the past two months.
But anyone who remembers the 1999 U.S. Open final -- when Serena became the first member of the Williams clan to lift a grand slam crown -- will know that Venus does not take too kindly to being upstaged, especially by a sister two years her junior.
On that warm and muggy September night, Venus, sitting courtside in the floodlit arena, was visibly agitated as Serena beat her to a major.
So with Serena running away with most of the spoils on offer this year, the tall and powerful Venus will be determined to get her own back.
Revenge will clearly be top of Venus's agenda over the next fortnight as not only has the muscular Serena grabbed the number one ranking away from her big sister, she has also won all three of their meetings this year.
"Serena's crazy about beating me nowadays. Maybe she'll give me a break and I can take something home for myself," world number two Venus said after winning her sixth title of the year in San Diego earlier this month.
RECORD BOOKS
Since Venus and Serena rewrote the record books at Flushing Meadows in 2001 by becoming the first sisters to contest a grand slam final in more than 100 years, they have dominated women's tennis like no other siblings before them.
Having featured in three of the last four grand slam finals, the pair will be chasing even more records in New York.
While 20-year-old Serena attempts to become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1996 to win three majors in a row in one calendar year, Venus will be gunning to become the first player in over two decades to win a hat-trick of consecutive U.S. Open titles.
"I have quite a few years to do really well," said Venus.
"I would definitely want to utilise my time. If anything, I don't want to look back and say I didn't give it my all. My personal goal is to do my personal best and that's all I expect of myself.
"For me, that's winning every match I play but that's not possible. Sometimes you have to lose in order to get better."
With the rest of the top women reduced to playing a supporting role as the headline grabbing "Williams Show" takes centre stage, the likes of Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati, fourth seed Lindsay Davenport and former world number one Martina Hingis will be hoping for some divine intervention at the hardcourt major.
SUMMER CAMPAIGN
One such intervention came in the form of acute knee tendinitis which forced Serena, who chalked up a phenomenal 21-match winning streak during her successful summer campaign, out of the Canadian Open last week.
But injuries aside, Capriati and company will have to dig deep into their bag of tricks if they are to have any chance of stopping the Williams's charge to yet another final showdown.
Although Capriati has failed to win a tournament since her Melbourne Park triumph in January, she received a much needed boost by reaching the Canadian Open final last week.
Despite succumbing to the power of Amelie Mauresmo on this occasion, Capriati, seeded third behind the Williams at the Open, was clearly relieved to play in her first title match since the Miami Masters in March.
"I was putting too much pressure on myself and feeling the expectation of others," Capriati, who has never made it past the U.S. Open semis, told Reuters.
"Maybe I was carrying the load on my back of being the only one who has a chance against the Williamses. But now I've put all that aside and am doing my thing and enjoying it again.
"I don't have to prove anything. I want to start winning again and be where I was last year," added Capriati, referring to her breakthrough year when she finally laid to rest her demons to win the Australian and French Open crowns.
PERSONAL TRIUMPH
For former champions Hingis and Davenport, simply being able to set foot in the noisy and chaotic cauldron that is Flushing Meadows will be a personal triumph.
While Davenport is coming off a lengthy nine-month injury layoff after undergoing knee surgery, Hingis too was sidelined for three months -- since being operated on to repair damaged ligaments on her left ankle in May -- and took her first tentative steps on a competitive court just a week ago.
But the Swiss, who received a wildcard to play in New York as she missed the entry deadline because of her injuries, said she was not planning to just make up the numbers in the 128-strong women's draw.
"I'm not going there just to show up," the 21-year-old said.
"I have to work myself up there if I want to challenge."
With the duo being seriously short of match practice, and Jelena Dokic, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin failing to live up to their potential in the slams this year, the odds are that the Williams sisters will once again run away with all the prizes on offer.
Williams, advances to quarterfinals
NEW HAVEN, Conn-- Top-seeded Venus Williams maintained her perfect record in the Pilot Pen with a 6-2, 6-4 second-round victory over Meghann Shaughnessy on Tuesday night.
Williams, the three-time defending champion, has not lost a set in 14 matches here and advanced to play qualifier Laura Granville in the quarterfinals.
Williams, tuning up to defend her U.S. Open title next week, breezed through the first set in under 30 minutes, getting most of her powerful first serves in at over 100 mph and quickly tracking down any returns. She made short work of Shaughnessy's defensive lobs and won the battle at the net with her range.
``I played pretty efficiently tonight,'' Williams said. ``I have to come in in order to play my best tennis. I can reach and get to the balls, but the first step is just getting to the net.''
Shaughnessy won just one point off Williams' serves in the first set. Her returns were often easy set-ups for Williams' crushing winners.
``She came out very aggressive today and made a very high percentage of her first serves, which is difficult because I was on the defensive right from the very beginning on every point,'' Shaughnessy said.
Shaughnessy toughened in the second set with more aggressive net play. She broke Williams in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and had her down 40-0 in the next game. But Williams won five straight points to break Shaughnessy. Williams held serve to take a 5-4 lead then quickly broke Shaughnessy at love to close out the match after giving herself a pep talk.
``I said I'm not going to hit any balls into the net and that I'm not going to hit wide for no reason,'' Williams said.
Face Of The Tournament: Venus
August 19
By ROBERTO GONZALEZ, Courant Staff Writer
NEW HAVEN -- Tournament director Anne Worcester called top-seeded Venus Williams "the icon of the Pilot Pen" Sunday, and with good reason. Williams is, after all, the three-time defending champion.
Williams, ranked No. 2 in the world behind her sister Serena, received a bye into the second round and will play Meghann Shaughnessy Tuesday or Wednesday.
Williams is coming off a two-week break after winning in San Diego, and said the Pilot Pen is instrumental in her preparation for the U.S. Open.
"I have had three great years here. It's been nice," said Williams, 22. "I've done so well here, and coming off a tournament win going into a Grand Slam is very wonderful. I come in - even if I'm not exactly playing the best tennis - with confidence and mentally I feel very good, as if I could do anything. So that helps a lot."
Williams is the two time defending U.S. Open champion.
Worcester said Williams is the only player who is a three-time defending champion of an event.
Williams doesn't play more than three tournaments in a row. She said she relaxed and spent some time away from the court. When she began preparing for the Pilot Pen, it was simply a matter of honing her game, she said.
"I just work on my consistency," Williams said. "Hitting the ball with power and precision, and also being consistent at the same time."
When Williams was asked if she missed rival Martina Hingis, who was away from the tour for three months after ankle surgery, she first just smiled.
"When I heard the news [that she was having surgery], I was shocked," Williams said. "But she always bounces back quickly. I wish I could do the same as her."
Williams said she and Serena, who beat her sister in the Wimbledon and French Open finals, never talk about their rankings with each other. But Venus says she wants to return to No. 1.
"It's very important for me to be No. 1," Williams said with a sly smile. "I don't want to be No. 2 the rest of my career."
Pilot Pen Tennis notebook
News Haven Register
By Sean O'Rourke
Playing her idol
Iroda Tulyaganova will get the unique opportunity to play against and with two of her idols this week.
Tulyaganova beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 7-6 (5) 6-3 in a first-round match Sunday, and will play doubles for the first time with Martina Navratilova tonight on Stadium Court against Amelie Mauresmo and Patty Schynder.
Navratilova, of course, is a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players in history, while Sanchez-Vicario, a former No. 1 player, is considered a lock for the Hall of Fame.
"(Sanchez-Vicario) was one of my idols growing up, so it was fun to play against her," Tulyaganova said. "But it was a bit tough because now I'm practicing against her at her academy (in Barcelona, Spain) and she recommended my coach (Stefan Ortega) to me.
"I almost wanted to say sorry to her after the match."
Tulyaganova, ranked 41st in the world, wasted no time in telling Navratilova she would compete in the Pilot Pen doubles draw.
"When she asked me to play I was so happy I said yes I right away," Tulyaganova said. "It's a dream come true to play with her. She's a great player. There are a lot of things I can learn from her."
Tulyaganova also gets to play another great when she meets No. 2 seed Lindsay Davenport in the second round, a match to be played either Tuesday or Wednesday.
"I really have nothing to lose against Lindsay," Tulyaganova said.
Another champ
Mauresmo enters the Pilot Pen riding a high after beating Jennifer Capriati 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Rogers AT&T Cup in Montreal on Sunday. Players competing in the Pilot Pen now have won 28 of the 46 tournaments on the WTA Tour this year.
Mauresmo, the sixth seed in the Pilot Pen, has now won eight WTA singles titles in her career. Mauresmo will open singles play Tuesday against Tatiana Panova.
Dominant Venus
Venus Williams is the only player currently on tour to have won a tournament three consecutive years. She's accomplished the feat at the Pilot Pen and also at San Diego, which she won three weeks ago by defeating Jelena Dokic in the final.
This week, Williams will try to win for the fourth straight year in New Haven. Williams also enters the tournament with a 12-0 match record at the Pilot Pen.
"It's been nice," Williams said. "There are not many tournaments that I win three times in a row. This could be four."
So does Williams feel any pressure to win her fourth straight tournament at the Pilot Pen?
"I don't feel any pressure," Williams said. "I just want to win the tournament, but I don't feel the pressure, fortunately."
Happy qualifiers
Jennifer Hopkins knew she was going to have her work cut out for her against Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian in the final round of qualifying.
It took three sets, including a tiebreaker, but Hopkins held on and defeated Mikaelian 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the main draw.
Hopkins, who defeated wild-card player Bea Bielik in the first round and Erika De Lone Saturday, enters the main draw as the 69th-seeded player in the world. She is the highest ranked player of the six qualifiers. Hopkins will play 7th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova in the first round.
Also advancing out of the qualifying round Sunday were Elena Bovina, Laura Granville, Jelena Kostanic, Marta Marrero and Angelika Roesch.
Kostanic and Bovina both return to action today on the stadium court. Roesch and Granville will play on the grandstand.
- Sean O'Rourke, Karen Tucker
The Venus Factor potent in women's tennis
Sunday, August 18
A phone call came into the sports department at the Republican-American early last week. The gentleman needed information about the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.
"When does the Pilot Pen start?" the caller asked.
He was informed that the event begins Sunday, today, and continues through Saturday.
There was a pause, and then another question: "What time is Venus playing?"
Who?
"I want to know what time Venus Williams is playing," he said, a bit annoyed.
Ah, so you're a star gazer, not a tennis fan.
He was mystified when informed that Venus will not play today, or even Monday, and perhaps not even Tuesday. No one has any idea when Venus is playing, and no one will know until sometime Monday night, probably.
"Well why not?" he demanded.
This isn't a Yankee game, I tried to explain, where first pitch is 7:05 on the dot and Venus is always in the lineup. This is tennis, and even tennis people can hardly explain the game's scheduling mysteries.
Tennis fans, generally, buy their tickets in advance and enjoy the matches of whomever, whenever. The sport does not attract a walk-up kind of crowd. Tennis stars are crawling all over New Haven this week. Lindsay Davenport, Martina Navratilova, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Martina Hingis are here, and all of them are former No. 1 ranked stars.
None of this made the slightest difference to a fan who wants to walk in, watch Venus, and go home. It's like the indifference of concert-goers to the opening act at a rock show. They show up just for the headliner.
Venus is the ultimate headliner in women's sports, the one-name that commands the marquee, like Cher or Madonna, Liza or Bette. She is the three-time defending champion in New Haven, and like the old joke, she's done everything there but show you to your seat. When you call the 1-800 phone number for the Pilot Pen, it is Venus, or at least her voice on a recording, who answers the phone.
There will be a lot of stars sashaying on the stadium court at the Connecticut Tennis Center this week, but Venus has eclipsed them all. She is the epitome of star power in the women's game. In any game. She just may be the most recognizable female athlete on the planet.
Venus was affixed in the firmament on the day she was named after the goddess of beauty and love, but she clearly earned her place in the pantheon the day she started to whack a tennis ball. In 1997, Venus advanced to the singles final of the U.S. Open in her first time playing the event. Davenport defeated Venus that day but it was quite apparent that the women's game was about to change forever.
Many believe the game has changed for the best. The women's game always attracted tennis fans who felt that beauty and tactics and strategy had disappeared from men's game. Guess what? It's just about gone on the ladies side, too. The genteel game played with wooden rackets at hoity-toity tennis clubs is gone. What's left is star power, and no one personifies that more than Venus.
Tennis was in desperate need of something akin to golf's Tiger Factor. The Venus Factor may be just as potent. That was demonstrated when the U.S. Open moved its women's singles final to prime time, Saturday night in 2001. Venus played Serena, and the match had the glitz and glitter of a Broadway opening.
But is it great for the game of tennis, or just great for Venus? What happens when the Williams sisters pack up the rackets in a few years, or, as often happens, become hard-court road kill, victim of the latest tennis phenom from somewhere in eastern Europe? The CBS television network and the United States Tennis Association will bring down the curtain on that prime time tennis extravaganza in a New York minute.
But the caller doesn't care about any of that. He just wants to know about Venus.
"Well, I'll just call you back every night," he said.
"No, no, don't call me. Go to the Pilot Pen Tennis Web site. Or just read the newspaper every morning."
"Nah, I'll just call you guys."
Thank you, Venus. Thank you very much indeed.
Joe Palladino is a Republican-American staff writer. He can be e-mailed at [email protected].
Venus Williams once again proves to be something to talk about
by Alex Dimitrov
The week at the Acura Classic began with Venus Williams winning and ended very much in the same fashion. For the third straight year Williams captured the title, something no other woman has ever accomplished. The championship match against Jelena Dokic mimicked Williams's semifinal massacre as she quickly closed out the first set 6-2 in 29 minutes. Dokic was rumored to have been sick all night with a stomach virus. She had been treated
by a physician yet was still reported to have been vomiting prior to the match. Tournament officials weren't sure she would even play minutes before the final was scheduled to start. Despite feeling ill, Jelena pushed on in the second set, holding to take a 1-0 lead. Venus, while acknowledging she wasn't playing her best tennis, raced past her to a 4-1 lead. Even after breaking Venus in the next game, Dokic looked fatigued and at times disinterested.
Williams easily closed out the match in 55 minutes on her second match point.
"It's really nice to keep coming back to this tournament. It's real familiar," said Williams after the 6-2 6-2 victory. When talking about her play she said, "I always critique my game. I'm the toughest on myself. It's a real mental battle for me." When asked what she would do with her third Acura vehicle, Venus smiled and filled the press in on her "4 or 5" speeding tickets. She confessed she didn't even know if she would be able to drive it. "The
insurance is expensive, especially for dangerous drivers like me," she joked. Venus also admitted driving around with sister Serena, who thinks Venus's car is "outdated." "She's a good driver, though," said Venus.
After her press conference Venus was escorted out in a golf cart and taken to her hotel room. As I was pulling in the media parking lot I saw Venus (whose room is right near the press parking) playing volleyball with her three sisters. She was radiating with joy -- cracking jokes, laughing loudly, and grinning proudly. Just minutes ago she had talked about starting to count her titles "now that the number has gotten bigger." And why shouldn't she?
She's got a great career to look forward to, a wonderful sister to share it with, and an unconventional father to keep things interesting. As the tennis world looks ahead to the US Open, one can't help but see a Williams victory.
There's No Lull in Venus' World
By LISA DILLMAN, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
CARLSBAD -- For those who looked at Venus Williams' sad face and glistening eyes after she lost for the first time in three years at Wimbledon, wondering about her immediate future after a devastating loss to her younger sister Serena, those concerns have been rendered moot by back-to-back titles in California.
This was not like 1999 all over again.
After Venus watched Serena win the 1999 U.S. Open she went into an emotional and physical tailspin, missing the first four months of 2000 with tendinitis in both wrists. But four Grand Slam singles titles have a way of improving someone's recuperative powers and self-belief.
After losing to Serena in a well-played final at Wimbledon, Venus has responded by losing only one set in two hard-court tournaments. That included a 6-2, 6-2 victory in 55 minutes over a weakened Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia in the Acura Classic final Sunday at La Costa Resort and Spa. For the top-seeded Williams, it was her third consecutive championship here, a first at this tournament.
She was loose on the court, losing serve only once, hitting six aces, 23 winners and, more important, committing only 24 unforced errors. A bit of summertime cleaning took care of the latter annoying problem, reducing an unacceptable 73 unforced errors against Kim Clijsters in a three-set quarterfinalto a more acceptable number.
Having taken care of those matters, Williams turned her attention to the mundane during the trophy presentation, going on an amusing riff about cutting down on her speeding tickets and her conversation with a Samsung vice president earlier in the tournament. She has been talking here about having no remote control for her TV, meaning the channel stays on Lifetime Network, all day and all night.
"He promised to update me," she said, and apparently the "update" may be something in the form of a flat-screen TV.
She was enjoying talking about all her new gifts but seemed coy about a shiny new ring on her left hand, talking with reporters in the hallway on Saturday night.
"I'm too young to be engaged," said the 22-year-old. "Not this girl."
The way things are going for her opponents, the distraction of a Williams' engagement or marriage might be their only chance. Williams has won six titles in 2002 and three of her six losses this year have been to Serena. The others were to Monica Seles at the Australian Open, Sandrine Testud (who has now retired) at Dubai and Clijsters at Hamburg in May.
If anything, Venus seems increasingly engaged.
"I'm always counting the numbers now for titles," she said. "This was 27.... I really got interested this year because it started to be a [bigger] number than it used to be. I'm never going to get close to [Martina] Navratilova. I don't know if I can make it that far because I'm not sure I can play as long as she did."
The Venus-Serena Era is becoming a lot like the days of Navratilova-Chris Evert. They may be pushing one another, continually raising the bar, but the gap between the top two and the rest of the field is widening.
Davenport, 26, a former No. 1, took only three games from Venus in the semifinals and was losing consistently to both sisters even before her knee injury.
Of the younger challengers, there is Clijsters. And anyone with Dokic's groundstrokes and attitude should be taken seriously. At La Costa, the 19-year-old, seeded sixth, made a breakthrough by beating Jennifer Capriati for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by reaching the final, acknowledging the support of her boyfriend, Formula One driver Enrique Bernoldi of Brazil.
She said she was weakened by a stomach virus in her semifinal against Anna Kournikova--in which she saved two match points--and needed the attention of a doctor before Sunday's final. Still, the culprit may be too much tennis and suspect scheduling. Dokic is supposed to play this week at Manhattan Beach, followed by Montreal and New Haven, Conn., which would be five consecutive weeks of tournaments.
"I've beaten some very good players this week," Dokic said. "It was a little disappointing today. Considering how I was feeling, I don't think I could have done very much today."
Champions
Winners of the WTA tournament in the San Diego area, currently the Acura Classic:
2002 ...Venus Williams
2001 ...Venus Williams
2000 ...Venus Williams
1999 ...Martina Hingis
1998 ...Lindsay Davenport
1997 ...Martina Hingis
1996 ...Kimiko Date
1995 ...Conchita Martinez
1994 ...Steffi Graf
1993 ...Steffi Graf
1992 ...Jennifer Capriati
1991 ...Jennifer Capriati
1990 ...Steffi Graf
1989 ...Steffi Graf
1988 ...Stephanie Rehe
1987 ...Rafaella Reggi
1986 ...Melissa Gurney
1985 ...Annabelle Croft
1984... Debbie Spence
Acura Classic
Venus Williams wins third straight Acura Classic title
August 4
SAN DIEGO
Top seed Venus Williams rolled on to her third straight Acura Classic hardcourt title Sunday with an easy victory over an ailing Jelena Dokic.
Williams, who has won 20 of her last 22 matches, followed last week's victory up the coast in Stanford with a 6-2, 6-2 win over the sixth-seeded Yugoslavian, who developed an overnight stomach virus.
The 55-minute match started even at 2-2 before Williams ran off four straight games to take the opening set. She raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set before Dokic broke. But Williams bounced right back and put away the match to earn the $115,000 top prize.
The 22-year-old American captured her sixth championship of the season and 27th of her career, also extending her winning streak to nine matches.
Williams will remain second behind younger sister Serena in the WTA Tour rankings. Venus' only losses since May came against her sibling in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon.
Ranked fifth, the 19-year-old Dokic fell to 2-2 in finals this year.
Venus Williams seeking third straight Acura Classic title
8/4
SAN DIEGO
Two-time defending champion Venus Williams seeks her second title in as many weeks Sunday when she faces Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia in the final of the $750,000 Acura Classic hardcourt tournament.
Williams, coming off her 26th career title last week at Stanford, is riding an eight-match winning streak and has lost just one set during that span -- to Kim Clijsters in Friday's quarterfinals.
The 22-year-old American is gunning for her sixth title this year against a player she has defeated in each of the last two meetings. Dokic upset Williams two years ago in the Italian Open quarterfinals, recording a convincing straight-sets victory.
They were set to play for the title in February at the Paris Indoors, but Dokic was forced to withdrew due to a strained right quadriceps, an injury that sidelined her for nearly three weeks.
Despite that absence, the 19-year-old Dokic came back to win titles at Sarasota and Birmingham this season and also was a finalist at Strasbourg. She is seeking her sixth career title.
Dokic got the best of Russia's Anna Kournikova on Saturday in a three-set semifinal encounter, while Williams outplayed third seed Lindsay Davenport in a lopsided match that took just 59 minutes.
Regardless of the outcome, Williams will remain second behind younger sister Serena in the WTA Tour rankings. Dokic will stay fifth.
The winner takes home $125,000.
Venus Williams to battle Dokic in Acura Classic final
8/3
San Diego, CA
Top seed Venus Williams will take on sixth seed Jelena Dokic in the final of the Acura Classic after each posted semifinal victories on Saturday.
Dokic fought off two match points and rallied to beat unseeded Russian beauty Anna Kournikova, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-2), 6-0 in the afternoon. Williams then breezed past third seed Lindsay Davenport, 6-2, 6-1 in the night session.
The French Open and Wimbledon runner-up Williams reached her fourth straight final here, having claimed the title in 2000 and 2001 after losing in the 1999 title match. She is hoping to win an event for a second straight week after disposing of Kim Clijsters in last week's Bank of the West Classic final in Stanford.
Davenport, who titled here in 1998, has now split 20 all-time matchups with Williams. In semifinal matchups, Williams has the upperhand, leading 5-2.
Dokic, who upset second-seeded American Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinal round on Friday, advanced to her 11th career singles final. She won despite double faulting 12 times.
Kournikova, who is ranked 47th in the world, has never won a singles event. She hit 27 winners, but committed 53 unforced errors.
Williams is trying to win her 26th career singles title, while the 19-year-old Dokic will attempt to win her sixth. Williams has five titles this year, compared to two for Dokic. Williams is 2-1 lifetime against Dokic.
The winner of this $775,000 event will take home $115,000.
Williams Turns Back Clijsters to Advance
8/2
Top-seeded Venus Williams nearly lost the grip on her Acura Classic title, but rebounded to defeat sixth-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in a quarterfinal match on Stadium Court.
Fans saw Williams lose her first set at the La Costa Resort and Spa in almost two years. Williams defeated Monica Seles in three sets in the 2000 final.
Williams’ quarterfinal victory over Clijsters was her 12th consecutive victory here.
After losing the first set in 30 minutes, Clijsters opened the second set by holding serve at love. The Belgian gained momentum as she successfully slugged it out with Williams from the baseline.
At times Clijsters dominated play in the second set and went on to break Williams’ serve at 6-5 to even the match at a set apiece.
In the third set, Williams broke Clijsters for a 4-3 lead and then served a love game to make the score 5-3.
After Clijsters held serve, Williams served for the match at 5-4. On her first match point, she slammed a 122-mph ace to advance to the semifinals.
Williams Cruises Past Kremer to Reach Quarterfinals
8/1
Top-seeded Venus Williams wasted little time in getting past Anne Kremer of Luxembourg as she defeated the Acura Classic’s 15th seed, 6-3, 6-2 in 58 minutes.
Despite committing 39 unforced errors, the defending two-time Acura Classic champion was in control from start to finish as she served a love game to open the match.
After winning the first set in 23 minutes, Williams took a 4-1 lead in the second set.
Kremer broke serve to make it 4-2 as Williams double faulted on break point.
Williams, who converted on five of 11 break point chances, broke back and proceeded to serve out the match.
Kremer defeated German qualifier Greta Arn, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 in the second round after receiving a first round bye. She came into the Acura Classic ranked 18th in the world, her career best ranking.
Williams finished the match with a total of 24 winners, 22 more than Kremer.
Venus Williams, Capriati roll into Acura Classic quarterfinals
SAN DIEGO- Two-time defending champion Venus Williams and two-time former winner Jennifer Capriati continued to steamroll through the field Thursday at the $750,000 Acura Classic hardcourt tennis tournament.
Williams, the top seed, recorded 24 winners and required just 53 minutes in the third round to overpower 15th-seeded Anne Kremer of Luxembourg, 6-3, 6-2.
The second-seeded Capriati needed just 11 minutes longer to crush compatriot and 13th-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy for the fifth time in as many all-time meetings, 6-4, 6-1.
Additionally, popular Russian Anna Kournikova reached her second WTA quarterfinal in as many tournaments, rallying to beat 1995 champion Conchita Martinez of Spain, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Already a five-time winner on tour this year, Williams is gunning for her second title in as many weeks. She beat Kim Clijsters of Belgium to lift the Stanford hardcourt trophy.
"I feel good. I feel I'm in a good position to do well," Williams said. "Physically I'm playing well. Mentally, I just want to be there."
In the quarterfinals, Williams will have a rematch with No. 5 Clijsters, who eased past No. 10 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-3, 6-3.
"I think she played really well last week, some of the best tennis I've ever seen her play," Williams said of Clijsters. "I don't think she can do much better than that. But I suppose playing well on those game points. That's why I was able to get that match."
Capriati, who won her two San Diego titles in 1991 and 1992, broke Shaughnessy's serve to take a 4-3 lead in the opening set and never looked back.
"I think I made a lot of good shots," Capriati said. "I think I played very well, especially in the second set. I can feel myself moving a lot better, playing more aggressive, hitting more consistent."
Capriati next meets No. 6 Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia.
Showing some signs of an abdominal strain, Kournikova managed to bounce back against Martinez after dropping the opening set in just 23 minutes. She hit 14 of her 18 winners in the final two sets, when Martinez committed 38 of her 43 unforced errors.
"I was stiff and cautious. I guess it was in the back of my head," Kournikova said. "I didn't move well at all. I wasn't into it yet. Once I got warmed up and the blood was flowing, I felt fine."
Kournikova's quarterfinal opponent is No. 12 Anna Smashnova of Israel.
American Lindsay Davenport, the third seed, will look to reach her second straight quarterfinal in her comeback from injury on Thursday night when she takes on compatriot Chanda Rubin, the 14th seed.
The Davenport-Rubin winner will meet Ai Sugiyama in the last eight. The Japanese player got past Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
First prize is $125,000.
Williams Doesn't Drop Ball in Easy Victory
By BILL DWYRE, Times Staff Writer
CARLSBAD -- Opponents of Venus Williams keep digging deeper into the tennis bag of tricks. Most of the time, as was the case Wednesday night in the Acura Classic, the rabbit stays in the hat.
Janette Husarova of Slovakia, ranked No. 40 and with a game that had about as much chance of handling Williams as John McEnroe has of becoming a monk, floated out the old drop-shot strategy.
Husarova led in the first set, 3-1. Husarova lost the match, 6-4, 6-1.
Such is life on the women's tour these days, where chasing the Williams sisters has become a weekly climb of Everest proportions.
Venus Williams, ranked No. 2 and two-time defending champion here, said she had never faced that many drop shots before.
"Nope, never," she said.
She also said, with a chuckle, that the strategy got to her enough for her to try some of her own.
"I was influenced," she said.
It was a day in which some main contenders to dethrone Williams here got through to the next round with relative ease. No. 3 Lindsay Davenport, in her second tournament back after recovering from knee surgery, beat Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-0; No. 5 Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Eleni Danilidou of Greece, 6-3, 6-1, and No. 6 Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, playing the second night match, beat Anastasia Myskina of Russia, 6-4, 6-3.
Fan favorite Anna Kournikova, attempting to get her first tour title in her 113th tournament, made her way into the round of 16 by beating Jennifer Hopkins, 6-2, 6-4. Hopkins had replaced No. 4-seeded Monica Seles after Seles was forced to withdraw before the tournament began.
To Husarova's credit, her drop-shot strategy turned a potentially one-sided match into an entertaining contest. Instead of Williams merely out-banging the less-powerful Husarova, she was forced to sprint to the net repeatedly and created interesting angles on the run.
To Husarova's discredit, trying as many as 15 drop shots against one of the fittest, fastest players on the women's tour was probably a flawed idea. It made for good theater, but bad results, especially when Husarova started dropping most of her drop shots on her own side of the net.
"I got to hit a lot of balls, and that was good," said Williams, who hit 24 winners and won 69 points to her opponent's 51.
For Williams, who was making her sixth straight appearance here, a 2002 season that looks statistically as if it should be a career year really hasn't been. She has won five tournaments, including last week's at Stanford, and has been runner-up three times. But there is the rub.
Two of her second-place finishes have been at the French Open and Wimbledon, grand slam events that are the measuring stick for all tour players.
And her losses in those two were at the hands of her sister, Serena, who currently carries the No. 1 ranking and who is not playing here.
Asked about those Grand Slam losses, Williams got quiet and responded, "It's hard."
Asked about how she and her sister handled things after the Wimbledon singles match, she said, "Serena was pretty normal. We just went out and played a doubles match. The toughest thing was just getting her to get ready for the doubles."
Davenport, who broke Mikaelian's serve at 3-3 of the first set and never lost another game, said that her comeback is going better than she expected. "I'm really happy where I'm at right now," she said.
Kournikova, who served at an impressive 75% clip, said her victory was "in general, a good match, but not as perfect as yesterday," when she demolished Alexandra Stevenson before a packed house in 47 minutes.
The tournament sets up now for semifinals matching Davenport and Williams and Kournikova and Jennifer Capriati, who is seeded second but did not play Wednesday.
Venus Williams begins bid for third Acura title with 6-4, 6-1 win
7/31
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) - Top-seeded Venus Williams began her quest for a record third consecutive Acura Classic title Wednesday night, defeating unseeded Janette Husarova of Slovokia 6-4, 6-1 in 66 minutes at La Costa Resort and Spa.
Williams struggled early in the first set, trailing 2-1 to the pesky Husarova, who broke the defending champion's serve four times in the match.
``She was just swinging, she had nothing to loose,'' Williams said. ``I was just missing too many shots in the first set and that gave her the lead.''
In the end, however, Williams was too physical for Husarova, who tried unsuccessfully more than a dozen times to score on drop shots.
When asked if she had ever had an opponent attempt that many drop shots on her, Williams said, ``No, never.''
In the top day match, Lindsay Davenport, in her second WTA tournament since undergoing knee surgery, needed a little more than an hour to defeat Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian of Switzerland 6-3, 6-0.
``I'm really happy where I am at. It really is above what I expected,'' said Davenport, who injured her right knee last November and underwent surgery in January. ``I still think that I have some good years left in me.''
Earlier in the day, a second-round match between No. 7 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovokia and Ai Sugiyama of Japan ended with two controversial calls by chair umpire Denis Overberg with Sugiyama winning 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
After receiving a warning for taking excessive time between points, Hantuchova was assessed a rare point penalty for taking too much time setting up to receive a serve. The point gave Sugiyama the advantage in a game that she eventually won to take a 6-5 lead in the third and deciding set.
In the next game, Hantuchova was penalized again for taking too much time to serve. That penalty gave Sugiyama match point.
Hantuchova stared at Overberg in disbelief before approaching the net, conceding the loss.
``I've never heard of this. I felt that I could have won, but somebody came and took the match away from me,'' she said. ``It was a great match and to have it end like that is really disappointing. But there is nothing that I can do now.''
Sugiyama said she also felt sorry about the way the match finished.
``It's tough to lose a match like that, but she was taking a little bit more time than normal,'' Sugiyama said.
In other second-round matches, fifth-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Eleni Danilidou of Greece 6-3, 6-1; No. 10 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria defeated Nathalie Dechy of France 7-5, 7-5; Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia upset No. 11 Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; No. 13 Meghann Shaughnessy eliminated Meilen Tu 6-1, 6-2; No. 15 Anne Kremer of Luxembourg topped Greta Arn of Germany 5-7, 6-3, 6-0; and Conchita Martinez of Spain upset 16th-seeded Tatiana Panova of Russia 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4), and Anna Kournikova of Russia topped Jennifer Hopkins 6-2, 6-4.
In the only third-round match during the day, No. 12 Anna Smashnova upset No. 8 Elena Dementieva 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (2). A third-round match between No. 6 Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia and No. 9 Anastasia Myskina was still to be played late Wednesday night.
The Acura Classic, one of the top non-major stops on the WTA, is in its 19th year and has a purse of $775,000. The tournament features a 48-player singles draw. The tournament features five of the top ten players in the world including Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Dokic, Clijsters and Davenport.
Bank of West Classic
Venus rising: Williams overpowers Clijsters for title
7/29
By ANNE M. PETERSON
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Venus Williams has impeccable standards.
``I'd like to imagine that in order to beat me a person would have to play almost perfect tennis,'' she said.
Well, Kim Clijsters was far from perfect Sunday, and Williams won 6-3, 6-3 to capture the Bank of the West Classic.
``It's not easy, especially against Venus,'' Clijsters said. ``Every serve has to be good, placed well and has to be over 90 mph. ... You have to make sure every ball is hit perfect, because she moves so well.''
The top-seeded Williams won her fifth title of the year to maintain her No. 2 ranking behind sister Serena Williams. Clijsters, seeded fourth and the defending champion, will fall from No. 5 in the world to No. 7.
``To be honest, I think she played very well, too,'' Williams said. ``She brought out the best in me.''
Clijsters, with boyfriend and top-ranked men's star Lleyton Hewitt looking on, tried to keep up but was constantly on the run during the 64-minute match.
Williams had trouble with the sun at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, double-faulting 10 times. But she compensated with patient play and precise shotmaking.
And her serve didn't totally leave her: She nailed a 112 mph ace to seal the first set and she was clocked at 119 during the match.
``The sun was definitely a factor,'' she said. ``I had to start moving my toss around a bit. And when you have to move your toss around, it gets a little shaky.''
She elevated the rest of her game. She thwarted Clijsters to start the second set with a tap that just cleared the net.
When Clijsters double-faulted later in the set, she shrugged in frustration. For the next point, Williams sent a smash that could not be returned and went up 3-0.
Down 4-0 in the second set, Clijsters wouldn't give in. She finally broke Williams, who was serving for the match, to narrow it to 5-3. It was the 19-year-old Belgian's only break.
``It was good to break her in that match,'' Clijsters said. ``She's got so much power. She hardly made any unforced errors, I think.''
Williams, closely watched by her father Richard and the supportive sellout crowd, came back to break Clijsters for the victory.
``That's one thing I respect about her,'' Williams said. ``She fights until the very end.''
Williams beat Lisa Raymond in the semifinals to advance in the $585,000 tournament. Clijsters upset second-seeded Lindsay Davenport, who played in her first WTA tournament in nine months after a knee injury.
Earlier this year, Clijsters beat Williams in the final at Hamburg, Germany, to even their career series at 1-1. Williams won in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open last year.
Williams, who made her eighth appearance at Stanford, won the title in 2000 with a victory over two-time champion Davenport.
Clijsters, whose lone title this year came at Hamburg, defeated Davenport in the Bank of the West last year.
Serena Williams, who took the No. 1 rank from her older sister with her victory at Wimbledon, did not play and was not playing in her sister's next event, the Acura Classic in San Diego.
In the doubles final Sunday, top-seeded Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs defeated Janette Husarova and Conchita Martinez, 6-1, 6-1. The winners advanced to the final when Anna Kournikova withdrew from the semifinal with partner Meghann Shaughnessy because of an abdominal strain.
Venus overpowers Clijsters to win Bank of the West title
7/28
By ANNE M. PETERSON
STANFORD, Calif.
There's more to Venus Williams than pure power.
With savvy shotmaking - and, of course, her booming serve - Williams defeated Belgian Kim Clijsters 6-3, 6-3 Sunday to win the Bank of the West Classic title.
Williams, the top seed, won her fifth title of the year to maintain her No. 2 ranking behind sister Serena Williams, the Wimbledon champion.
Clijsters, the fourth seed and defending champion, will fall from No. 5 in the world to No. 7 with the loss at Taube Family Tennis Center.
``To be honest, I think she played very well, too,'' Williams said. ``She brought out the best in me.''
Clijsters, with boyfriend and top-ranked men's star Lleyton Hewitt looking on, valiantly tried to keep up with the lanky Williams, who fired off a 112-mph ace to seal the first set.
Williams kept her 19-year-old opponent on the run throughout the 1-hour, 4-minute match with precise shots, compensating for an uncharacteristic 10 double-faults.
``The sun was definitely a factor,'' she said about the bright skies. ``I had to start moving my toss around a bit. And when you have to move your toss around, it gets a little shaky.''
Williams' serve didn't totally leave her, she was still clocked at 119 mph at one point.
But she also elevated the rest of her game. She thwarted Clijsters to start the second set with a perfectly executed tap that just cleared the net.
When Clijsters double-faulted later in the set, she visibly shrugged in frustration. For the next point, Williams blasted her with an unreturnable smash and went up 3-0.
Down 4-0 in the second set, Clijsters wouldn't give in. She finally broke Williams, who was serving for the match to narrow it to 5-3. It was her only break.
``It was good to break her in that match,'' Clijsters said. ``She's got so much power. She hardly made any unforced errors, I think.''
Williams, closely watched by her father Richard and the supportive sellout crowd, came right back to break Clijsters for the victory.
``That's why she was No. 1, when she feels she needs to, she does a little bit extra,'' said Clijsters, who struggled recently with shoulder and upper arm pain.
Williams beat Lisa Raymond in the semifinals to advance in the $585,000 tournament. Clijsters upset second-seeded Lindsay Davenport, who played in her first tournament in nine months after a knee injury.
Earlier this year, Clijsters beat Williams in the final at Hamburg to even their career series at 1-1. Williams won in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open last year.
Williams, who made her eighth appearance at Stanford, won the title in 2000 with a victory over two-time champion Davenport.
Clijsters, whose lone title this year came at Hamburg, defeated Davenport in the Bank of the West last year.
Serena Williams, who took the No. 1 rank from her older sister with her victory at Wimbledon, did not play in the Northern California event.
In the doubles final Sunday, top-seeded Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs defeated Janette Husarova and Conchita Martinez, 6-1, 6-1.
Raymond and Stubbs advanced to the final when Anna Kournikova had to withdraw from the semifinal with partner Meghann Shaughnessy because of an abdominal strain.
Venus Williams ends drought with win at Bank of West Classic
STANFORD, California (Ticker) -- Top-seeded Venus Williams completed an overpowering week on Sunday by sweeping past defending champion Kim Clijsters, 6-3, 6-3, to win the $565,000 Bank of the West Classic.
Williams dropped just 21 games all week en route to her fourth victory of the year and first since April at Amelia Island. She avenged a loss to Clijsters at the Hamburg final in May and improved to 2-1 lifetime against the fourth-seeded Belgian.
"She brought out the best of my game," said Williams, who overcame 10 double faults. "She ran down a lot of balls."
A former world No. 1, Williams captured this hardcourt tournament for the second time in three years and won $93,000. She will remain second in the WTA Tour rankings behind younger sister Serena, who defeated her in the finals at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Coming off Saturday's three-set victory over two-time champion Lindsay Davenport, the 19-year-old Clijsters faded in the second set. She failed in a bid to become the sixth player to successfully defend her title here.
"You have a few chances on her service game, you have to go for it," Clijsters said. "I had some chances, but she hardly made any unforced errors. Almost every shot, every ball has to be perfect. Either you try hitting the ball a few inches higher or away or you have to go deep down the middle."
Leading 3-2 in the opening set, Williams recorded her first service break, ripping a forehand down the line at 30-30. She took the first four games of the second set but double-faulted twice and committed two unforced errors in the eighth game as Clijsters broke to climb within 5-3.
But Williams broke right back to close out the match and her 26th career victory.
"If she held serve, we could still be out there right now," said Williams, who played no match longer than 67 minutes on the Stanford University campus.
"She does a little bit extra, she moves so well," Clijsters said. "She has that fire, she's really focused. That's how all the top players play. They raise their level so well, they focus on every tournament they play."
Williams outclasses Clijsters in Palo Alto final
By Matthew Cronin
PALO ALTO, California, July 27- Venus Williams played virtually flawless tennis to ease past defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-3 6-3 to win the Bank of the West Classic on Sunday.
"I'd like to think that for someone to beat me, they would have to play an almost perfect match," Venus said.
"Kim brought out the best in me today and if someone brings out her "A" game and doesn't win, it must confuse them as to what to do."
The top seed served with power and variety, controlling the vast majority of the pair's brutal baseline exchanges.
Clijsters, however, was guilty of lacking ambition on Williams' second serve and was unable to impose enough authority in her own service games to compete with her taller opponent.
After an entertaining first five games, the four time grand slam champion broke Clijsters to move 4-2 ahead when the Belgian missed a routine inside-out forehand.
Williams closed out the set in impressive style, stretching for a backhand volley winner at deuce and followed that with a 112mph ace.
She wasted little time to impose herself in the second set, breaking Clijsters in the opening game with a trademark back-court winner.
She broke Clijsters again to lead 3-0 after a gorgeous backhand crosscourt passing shot left the 19-year-old Belgian stranded.
"Against Venus, you have to get a lot of first serves in because she takes advantage of your second serve," said Clijsters, who won a meagre 58 percent of her first serve points and only 47 percent of her second serve points.
Clijsters held four break points at 1-4, but Williams came up with a series of winners to move one game away from victory.
Serving into the sun, Williams was broken at 5-2 but broke back immediately to win the contest when the fourth seed sent a backhand long.
TAKE CHANCES
"You have to take your chances against her and every time I thought I had a chance she came up with a good serve or a winner," Clijsters said.
"She's so tough that you feel like every shot you hit has to be almost perfect. If you hit two or three to the same spot in the corner, she will hit a winner.
"You have to try to run her side to side but it's not easy. Every time you think there's an opening, she has a little extra focus."
Williams didn't drop a set during the tournament, her first title win since Amelia Island in early April.
It was also the second time she had won the event where she made her professional debut eight years ago.
Despite the victory, Williams remains at number two in the world rankings behind her younger sister, Serena.
Clijsters -- who was accompanied here by her boyfriend, top ranked men's tennis player Lleyton Hewitt -- fell from number five in the rankings to number seven.
Williams will attempt to defend her Acura Classic title next week in San Diego.
Venus hopes to rekindle fires that led her to glory
By Matthew Cronin
PALO ALTO, California, July 28 (Reuters) - After two years of dominating her sport during the summer months, Venus Williams concedes that her sister Serena came into the French Open and Wimbledon with more fire in her belly than she had.
"I was once in the position that she was and you fight as if you are wild," Venus told Reuters after beating Kim Clijsters for the $585,000 Back of the West Classic title on Sunday.
"I was still cruising on two great years and she was clawing her way through. She had much more fight. I was a little tired because it had been a couple of long seasons for me.
"There are a lot of factors that go into winning grand slams and I wasn't the best player in the last two. It's been a lot of everything for me."
However, Venus -- who lost her number one ranking to Serena at Wimbledon and stands nearly 1,000 points behind her younger sibling -- aims to change the current state of affairs.
During the Bank of the West Classic and for the remaining weeks leading up to the U.S. Open, the four-time grand slam winner is making technical changes to her game that she believes may give her the edge of Serena again.
Despite reaching both finals, her famed booming serve let her down in Paris and London and she wasn't returning or cracking her groundstrokes with her normal verve.
Serena ate up Venus's second serves on both occasions, putting her older sister on the defensive.
WEAK TECHNIQUE
"My techniques were weak and its obviously hurt me a lot, " Venus said.
"It's hard to change that when it happens. I tried really hard against Serena at Wimbledon.
"My serve was really great until the final and then I couldn't make it do what I wanted to.
"With my second serve, sometimes I'll go for it and sometimes I'll put more spin on it, but what I really need to do is be clearer in my mind what I want to do with it when I get out on court.
"It's hard to change your mind once your already in the match," she added.
Venus's technical problems have led to a loss of confidence against Serena, an unusual position for the two-time Wimbledon ad U.S. Open champion to be in.
"If you aren't doing everything right, it gives you much less confidence in all your shots, especially at the slams," Williams said.
"I wasn't able to do as much as I wanted to against Serena as I did against other players.
"Someone like Serena goes for every shot."
BIG FACTOR
While Venus concedes that regaining her confidence against Serena will be a big factor in determining who will win the U.S. Open should they meet, she said that a more ambitious style of play may be the key to her success.
"I have to start coming into net a little bit more," she said.
"I play a lot better when I come in. It makes it a lot easier on me."
Given that she has to defend titles in San Diego, New Haven and at Flushing Meadows and that Serena only has to defend her Canadian Open title and reach the final in New York, it is highly unlikely that Venus can regain her number one ranking until the autumn.
But Venus has plans to end the year as the world's number one ranked player.
"I hope it's me," Venus said. "I'm a competitor, too."
Venus Williams rolls into final at Bank of West Classic
7/27
Top seed Venus Williams rounded into devastating form Saturday at the $565,000 Bank of the West Classic.
Williams took the opening three games and never looked back, trouncing fellow American Lisa Raymond, 6-3, 6-0.
A former world No. 1, Williams awaits the winner of Saturday night's other semifinal between second seed Lindsay Davenport of the United States and No. 4 Kim Clijsters of Belgium.
Williams needed just 51 minutes to dispose of Raymond. The 22-year-old won 21 of 24 points on her first serve and even took 12 of 21 on her second serve. By contrast, the 28-year-old Raymond collected just three points on her second serve.
"Lisa came out playing very well. I didn't want her to get a quick lead and have to fight back," Williams said. "The main thing I wanted to do was cut down on unforced errors."
Williams committed 14 unforced errors, five fewer than her opponent.
A three-time winner on tour this year, Williams wants a victory at Taube Tennis Center. She has not captured a trophy since winning at Amelia Island in April, falling to Clijsters at the Hamburg final in May and finishing as runner-up to younger sister Serena at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Raymond had upset third-seeded Monica Seles to reach her third semifinal of the year. She won the Memphis hardcourt event in February and made the semifinals at the grasscourt tournament in Birmingham, England.
"(Williams is) a great server and she's a good front-runner," Raymond said. "If you give her an early chance, she'll steamroll her opponent."
At Wimbledon, Williams also routed Raymond, 6-1, 6-2, in the round of 16.
Playing in her first event this year, Davenport cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 5 Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia on Friday. She has not really been tested since returning from knee surgery and the ensuing rehabilitation.
Clijsters eliminated 17-year-old Jelena Jankovic of Yugoslavia, 7-5, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.
Venus Williams beats Kournikova at Bank of West Classic
7/26
Anna Kournikova's best tennis in some time still is no match for Venus Williams.
Kournikova recent resurgence ended Friday with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to the top-seeded Williams, who marched into the semifinals of the $565,000 Bank of the West Classic.
Kournikova had won her first two matches at this hardcourt event, forcing tennis folk to talk about something other than her looks. But the Russian fell to 0-8 all-time against Williams, playing a gambling style that did not pay off.
"I was returning really well today," Kournikova said. "It was about the points itself. I tried to go for it. Venus was really moving well today."
At 4-4 and deuce in the second set, Kournikova double-faulted and netted a backhand shot. Williams served out the match, forcing two errors at 30-all.
"I did expect her to play well," Williams said. "She went for broke."
Kournikova, 21, was playing in her first WTA quarterfinal in nearly five months. She reached semifinals at Tokyo in January and Acapulco in March.
"Coming here, I didn't expect anything," Kournikova said. "My hard work, you can see that (it paid off)."
A three-time winner on tour this year, Williams wants a victory at Taube Tennis Center. She has not captured a trophy since winning at Amelia Island in April, falling to Belgium's Kim Clijsters at the Hamburg final in May and was runner-up to younger sister Serena at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Next for Williams is Lisa Raymond, who pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament thus far with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over third-seeded American compatriot Monica Seles.
"I was looking forward to play Monica only because I need a few more points," Williams joked. "I'm greedy."
Known primarily as the world's top-ranked doubles player with partner Rennae Stubbs, Raymond is making inroads on the singles circuit. She won in Memphis earlier this year and has played well here.
"It's just a matter of believing in myself," Raymond said. "It's something that's been holding me back against a top-10 player. ... Whatever happens (against Williams), I still gained a lot of confidence from this."
At Wimbledon, Williams routed Raymond, 6-1, 6-2, in the round of 16.
Raymond's win ruined a semifinal that could have featured the top four seeds. Form held in the other quarterfinals as No. 2 Lindsey Davenport and No. 5 Clijsters both won in straight sets.
Playing in her first event this year, Davenport cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 5 Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia. She has not really been tested since returning from knee surgery and the ensuing rehabilitation.
"My body feels good," she said. "I'm just trying to strengthen everything. I've been working in the gym."
"It's been nine months," Dokic said. "She seems real fresh. I'm very surprised (with) the way she came back."
On Saturday, Davenport will face Clijsters, who eliminated Jelena Jankovic of Yugoslavia, 7-5, 6-3.
"I really don't know what to expect," Davenport said. "Today it felt so normal. I was confident with the shots I was going for."
First prize is $93,000.
Williams trounces Shaughnessy to set up Kournikova match
7/25
By Matthew Cronin
PALO ALTO, California
Top seed Venus Williams gained a measure of revenge over Meghann Shaughnessy with an easy 6-4 6-1 win to move into the quarter-finals of the Bank of the West Classic on Thursday.
Williams will play the resurgent Russian Anna Kournikova, who won back-to-back matches for the first time since mid-May, defeating Indonesia's Wynne Prakusya 7-5 6-4.
American veteran Lisa Raymond also triumphed, defeating Marissa Irvin 6-1 6-4 and she now meets third seed Monica Seles for a place in the last four.
In the day's other late match, Yugoslavian teenage wildcard Jelena Jankovic stunned seventh-seeded Daja Bedanova 7-6 2-6 6-3 to set up a quarter-final against defending champion Kim Clijsters.
Playing in her first match since falling to her sister Serena in the Wimbledon final, Williams served efficiently and with great variety, outfoxing Shaughnessy in crosscourt rallies and eating up her opponent's second serve.
Last year, Shaughnessy shocked Williams in a three sets but this time the top seed set up her victory by winning nine straight games after falling 4-2 behind.
At this event, singles matches are played on adjacent courts and Williams said she was initially distracted by the Bedanova-Jankovic contest going on next to them.
``When I finally settled shown, I felt very confident from the baseline,'' she said.
``This year, I was a more prepared.
``Last year, I was too settled and didn't practice before I came here. Sometimes when you think you are at your strongest, you are at a your weakest.''
BETTER TENNIS
A disappointed Shaughnessy said she failed to raise her game when Williams stepped up the pace.
``Because I had beaten her before I thought, 'Why not again?', but to do that I'd have to put together better tennis than I did tonight,'' Shaughnessy said.
Williams, who has lost the last two grand slam finals and world number one ranking to her younger sibling, said that she had recovered from those losses and planned to spend the next five weeks leading into the U.S. Open firming up her game.
In a contest that featured numerous breaks of serve, the number 55-ranked Kournikova proved to be the smarter player on the day, frequently drawing the shorter Prakusya into the net and passing her with sharply angled volleys or groundstrokes.
While both women rarely served above 80mph, Kournikova battled back from deficits in both sets, powering winners or dominating the net on the big points.
STILL WON
``I didn't play as well as I played in the first match (against eighth seed Anna Smashnova) but it's great to not play well and still win,'' Kournikova said.
``Two months ago, I wouldn't have been able to pull it off but I stepped back a little from my tactics and when I began to be more aggressive, the results were there.
``I came on court a little too excited.
``The fact that I won two matches in a row is exciting. No matter that happens tomorrow, it's already been a great tournament and great step forward.''
Kournikova is 0-7 against Williams, including two losses here in 1999 and 2000 and two earlier this season in Antwerp and Dubai.
``She's playing amazing tennis, but I have nothing to lose so I'll go out and try to stay on the court as long as I can,'' she said.
``It's really difficult to come in against any player who hits the ball as fast and as deep as Venus,'' Kournikova said. ``I'm going to have to be creative and try to open the court up.''
Williams doesn't expect an easy contest.
``I have a lot of respect for her as an athlete more than anything,'' Williams said. ``She moves well and improvises but has had her fair share of bad luck.
``Hopefully, I'll maintain my good record against her.''
In Friday's other quarter-final, second seed Lindsay Davenport will face fifth seed Jelena Dokic.
Williams wants to return to No. 1
STANFORD, California
Venus Williams lost the No. 1 ranking three weeks ago, and can't wait to reclaim it.
``My hope is always to be at the top,'' she said. ``I hope to get back there by the fall. I don't ever want to lose a Grand Slam.''
In her first match since losing in the Wimbledon final, the top-seeded Williams overcame a slow start to defeat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 6-1 in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic on Thursday night.
``It's always hard to recover after a loss, especially after coming so close,'' Williams said. ``I have to know when it's time to step up not to revert back to bad habits but to keep ahead with the good ones.''
Williams dropped to No. 2 after losing to younger sister Serena in the Wimbledon title match.
Anna Kournikova defeated Wynne Prakusya of Indonesia 7-5, 6-4 to win two matches in the same tournament for the first time in two months. She'll meet Williams in Friday's quarterfinals.
``She's had her share of bad luck,'' Williams said. ``But she moves well and she improvises on the court. I have a good record against her and hopefully I will keep a good record against her.''
Lisa Raymond used six aces and three break points to advance to her first quarterfinals in three tries at Stanford, beating Marissa Irvin 6-1, 6-4.
Jelena Jankovic of Yugoslavia, ranked No. 262, upset No. 17 Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (8), 2-6, 6-3.
``This is a good win for me since I just started playing professional tennis,'' said Jankovic, the No. 1 junior last year. ``It's an unbelievable feeling to beat someone ranked so high.''
Jankovic meets defending champion Kim Clijsters on Friday.
Shaughnessy led 4-2 in the first set before Williams took control, overpowering her 19th-ranked opponent with hard, accurate serves and steady returns in a match lasting 58 minutes.
``I think I was a little bit distracted, but I was able to settle,'' Williams said. ``It seemed like a lot of the points were quick, like she was going for all or nothing. I felt like my shots were very solid.''
Shaughnessy upset Williams in the quarterfinals of the event last year.
``That was a great win but I had to start from scratch,'' said Shaughnessy, who reached the finals in Sydney earlier this season. ``I started serving well and returning aggressively but she got a little more rhythm and I started playing defensively.''
Kournikova advanced past the second round for the first time since the Tennis Masters Series in Rome in mid-May and for just the fifth time in 20 tournaments this season.
``No matter what else happens, this is a great step forward,'' said Kournikova, who beat No. 8 seeded Anna Smashnova on Tuesday. ``A month or two ago I wouldn't have pulled this out.''
Kournikova survived a first set which lasted nearly an hour and was punctuated by long rallies and inconsistent play. She was 3-of-8 in break points.
``I always play well at Stanford,'' said Kournikova, who improved to 7-2 in his third tournament at Taube Family Tennis Center. ``After practicing in Florida, where it's hot, it feels nice here.''
Kournikova is winless in seven matches against Williams.
``I have nothing to lose,'' the Russian said. ``I'm just going to enjoy it and stay on the court as long as I can.''
7/25
STANFORD, California
Top seed Venus Williams wasted little time setting up a quarterfinal clash with Anna Kournikova at the $565,000 Bank of the West Classic.
Williams needed just 58 minutes Thursday night to dispose of fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy, 6-4, 6-1, in a second-round matchup.
"It seemed like there were a lot of quick points," Williams said. "I felt my shots were pretty solid today."
Earlier, Kournikova reached her first WTA quarterfinal in more than 4 1/2 months with a 7-5, 6-4 triumph over Indonesia's Wynne Prakusya.
A three-time winner on tour this year, Williams is hungry for a victory at Taube Tennis Center. She has not captured a trophy since winning at Amelia Island in April.
Since then, Williams fell to Belgium's Kim Clijsters at the Hamburg claycourt final in May and was runner-up to younger sister Serena at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Williams also was overtaken atop the WTA rankings by her younger sibling.
Meanwhile, Kournikova may be playing her best tennis since 2000, when she finished the year ranked eighth in the world.
Known more for her appearance than her on-court abilities, Kournikova has been focusing on her game lately and has reached just her third quarterfinal of the year. The 21-year-old advanced to the final four at Tokyo in January and Acapulco in March.
"After winning my first match, it was important for me to play well," Kournikova said. "I stepped back with my tactics today. I wasn't really aggressive. ... (Prakusya is) very quick, she keeps the ball really low. I definitely mixed it up today."
Williams has dominated Kournikova in their all-time series, winning all seven contests.
"We haven't played each other in a while," Kournikova said. "I'm looking forward to it. You just have to create your shots and open up the court."
"She's a very good athlete, I respect her," said Williams. "She's had her fair share of bad luck."
In an all-American second-round match Thursday afternoon, Lisa Raymond cruised past Marissa Irvin, 6-1, 6-4, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with another compatriot, third seed Monica Seles.Also, Yugoslavia's Jelena Jankovic outlasted seventh-seeded Czech Daja Bedanova, 7-6 (10-8), 2-6, 6-3, for a spot in the quarterfinals.
First prize is $93,000.
(07-24)
Williams resumes tournament play
STANFORD, Calif. Nearly three weeks after losing the No. 1 ranking -- and the title at Wimbledon -- Venus Williams resumes tournament play at the Bank of the West Classic this week with her sights set on getting back to the top.
"My Grand Slam record was so nice for awhile, now it's a little marred," Williams said Wednesday as she prepared to meet Meghann Shaughnessy in the second round on Thursday. "More than anything I'd like to play well here." Williams brings a 41-6 record, with four tournament titles, into this year's event at the Taube Family Tennis Center.
Three of those losses have come to her younger sister, Serena, including the finals at the French Open and Wimbledon. "She's a great player," said Williams. "You have to play well or go home with a loss. Sometimes I play well and still lose." Williams, a two-time Wimbledon champion, returns to her professional roots this week. She made her debut at this event when it was held at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. She won the title at Stanford in 1999 and 2000, but was upset by Shaughnessy in last year's quarterfinals.
"That seems like so long ago," said Williams. "I wouldn't call it revenge, but I do hate losing. I just have to play consistently and serve well." Williams, ranked second in the world (and in her own family), took a week off following her loss in England. She returned to practice with the goal of using the summer tournaments to get ready for the U.S. Open in New York and yet another possible showdown with her sister.
"This has always been a great tournament," said Williams. "I want to make sure I'm technically sound and build confidence. I'm always confident, but it's better when you're playing well. I love being in California and I enjoy this part of the year. For me, it's somewhat cool. Florida can get crazy hot. Now I have to wear sweaters."
The top-seeded Williams is one of six players among the top nine entered in the tournament. American Monica Seles (No. 4), defending champion Kim Clijsters (5) of Belgium, Yugoslavia's Jelena Dokic (6) and American Lindsay Davenport (9) are all still alive, while Belgium's Justine Henin (7) was upset by American Marissa Irvin in the first round on Tuesday. "I think I'm ready," said Williams
Wimbledon
Williams' sister act takes doubles title
July 7
Venus and Serena Williams concluded their domination of Wimbledon with a 6-2, 7-5 doubles win Sunday over French Open champions Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascual.
A day after Serena beat Venus in the women's final, the pair used five service breaks to win in 1 hour, 20 minutes and repeat their doubles win of 2000.
The Williams' now have five Grand Slam doubles titles and an Olympic gold medal.
Serena Williams beats Venus for first Wimbledon title
July6th
Serena Williams beat older sister Venus in straight sets for the Wimbledon title Saturday in the best of their all-in-the-family Grand Slam finals so far.
In a match featuring ferocious hitting by both players, Serena outslugged Venus 7-6 (4), 6-3 for her first Wimbledon championship and third major title.
It was the third all-Williams Grand Slam final in 10 months, with Serena winning her second in a row.
The first set featured the highest quality play in any recent match between the sisters. The second set, though, was less compelling as Venus' game sagged.
The 22-year-old Venus had won Wimbledon the last two years and was bidding to become the first woman to take three in a row since Steffi Graf in 1991-93.
But she was thoroughly outplayed by 20-year-old Serena, who followed up her win at the French Open last month with one of the hardest-hitting displays by a woman on Centre Court.
``It was either now or never because I was playing the two-time Wimbledon champion,'' Serena said. ``It's hard to beat Venus here. She just wouldn't stop running balls down.''
The sisters have now won seven of the past 12 Grand Slam events and look set to continue their domination of women's tennis.
Serena has won three matches in a row against Venus, who still holds a 5-4 career edge. Serena had already been assured of supplanting Venus at No. 1 in the new rankings to be released Monday.
Serena, who went through the tournament without dropping a set, has a 19-match winning streak and is the first woman to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back since Steffi Graf in 1996.
Serena dominated the 1 hour, 18 minute-match with blistering groundstrokes off both flanks and big serves. She had Venus running from side to side and playing defensive shots to stay in the points.
``She just really played every time a better shot,'' Venus said. ``When there's a better shot, sometimes you have to accept it.''
Serena finished with 20 winners, six more than Venus. Serena had 22 unforced errors, while Venus had 25.
The match began with Serena making four errors in the first game, but both players quickly raised their level and played attacking, aggressive baseline tennis, going for the lines and corners.
The pair exchanged breaks in the third and fourth games, then Serena went up a break at 3-2 and served for the set at 5-4. But Venus broke back for 5-5, with Serena bouncing her racket in frustration after netting a backhand.
The two held serve at love to set up the tiebreaker. Serena took command by winning the eighth point to go up 5-3. She raced up to retrieve a drop shot by Venus and whipped a backhand passing shot, celebrating with a fist pump.
Serena missed her first set point at 6-3 with a backhand error, but smacked a 100 mph ace on the second to wrap up the set in 44 minutes - longer than some of the matches the sisters played this tournament.
Venus faded in the second set. Nursing a sore right shoulder, she was unable to get as much speed and power on her serves - her first serves averaged 100 mph and her second serves just 80 mph.
Serena noticed Venus' serving problems and seized her chances.
``It's a war out there,'' she said. ``If there's a weakness, you have to attack.''
Serena broke for 4-2 with help from Venus' fifth double fault. Venus broke back for 4-3, but the match turned for good when Venus served her sixth double fault - a 67 mph duck which was wide by six inches - on break point to go down 5-3.
With match point at 5-3, 40-love, Serena bent over and took a deep breath before serving.
``I was thinking, `Always think on the bright side,' '' she said. ``Just have to stay calm.''
When Venus hit a forehand return into the net, Serena dropped her racket, looked around and went to meet her sister at the net. The two embraced and Venus affectionately put her right arm around Serena's shoulders.
But Serena's celebrations were relatively subdued, even when she accepted the winner's plate - the Venus Rosewater Dish - from Princess Alexandra.
For only the second time in 25 years, the Duchess of Kent was not at Wimbledon to hand the plate to the singles champion. Officials for the duchess said she had a ``private family engagement.''
Serena won $739,000, while Venus collected $370,000.
Their first all-Williams Grand Slam final was at September's U.S. Open on hard courts, when Venus won 6-2, 6-4. The next came last month at the French Open on clay, when Serena won 7-5, 6-3.
Sister Slam III was also the first all-sibling Wimbledon final since the very first tournament in 1884, when Maud Watson beat her older sister, Lillian.
Venus serves up fourth of July fireworks
July 4
American Venus Williams gave her compatriots something to shout about on their Independence Day when she reached her third straight Wimbledon final by beating Belgian Justine Henin 6-3 6-2 in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Williams has taken a while to hit top gear in all her matches at the All England Club this year and sixth seeded Henin took full advantage to grab a break in the first game of the match.
But the world number one broke back soon afterwards, got another in the eighth game and, with her game now at its intimidating best, served out to win the first set.
Henin, who lost to Williams in the final here last year, battled gamely on but the big American just pounded her into submission and won the second set in just over half an hour.
The top seed will now play her sister Serena or Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo for a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles in the final on Saturday.
Venus Cruises into Semi-Finals
Mike Donovan
Tuesday, July 2
Venus Williams took just 47 minutes to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon when she defeated Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-0 today.
Williams is hoping to become the first player since Steffi Graf to win three successive ladies' titles at The Championships. And if she continues to show the form displayed against Likhovtseva, the American is likely to achieve her dream.
Her Russian opponent, world ranked 48, thought she was in the game at 2-2 in the first set. But it was wishful thinking. Williams rattled off 10 straight games, barely breaking sweat.
She had more power, reach, athleticism and luck than Likhovtseva. Even a net cord went in favour of the world number one during the second set.
It seems the set she dropped against Canadian Maureen Drake in the third round has acted as a spur. Certainly Likhovtseva had no answers as she floundered on Centre Court.
The 26-year-old Russian deserved more after a spirited run to the last eight. Her previous best effort was six years ago, but the younger generation is marching on in the form of the Champion.
The all-Williams final continues to edge closer to reality, with Venus's sister Serena meeting Daniela Hantuchova in her quarter-final tomorrow.
Wimbledon-Imposing Venus strolls into quarters
July 1
Defending champion Venus Williams ruthlessly dismissed the challenge of doubles specialist and 16th seed Lisa Raymond to charge into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a quickfire 6-1 6-2 win on Monday.
Williams, who has now extended her Wimbledon winning streak to 18 matches, barely put a foot wrong as she thundered through the first set in just 18 minutes as Raymond failed to make any sort of dent on the top seed's serve.
Having unexpectedly dropped a set against lowly ranked Canadian Maureen Drake in the previous round, Williams -- winner of 25 career titles compared to her opponent's three -- was in no mood to hang around on a cold and damp court one with rain clouds threatening.
"I always try and improve as the tournament goes on and because I didn't move very well on Saturday (against Drake), I was happy to do better today," said 22-year-old Williams.
"I know what it's like to wine here so it's important for me to think that I've played well when I walk off court."
Unable to play her usual brand of attacking tennis, Raymond, 28, was often frustrated as she watched blinding winners go past her racket.
Raymond -- the reigning doubles champion here with Australian Rennae Stubbs -- might have come into the match with high expectations as she is one of the few serve-and-volleyers on the women's tour but was quickly cut down to size by the towering Williams.
Despite the blustery conditions, Williams stayed focused from the moment the first ball was struck and reeled off five straight games from 1-1 to grab a one-set lead.
Watched by mother Oracene, Venus kept up the momentum in the second and broke Raymond in the third and seventh games.
While a crisp backhand down the line passing shot from Williams did the damage in the third game, an unforced error by Raymond handed her compatriot the double break.
With Venus ruling from the baseline and from the net, there was little Raymond could do stop the flow of explosive shots and meekly surrendered the 48-minute match with a service return into the net.
"Playing doubles has definitely helped my volleys and today it gave me the confidence to come into the net so much," said Williams, who is partnering younger sister Serena in the Wimbledon women's competition this year.
"You could see in the second set that Lisa kept trying to find a way to get into the match and I admire her for that but she stayed at the baseline for most of the match because she realised that I've got some great passing shots."
Williams will next face Elena Likhovtseva of Russia for a place in the last four.
Venus Recovers to defeat Drake
Barry Newcombe
Saturday, June 29
Venus Williams, the defending Wimbledon Champion won her third round match today but the encounter was by no means smooth sailing.
Before an excited crowd on No. 1 Court, Williams took on 110th seed Maureen Drake. The Canadian, Drake, played an inspired first set in her first meeting with the world No. 1, took it 7-5 in 38 minutes to record the first set the champion has lost in The Championships this year.
But Williams recovered quickly to overturn that first set reversal and take the next two sets and win 5-7 6-2 6-1 in a time of 83 minutes. Despite wearing a bandage on her left knee she then went out to play doubles with her sister Serena.
Drake, who was in the main draw at The Championships for the fifth time, found plenty of pace and inspiration from the start and broke Williams' first serve to love. Williams managed to break back in the fifth game and broke once more in the seventh game only to lose her serve in the eighth.
Then Drake, with great support from the crowd, took the champion's serve for a third time to win the set. She missed one set point but on a second chance put a forehand volley away for a winner.
Williams had an astonished look on her face at the end of the first set but began to move more easily and stretch her opponent, forcing mistakes. Drake suddenly found the first four games of the second set running away from her and once Williams had taken the second set with an ace there was only one way this match was going to go.
Williams maintained the pressure in the third set, winning the first five games,but surprisingly dropped serve to love when she served for the match. She then won Drake's serve for an eighth time for victory. She now takes on fellow American Lisa Raymond
Venus Breezes Past Ruano Pascual
Barry Newcombe
Thursday, June 27
Four years ago Venus Williams was in her second Wimbledon and in the fourth round she came up against Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain for the first time. Williams won 6-3, 6-1 and went on to lose in the quarter-finals.
Today Williams revisited the same opponent after a four year gap and the score was exactly the same, 6-3 6-1, as the defending ladies' singles champion advanced to the last 16.
Last year, Ruano Pascual knocked out the no. 1 seed, Martina Hingis, in the first round - and she took the early advantage when she broke Venus in the first game of the match.
However, Williams was not concerned and looked increasingly in control as the match progressed, ensuring that there was to be no repeat upset for the Spaniard this year.
Although Ruano Pascual was no slouch with her serve - she hit serves at speeds of 96 mph - she was out-powered by the Williams serve, which struck five aces and peaked at 118 mph. In contrast, the Spaniard had no aces and four double-faults.
Overall, it was a comfortable display by the Champion, and though the match was poised at 3-3 in the first set at one stage, she cranked up a gear and took nine of the next ten games to ease into the next round, where she will play the Canadian Maureen Drake.
Venus off to Flying Start
Tuesday, June 25
Venus Williams took 45 minutes to reach the second round today as she began her quest for a third successive Wimbledon title.
Wild card Jane O'Donoghue, a Briton making her debut at The Championships, was overpowered 6-1, 6-1 by the No.1 seed . Williams, watched by heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis, conceded only eight points on her serve.
But O'Donoghue, rated a 200-1 outsider and world ranked 344, adopted a positive attitude throughout, with an aggressive game plan to go for her shots. Yet when you are facing the biggest serve in women's tennis, with Williams serving an ace with her very first shot of the match, it is clearly a tall order in more ways than one against a 6ft 1in opponent.
Williams got into her stride and conceded just one point on her serve in the opening 20-minute set, clinching it with a superb cross-court forehand from a deep O'Donoghue return.
Feisty O'Donoghue, 19, battled on and broke the Williams serve in the second game of the second set after being broken herself. But Williams broke straight back and then eased home.
Williams said: "It didn't think what an honour it was to be out there first on and defending my title until after the finish. I was focused. It was business. I'm so comfortable on grass. I served well. I was able to return well. I just have a lot more experience. I think that is what really counted. She played really well and can make a breakthrough if she keeps showing the same kind of aggression that she showed against me."
O'Donoghue added: "I felt I did myself justice. I've had a taste of Centre Court and I want more. I went out there and enjoyed every minute of it."
Asked when she sensed it might be difficult, O'Donoghue joked: "The first service game. I thought I'll make her serve first, put a bit of pressure on. She came out and nearly did four aces. Then I realised I've got a mountain to climb here."
VENUS SET TO MAKE IT A HAT-TRICK
Daily Record
By David Mccarthy
VENUS WILLIAMS has ruled Wimbledon for the last two years - and anyone who bets against her this time is probably handing over forged fivers.
The 21-year-old No.1 seed is scheduled to meet her little sister Serena in the final, as they did in the French Open, and although Venus lost that clash, she reigns supreme on grass.
She plans to prove it again by emulating Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, the last two women to notch up a hat-trick of successive titles.
Venus said: "Once you start winning Wimbledon it gets pretty addictive.
"Nothing less than winning it again will do for me."
She would love to win at the expense of her sister.
The the main threat to an all-Williams final will come from No.3 seed Jennifer Capriati, who is scheduled to meet Serena in the semi final.
Capriati has the grass game to beat Serena but would have to play out of her skin to overcome her big sister in the final.
Venus should dispose of British qualifier Jane O'Donoghue in the first round without any problems and is likely to face last year's beaten finalist Justine Henin in the last four - if the little Belgian can recapture some of the form she has lost in recent weeks.
And the British challenge? Last year six of the seven home-based girls crashed in the first round. Don't be surprised if they don't better that this time round.
It's Game, Set, Mature
As Venus Williams Grows, So Does Her Trophy Case
Rachel Nichols
Sunday, June 23
Prim white dress. White socks, white shoes, white wristbands. White visor, angled just so. Venus Williams can't help laughing at herself as she checks her reflection in the mirror lately. Apparently, at 22, she has turned into one of those women who squeezes in tennis between rounds of bridge and showing off pictures of the grandkids.
"Even Serena has been getting on me. She was like, 'My God, Venus, you look like one of those club ladies,' " Venus says, although as she mimics her younger sister's horror, she shows no trace of embarrassment. Serena likes a little flash in her life, shimmying through hip-hop videos, dating famous athletes, wearing clothes that would make a can-can girl blush -- and that's fine. But Venus is more reserved, and these days, that's fine, too.
She is the age of many college graduates, and while there are plenty of things she does that they do not -- she will launch the defense of her second straight Wimbledon title when play begins at the All England club this week, for example -- there is something strikingly adult in the way she has been carrying herself of late, and it is not just her wardrobe. It is something solid and deliberate, that reassuring air young women get when they feel they are finally understanding their own skin.
"I guess some people never get there, but I think I am -- knowing why I am the way I am, that kind of thing," she says, and then she rolls her eyes. "Plus, I look back now, and I think about how I used to be. More than anything, I wonder how my mom put up with Serena and me, because we just laughed and joked nonstop. It was a little insane."
She has certainly matured from the gangly teenager who first poked her racket onto the women's tour, the tentative woman-child who sometimes got lost in the jumble of hair beads and Herculean forehands. Her game, once unpolished and wild, now usually bends at her will; her ability to construct points has blossomed.
And while she still goes for so many shots her statistics will never be completely tidy, the racket that used to leak unforced errors has certainly steadied, her recent stumble in the French Open final against Serena notwithstanding. After that match, Venus swore that in the two weeks between Roland Garros and Wimbledon, she would clean up her game, particularly her first serve, and if she is successful, it is hard to figure a way she could lose her title.
Her long reach allows her to dominate the net play so important on grass; her serve, if healthy, will be magnified by the speedy lawns. Her habits, too, are now suited to the surface.
"She's still going for winners, but she's not trying to pound the ball on every point," says her mother and sometime-coach, Oracene. "She knows not to play herself out of a match. We were watching that young girl [Daniela] Hanutchova play the other day, and Venus said 'she's trying to rush too much there. I used to do that. She'll learn.' Venus has just been through it now."
There has certainly been a lot to go through. From the time Venus first edged her way into the public consciousness, she was asked to justify everything from the unconventional way she had hopscotched over the junior circuit to get to the pros to the way her father, Richard, was constantly making proclamations about her. She had to endure comparisons to the more outgoing and bubbly Serena, especially after the younger Williams became the first to win a Grand Slam event. She had to overcome the prejudices against her dark skin in this still Clorox-white sport -- prejudices that tapered somewhat by the time Serena followed her on tour but that have never gone away completely.
Venus's natural inclination to keep her own counsel didn't ease matters, and while she knew this, she also knew it was simply her way. She was shy and insulated even as a child; she remembers being teased on the blacktop by kids who thought her strange. "I just didn't want to hang out with those kids. I was always off to myself, I didn't want to be bothered," she says, and when she entered the playground of professional tennis, the pattern repeated itself.
When Venus kept to herself, she was told she was standoffish, uncooperative. When she did speak up, displaying the straightforward confidence so highly valued in her family, she was told she was disrespectful.
" 'They're this and they're that,' " Venus says she kept hearing about herself and Serena, mostly from people who had never had more than one conversation with them. And she admits, "it was hard."
"In the beginning, I was very confident in myself; I'd say, 'Yes, of course I can be number one, and I think I'll be the best,' " she says. "People looked at that as conceited or bigheaded."
In some ways, none of that has changed -- even though Venus has reached the No. 1 ranking she said she would, she is still a target. Near the end of the French Open, Jennifer Capriati proclaimed that if players such as Martina Hingis or Lindsay Davenport had not missed so much of this year with injuries, Venus and Serena would never be sitting atop the rankings.
But in many important ways, the changes have been seismic. Venus and Serena are no longer outsiders to a group of players eyeing them with suspicious curiosity; they are essential threads in the tour's fabric. Their polite on-court demeanor has been noted -- Venus is especially reluctant to argue calls and never swears on court -- and with a working knowledge of French and Italian and a voraciousness for books, Venus is considered one of the tour's most well-rounded elite players.
She is also increasingly mature, and while some of that just comes with age, it has also come with self-acceptance. Venus says she always had confidence in who she was but is only now beginning to fully understand herself. "I have been reading about personality characteristics, the Myers-Briggs test and all of that," she says. "I've been learning why I just like my own company more than anything else, that I'm better off just reading a book, being in my own house, being with my family."
This is not to say that she is a quiet loner; in fact, when with close friends and family, Venus can be even more talkative than Serena. This is not to say she is a model of responsibility either, at least no more than any other 22-year-old multimillionaire with much of the world at her feet. There are still unreturned phone calls, untended responsibilities, missed practices.
It's just that Venus is happy being Venus, the person who prefers "Golden Girls" reruns to movie premieres, the person who, well, likes that white visor. And right now, that feels nice. Maybe even a little adult.
"I definitely feel more grown up these days," she says, "which is strange because I think it's something that Serena realized a year-and-a-half ago. But for me, it's been pretty recent. Even just the little things, like scheduling a practice time or whatever. I realized I don't have to call my mom or dad first before I want to do something. I can just do it.
"Hey, what can I say? You come to these realizations every day."
Venus allows fans to enter her orbit
Sarah Edworthy (Daily Telegraph)
06/21
Venus Williams strode into the Westway Sports Centre in west London yesterday wearing a pristine white tracksuit, hooped earrings and a Union Flag pinned into her braided hair - and then, with a giggle, confessed to spectators deflated by England's World Cup exit that she had slept through the match against Brazil.
Never mind. The intent was there. She was "one of us", as the nation demands of reigning Wimbledon champions, and her presence cheered everyone up.
Williams, who opens her campaign for a third successive Wimbledon singles crown on Monday, was launching the Reebok Two Nations Challenge - a joint venture between the Lawn Tennis Association and the United States Tennis Association to introduce international competition to children who have shone in inner-city tennis club schemes.
Mindful that her image has suffered from tales of her (or her agent) being unwilling to associate the Williams sisters with schemes for the underprivileged without large appearance fees, Venus gamely played against the GB team (Meera Patel, Gemma Bisson, Lena Keothavong and Ali Saidi), squealing when unable to return a shot, applauding her opponents and grinning when the commentator declared: "The Wimbledon champion is scared again."
She aimed shots at cardboard images passing on a conveyor belt (a bowl of strawberries, a jug of Pimm's, a bottle of barley water), gingerly took part in a pantomime penalty shoot-out and answered (planted) questions from the floor.
What were her chances at Wimbledon? "I always like to think my chances are good. On grass I can play as impatiently and quickly as I want. My biggest threat? Maybe my first-round opponent. You're always nervous for the first round of a Grand Slam, so it's always dangerous."
A shrewd answer. Her first-round opponent is Jane O'Donoghue, a Briton ranked 347 in the world, and that little comment from the world No 1 will be the most encouraging thing the player from Wigan will hear before her daunting encounter.
Rumours circulate that the relationship with her father, Richard, is strained, while her sister, Serena, was profusive in thanking him after defeating her sister in the French Open final this month. However, Venus painted a rosy picture of the sibling bond. Four years ago, Richard Williams had said his daughters would one day lead the world rankings - which happened 48 hours before their final at Roland Garros - and added that "Serena will eventually
be even better than Venus".
Lest anyone pick up on that, Venus declared the person she most admires is her sister. "We've got each other through tough times. I'm motivated by her. I wouldn't have won Wimbledon or the US Open without Serena," she said.
Those associated with inner-city clubs were then treated to a glimpse of the young Williams' tennis life on park courts.
"Yeah, all kinds, we never knew their proper names. There was a park with ducks so that was Duck Park, a park with a bridge over a lake so that was Bridge Park and a park with a tetherball so that was Tetherball Park. We would practise for an hour, then be allowed 20 minutes on the slide or tetherball, then practise again."
That was the public Venus. Behind a swoosh of black curtains, in an allotted time of 12 min 30 sec (for which there was a timekeeper), the Wimbledon champion whimsically debunked the good impression she had just made. Would she entertain plans to set up her own tennis initiative for the kids for whom she is such an iconic role model? Did she feel a responsibility to give something back?
"I could try. Really I like contributing to causes that are already in effect because at this point in my career I don't have the time. I don't feel responsibilities except to be a good person, and be a good representative of my family, of me, of my religion. Serena and I don't talk about role-modelling at home. Runway modelling maybe, not role-modelling!"
Ranked one and two in the world, what goals are left for them? "To stay in the positions that we are in. Already we've done some incredible things in our careers, we couldn't ask for too much more, I guess. But we will."
Would she be doing any homework on O'Donoghue? "No. I just focus on my game because if I can't play it doesn't matter what the next person can do. I don't get intense on the next person to play, we don't do a scouting report."
Would she feel for the unknown British player who has to walk out on to a show-court to play the champion? "I don't feel for anyone on-court except for me. Off the court I feel compassion and emotions, but on the court? No."
The 12 min 30 sec felt horribly like being on the wrong end of a 6-0 set. But, if O'Donoghue needs reassuring, she should have longer to get to grips with Williams in her one-on-one. Venus confirmed the quickest she had ever dispatched an opponent in was just under 40 minutes.
Venus Williams launches the Two Nations Challenge
Venus Williams launched the inaugural Two Nations Challenge at the Westway Tennis centre in London on Friday 21st June.
This unique tennis tournament will see kids from British inner city tennis clubs taking on a United States team from Las Vegas and New York at the Westway Centre in London from 22 – 23 June. The second leg of the Challenge will take place in New York in August, just ahead of the US Open.
Four members of the GB team were invited to participate in a pre-Wimbledon Reebok event with Venus Williams at the Westway Sports Centre at which the Two Nations Challenge was launched.
Roger Draper, Director of Development at the LTA, said: “The Challenge is giving kids from inner cities across Great Britain and the United States the chance to compete internationally, and to visit the two most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world – Wimbledon and the US Open. We are delighted to be working in partnership with the USTA and hope that by sharing ideas, knowledge and experience, we will together be able to offer even better programmes and initiatives for British and US kids.”
The Two Nations Challenge is the highlight of the LTA’s City Tennis Clubs programme – 17 inner city tennis clubs designed to make tennis affordable for all, regardless of social background. The event gives kids from inner cities the opportunity to represent their country at international level, and encourage and inspire other inner city kids to play tennis.
The Two Nations Challenge will be played in two parts, with the first leg of the event taking place in London at the Westway Sports Centre, in North Kensington, and the second leg taking place in New York on the week-end of 23-24 August. The 24 kids, aged 11-16, will take part in singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches.
Ian Wright, former Arsenal and England footballer and official City Tennis Clubs programme ambassador, said: “This is a great opportunity for some of our most talented kids from around the country to take part in a unique challenge against the USA. The fact that the entire GB team has come from City Tennis Clubs, where their social background isn’t a barrier to having a go, is fantastic. I know the team will do us all proud and I wish them the very best of luck.”
Tom Fetzer, Chief Executive of Community Tennis at the USTA, said: “The Two Nations Challenge provides the perfect opportunity for inner-city youth to travel overseas, compete internationally and grow socially and culturally. The USTA and LTA are both committed to ensuring the success of grassroots tennis in our countries and events such as the Two Nation Challenge are invaluable in achieving this. I would also like to thank the Andre Agassi Boys &Girls Clubs of Las Vegas and the USA Tennis National Junior Tennis League for their support.”
Through the City Tennis Club scheme, the LTA works in partnership with local authorities to encourage a new generation of players from all social backgrounds. City Tennis Clubs are part of the LTA’s campaign to make the tennis club environment more welcoming and accessible for players of any age and background with a view to creating more and better tennis players.
Throughout the Two Nations Challenge a Mini Tennis Festival will also take place at the Westway Sports Centre with an estimated 300 children taking part.
Venus remains Wimbledon star of The Williams Show
By Ossian Shine
June 21
"Welcome to the Williams Show," Richard Williams told the world when his daughters met at Wimbledon two years ago.
When the All England Club opens its gates for two weeks of grand slam action on Monday, the proud father's boast will be more fitting than ever.
Venus and Serena Williams sit at either end of the women's draw, ranked one and two in the world.
But while Serena beat her elder sister for the French Open crown two weeks ago, Venus is the star of the show when they step on to the Wimbledon stage.
A woman who does things her own way -- from her exotic outfits and ever-changing hairstyles to her brutal, battering technique -- Venus is the owner of back-to-back Wimbledon titles and looks virtually invincible on the grass.
A cranked-up work ethic has allowed computer logic to finally catch up with conventional wisdom. One thing is clear -- when the grasscourt season begins, Venus is the one to beat.
UNBEATABLE FORCE
A vicious piledriver of a serve is backed up by brutally clubbed groundstrokes to form an almost unbeatable force.
Certainly Venus believes so.
"Some people say I have attitude -- maybe I do," she says with a couldn't-care-less smile. "But I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no-one else does -- that makes you a winner right there."
That, and back-to-back U.S. Open titles to go with her Wimbledon pair. Plus Olympic gold medals for winning the singles and the women's doubles with Serena.
Her plan of attack on the grasscourt season seems simplicity itself.
"Wear lots of white, have your best sneakers on, equip yourself with a great serve and be ready to smile when you get the trophy," the American giggles when asked about Wimbledon.
There is no doubting the serve and there is no brighter nor broader smile on the circuit so can anything stop Venus?
Perhaps Serena, as she showed in the French Open final. But Venus is in no mood to surrender her Wimbledon crown.
Not even to family.
"I'll try to win Wimbledon again. The chances, I suppose, are good," she said with understatement.
FIGHTING AND PRACTISING
Venus has been back at her Palm Beach home, "fighting and practising" ahead of next week's grasscourt challenge.
Unbeaten in 14 matches at the All England Club and looking as dominant as ever, a magnificent treble looms.
The smashed glass and gang warfare of her childhood Compton seem a long way away now that Venus is queen of Centre Court.
"I think Centre Court will keep being a great place for me in the years to come," she says when asked of her Wimbledon aspirations.
"You know, I guess I always believed I would be a champ. That's what I was told (as a child) and at that age that's what you believe."
Richard Williams instilled great belief in both his daughters and Venus is not ruling out going on to beat Martina Navratilova's record of nine Wimbledon crowns.
"It will be tough. Some people started younger winning titles," she smiles.
"My first was at 20. If I could have started winning at 16, then maybe it would be different.
"But in my mind I'm always the best player in the world. I can't see anybody better than me."
Nobody else can see a player better than Venus right now. With Serena drawn to meet her sister in the final, Wimbledon is set to stage the next episode of the Williams story -- a show that will run and run.
Sunday June 9, 2002
What planet is she on?
She was a prodigy who was trained by her father, but that's where the likeness to the other focused, driven champions ends. This one likes doughnuts, admits she can be lazy and enjoys teasing interviewers.
Tim Adams
Venus Williams lounges, all arms and legs, in the corner of the bar in a Hamburg hotel. She's telling me about her competitive debut on a tennis court. It all started, she says, in her sleepy, giggly way, back when she was three and a half years old, and her Daddy took her down to the nearest club in Los Angeles, and organised a game for her against the pro. She had a cut-down racket, and was a bit shy at first, but soon she was 'serving overarm, aces and everything, hitting forehands down the line'.
I'm leaning forward a little while she recounts the detail of this story, imagining the toddler with the corn-row hair, swinging her modified racket for all she was worth, already refusing to take a step back for anyone, her Daddy urging her on. 'And how did you do?' I wonder.
'I was used to beating guys by then, so I beat this guy, too...' she says, her eyes wide and her mouth breaking into its spectacular grin. 'Straight sets.'
I'm near the edge of my seat by now. 'Really?' I say, 'You beat him? When you were three?'
She pauses a beat, then looks at me.
'Nahhhh!' she says, and throws back her head, laughing hugely. 'Course not!'
There are not too many prodigies who can make fun of the idea of their genius, but Venus Williams can't take any of her charmed life quite seriously. When she first came on to the tennis circuit, her easy self-assurance was interpreted as arrogance; tour players who had been told all their life that tennis was a complicated grind where only those who focused, focused and focused would succeed, were unnerved by the gangly teenager in the locker room, laughing about her laziness, about how she found it hard to concentrate on practice. She was frozen out for a long time, dismissed with her younger sister, Serena, as disrespectful, uppity, but she did not care about that too much.
In retrospect, it seems that Williams, now the world's leading player as she and her family always suggested she would be, was not so much boasting about her natural talent, rather - like a young Muhammad Ali - just excitedly letting the world in on her great secret. There was an idea that women's tennis would, after Navratilova and her pumped-up forearms, be dominated by those who worked the hardest, started the youngest and practised the longest; but there had always been a sense in the Williams family of the importance of doing things a little differently.
Venus has inherited much of her attitude from her father and coach, Richard, though she can laugh languidly about him, too. This is a man whose pride at seeing his daughters fulfil the wild, sponsorship-friendly prophecies he made for them as juniors, has been matched only by his subsequent delight in winding up the white male tennis establishment in general, and its journalists in particular. For a while, his telephone carried the following answer machine message: 'Hi, I'm Richard Williams. There are those who want to ask me what I think of inter-marriage. Anyone that's marrying outside of this race that's black should be hung by their necks until sundown. Please leave a message after the tone...'
Like many tennis dads - Mike Agassi, Stefano Capriati - Richard Williams had plotted Venus and Serena's success ante-natally. The legend has it that while watching a satellite women's tennis tournament in the late Seventies, Williams, the son of a sharecropper from the Deep South, was amazed at the prize money - more than he earned in a year running a security firm - and wondered how he might tap into it. He had three daughters, but he believed they were already too old to turn into champions, and his wife, Oracene (known as 'Brandi'), was not eager to have any more. Williams's solution, by his own account, was to sabotage her contraceptive pills and, in 1980, Venus was born. Two years later his wife gave birth to Serena.
Like all Williams's claims, this family lore is to be taken not entirely in earnest - but if he planned Grand Slam winners from conception, it is really there that the comparisons with most of the more driven sporting parents end. Rather than sending Venus and Serena to a hothouse academy or travelling with them on the junior circuit, he put his youngest daughters on a training programme of his own devising, taking them out every day on the municipal courts in the rough and ready borough of Compton in Los Angeles.
His story goes that while the girls were perfecting their topspin, they were witnesses to drive-by gang shootings (Venus herself suggests that on one occasion she and her sister had to 'dive for cover when bullets started flying'). Her father claims that he made a deal with the gangs in the neighbourhood to let his daughters - his 'ghetto Cinderellas' - practise in relative peace, because the 'lily white world of tennis' needed to be shaken up a bit.
In many ways the purpose of this mythology has long been served - since the Williams sisters' Grand Slam wins the lily white world of tennis will perhaps never be quite the same again - and these days Venus seems keen to play down the tales from the 'hood. Ask her now about the character of her growing up and she says only that 'you just take the childhood you're given, right? You don't question it! We were all just so happy!'
I wonder at one point if there were drug casualties around among her friends?
'I was 10 years old,' she says. 'I wasn't in the drugs scene. I guess some kids around me had to grow up quickly, had all those problems. But I wasn't one of those kids, or around those kids, not at all.'
Still, when I ask her if she thinks she will ever regret not having a 'normal' childhood (as Agassi and Capriati have done over the years) she puts her head in her hands and suddenly exclaims: 'But our Mom was so cruel! I'm always telling her that! We were so deprived!'
In what way exactly?
Her face crumbles in mock-despair. 'I can't say,' she says.
Go on...
'Well, you know most kids in their lunch boxes have little happy juices and stuff - we didn't get juices, we got milk! It ruined my childhood, you know. All my friends got Captain Crunch cereal or Froot Loops, and we had to have Puff Wheat...'
And she's rocking back laughing again. 'So cruel! No Froot Loops! Of course, when I confront her Mom makes excuses - she didn't want us to have sugar because we were already all bouncing off the walls - but that's no good to me now! The damage is done!'
Venus is here in Hamburg with her mother, and her dog, Bobby, a Yorkshire terrier (he travels everywhere with her, she says, 'except England, or any of England's old colonies. You guys really left your mark on the world...') Her parents divide their time between their daughters' matches, and both still spend a lot of time on court with them, advising and coaching.
When Venus first came on the tour, Brandi, like her husband and children a Jehovah's Witness, was keen to warn her of the dangers she might face. 'They are in the locker room talking with these older women - undressed - who are lesbians,' she once explained. 'The kids get caught up in something and think "Maybe that's really me" when it's not. So, yeah, I taught Venus and Serena about that...'
In describing the differences between her daughters, Brandi has been apt to say that Serena has always had to work hard for her success, but that everything has always come easy to Venus, whether it was at school or on the tennis court.
When I put this description to Venus she smiles at the suggestion, and says a little half-heartedly, 'I feel I've always worked pretty hard. I'm no flash in the pan, you know. I think I'm demonstrating some kind of longstanding commitment...'
And then she concedes her mother maybe has a point: 'I guess I always knew I'd be a champ. That's what I was told, and at that age that's what you believe...' She smiles shyly, stretches out her legs still further, giggles some more to herself. 'You know I was always really very, very, very good. Serena, on the other hand, wasn't very good at all. She was small, really slim and the racket was way too big for her. Hopeless. Believe it or not she used to lob and slice. That was her game.' She thinks of the aggressive power her little sister now possesses, shakes her head. 'She's moved on from there. She started playing especially good tennis at around 15, which was soon enough - I mean she won the US Open two years later - but still it was quite late compared to me. You know,' she says, 'I guess I was always Venus...'
Venus seems to have a very clear idea of who Venus is, and where Venus came from, and where Venus is going - so much so that she often talks about herself in the third person, or at least about that version of herself that is a product or a phenomenon. She seems amused by many of the trials this Venus has to go through, and by some of the nonsense that surrounds her role as the world's most bankable player. Later in the day I see her on top of a crane in the city centre with the tournament organiser, a portly German gentleman, signing a billboard of herself, cheek to cheek with a gigantic image of her own backside, and unable to stop giggling. I begin to see how her irony might keep her sane.
Some of this distance comes from her religious faith. Or at least, she says, that is certainly why she's as laid back as she is. 'I know for sure that all this is not the only thing in life,' she suggests. 'I know it's not the most important thing for me to win the most Grand Slams and be remembered in this world. I certainly don't have to win little tournaments here, there and everywhere, I don't have to win at all,' she says, before remembering herself and adding: 'Although I do want to.'
Her attitude to competition is also perhaps a product of her father's prescient judgment in not letting his daughters really play competitively until they were late into their teens. While he had always been quick to tell anyone that would listen, and many that wouldn't, of his girls' great prowess, (Venus had already signed six-figure endorsement deals with Reebok when she was 10) Richard Williams did not put them up against the best of their peers as they were growing up, didn't think it right that girls should have to experience that kind of competitive pressure. 'Don't get too tied up in this,' he claims to have told Venus in an attempt to limit her time on the practice court, 'or you'll be like the rest of them. You'll be a dummy and a fool.'
Some coaches told him he was throwing away their chances with this attitude, but when Venus eventually joined the circuit full time at 17, with good exam grades behind her, and ambitions to learn Chinese and play the guitar, she won the first tournament she entered. Her father, of course, sat in the stands holding a placard that read: 'I told you so.'
Martina Hingis, who is exactly Venus's contemporary, had already won more than 100 professional matches at the same age and the strain of that early success seems now to have caught up with her body. Hingis's feet and ankles and knees have suffered the shocks of the relentless schedule, and she is already contemplating retirement at 22. Jennifer Capriati (Venus's greatest rival in the last year) struggled with different demons before getting her head together, and the stories of Carling Bassett and Andrea Jaeger should be admonitory.
In contrast, Venus seems possessed of a kind of balance that perhaps comes from being allowed to grow into her extraordinary body at her own pace. She also has no sense of yet having fulfilled a fraction of her potential - she has four Grand Slam victories, two at Wimbledon, two at the US Open, and it is hard not to see her achieving many more.
Her father once suggested - and he has suggested many, many things - that he wanted her to be out of tennis by the time she was 25, ('By 26, she can graduate college and then start setting her businesses up. By 30, 31 she'll be set, and by 35 she can give me a grandchild.') but she does not see much prospect of that. 'That's just Dad,' she says, rolling her eyes slightly. 'No, I intend on playing for a while. It's getting easier I think. A forehand crosscourt, backhand down the line, a couple of aces. Game. This life's not so complicated...'
I wonder how much of her motivation she still derives from being a black player at the top of a still overwhelmingly white sport. She says that though she 'never forgets she is a black player on court, and it would be hard to think otherwise,' she doesn't really believe that fact gives her extra motivation.
Over the years, she has been smart, gracious, enough to let others, notably her father, of course - address this subject for her. (When he used to sit in on her original interviews and press conferences Richard Williams would routinely preface them with the words: 'Now, don't be intimidated by us. We won't hurt you.') Her mother, too, was less circumspect. 'They don't even look at her,' Brandi Williams said of Venus, when she first joined the tour. 'I think they're afraid of her. They want her to be their Stepin Fetchit.'
Venus says simply now that she's never experienced any racism in tennis, and smiles brightly. The obvious comparison in this respect, and in many others, is with Tiger Woods. Is she driven by a sense of history, like Woods, a desire to take the sport to another level?
She shakes her head a little wearily at the thought, which seems to sound far too much like hard work. 'Nah, not really,' she says, quietly. 'My ambition is to enjoy my life and to do exactly what I want to do...' And then a little more determinedly: 'And I'll do that. I will be free.'
Some of this independence has led Venus into trouble over the past few years. In the same way that they protested against the rigours of the junior tour by not playing it, Venus and her sister have also been criticised for picking and choosing their matches, not perhaps fulfilling all their ludicrous tournament commitments.
Venus says she has no trouble getting psyched up for nothing events like the one in Hamburg, and it is where she played some of the best tennis of her life last year, but you get the sense she believes it is a necessary evil rather than something to get overly excited about. Tellingly, Serena is not here, and the sisters let their schedules ensure these days that they only meet on the biggest stages. When Venus pulled out of a semi-final against her sister in Indian Wells last year, blaming a mystery injury, Serena was booed through the final against Kim Clijsters, and there was much agonising in the press box.
She remains philosophical about this 'problem', saying only that they try to keep apart as much as they can in smaller events. Venus leads the series 4-1, including a crushing straight sets win in the US Open final last year. Will there be special pressures on their matches after that?
'Well,' she says, 'Serena's always real tough you know. I just hope she gives me a second serve to hit every now and then when we play.'
Do they worry if they play too often it might get in the way of their special relationship?
'No,' she says, 'that would be idiotic, and just being the big sister I would never let that happen. If we argued about it once we got off court, she'd shake me or we'd have a hug or whatever. It would never get personal.'
Does she still feel she has to look out for her sister on the tour?
'I think in the beginning she thought she was me,' Venus says smiling, 'But in the last couple of years - she's 20 now! Little Serena, all grown up! - she's realised that she's not me. She's pretty much an extrovert character and I'm an introvert. She likes to go out, party, make friends. Whereas me I like being at home, hanging out with Bobby, reading books,'
Venus was widely criticised, too, for missing a few events after 11 September. Her rival Lindsay Davenport suggested that Venus had 'lied' about an injury she had in order to miss an event. Talking about it now, it seems that Davenport perhaps had a point, though Venus will not be specific. 'It was a difficult time,' she says. 'I cancelled a couple of things because I didn't want to go, I guess. I wanted to be at home.'
How did she feel about being called a liar?
'I must have forgotten about that, I guess,' she says, smiling faintly.
Does any of that kind of animosity come out in the locker room?
'No. If I had to confront someone I suppose I would. But then I'm not so bothered what anyone else thinks.'
Venus is quite aware that the tour, and perhaps the US tour in particular needs her, a little bit more than she needs it. Since the retirement of Steffi Graf and with the demise of any real challenge from the poster girl, Anna Kournikova, Williams is the one whom everyone wants to see. I wonder if the money that attends this position has come to seem absurd to a girl who grew up with a five-dollar allowance - which she blew on secret doughnuts and ice cream.
'Not really absurd,' she says, enjoying the idea. 'I mean I guess there's always going to be jobs that pay more than others, and I suppose I have one of those...'
I suggest this is perhaps a slight understatement, given that she earned $10 million last year from prize money and endorsements (even more than Kournikova).
She giggles. 'I'm just blessed, I guess.' And then in her best mock hand-wringing tones. 'If I didn't play tennis I don't know where I'd be. I don't know if I'd be in trouble or fighting or in college, getting thin on noodles and rice - I'd be thrilled about that - or maybe I wouldn't have gone to college. I would be faced with so many decisions!'
Her wealth must bring its own decisions: what does she do with it all?
She says, of course, she does a lot of shopping - 'I shop very well' - gives some to charity and has along the way become something of a connoisseur of begging letters.
'Though these days I don't open my mail any more unless I'm expecting something. Still I get all these weird letters! One from a guy in South Africa recently who sent me a letter proposing that I regularly sent him a few thousand dollars and in return he would send me more letters. I'm not sure about that deal! My favourite was from a lady who wrote me saying, "My name is so and so and I have seven children to support, and what's more I am a clown." And she sent a picture of herself in a clown suit. I loved that letter,' she grins. 'I didn't send any money. But still I loved the letter.'
In between tournaments she's doing her correspondence course in interior design at the London Guildhall. 'I'm going to have my diploma soon,' she says brightly. 'Once you take an interest, you're eyes kind of open up to interiors you know.'
She's fixing up her own place?
'Of course!'
We gaze round the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel Hamburg, with its mock rococo flourishes and burnished wood fittings.
What would she change about this?
'I think it's beautiful just the way it is,' she says.
Williams does not really moan too much about the price of fame. When I ask how it has been to do her growing up in public, she laughs and says she's not grown up yet. She's a bit wary of the British press since one tabloid reporter staked out her home before Wimbledon last year, kept trying to get into her house - and probably not, she supposes, to write an interiors piece - but mostly, she says, she can hold on to a private life of sorts.
Does she find that who she is gets in the way of relationships?
She smiles some more. 'I suppose it might if I was looking for one, but I mean I'm not really on the market right now. I'm only 21, I wouldn't say I was especially desperate to get that ring on my finger. When I'm 40, maybe, and it still hasn't happened perhaps I'll be wondering what's going on, but I'm OK for now...' In this, and all things, it seems, she's still happy enough to listen to the advice of her parents.
I wonder if she had been looking forward to dancing with her fellow champion Goran Ivanisevic at last year's Wimbledon Ball. 'Yeah,' she says, 'but I didn't have a dress. I mean I thought that I might have to go to the ball so I'd bought this dress. A shirt dress, strapless, bright red, you know, quite short. A lovely dress. But when I put it on my Mom said, all concerned, you know, "Haven't you got anything else?" And after that of course I couldn't wear it. So I just wore... whatever. And anyway I think that they cancelled the dancing, when it got to be my turn...'
Does she see a time when she will want to break free of that family involvement in her life, doesn't she ever feel it stifling?
'No!' she says, firmly. 'I love it! When we all get together, us five girls, Mom and Dad, we have such a jolly time, as you say in London.'
And if they clash, all these formidable forces, who tends to get the last word?
'I guess we all do,' she says. 'Or at least,' and this sounds much more like it, 'we all have the last laugh.'
Venus' serve lets her down
June 8,2002
By RICK GANO
.c The Associated Press
PARIS (AP) - Venus Williams' serve was as broken as her French.
``Next year, I'll do a little better, I hope,'' Venus said of her language skills at the French Open awards ceremony, where she was holding the runner-up trophy.
Venus lost her serve eight times and threw in nine double faults Saturday as sister Serena won the title at Roland Garros 7-5, 6-3.
``I try not to be sad about my losses, every loss, when I lose because I don't want to concentrate on my loss, I want to concentrate on the future,'' said Venus, who also had 47 unforced errors.
``I'm still a little young, so I think that there will hopefully be chances for me to be through to the finals again.''
As her sister was holding the championship trophy, Venus grabbed her mom's camera and began snapping away, making sure the moment was recorded for the family photo album.
Venus has plenty of pages in the scrapbook, for sure. And at age 22, her chances of adding more Grand Slam titles to the two Wimbledons and two U.S. Opens she's already won are strong indeed.
``I just wasn't the best player today. Normally I think I had better appearances in my Grand Slam finals. But it's impossible to win them all,'' she said.
``I'm happy for Serena because, you know,she hasn't won a Slam in a while.''
Venus beat Serena 6-2, 6-4 in the U.S. Open final last September in the first Grand Slam meeting of sisters since 1884.
And she still holds a 5-3 lead against her hitting partner and best friend, but Serena - who is 15 months younger - has won the last two. And they're 1-1 now in Grand Slam finals.
When the rankings are released next week, Venus will be No. 1, and Serena, who had the first family breakthrough by winning the 1999 U.S. Open, No. 2.
Venus is 35-3 against everyone else this year but 0-2 against Serena, and they share the tour lead with four titles each.
So, imagine the top two players in another sport swiping each other's toothpaste. That's what happened during their stay in Paris.
``She stole my toothpaste,'' Venus said of Serena. ``I had no toothpaste. I was fighting for my life in the mornings and at night. I'd have to go all the way to her room, get the toothpaste, put a little on my thumb, go back and brush my teeth.''
Right now, Serena has evolved into the better clay court player. At 5-foot-8, she has a better sliding technique, a necessary skill on the dusty surface, than her taller sister, who is 6-foot-1.
But Venus has made her strides on clay, as well.
A first-round loser last year at Roland Garros, Venus didn't lose a set until the finals and wasn't tested in her first six matches.
Serena, meanwhile, lost two sets headed into the finals and had a tough match against Jennifer Capriati in the semifinals.
``I played well to get to the finals. She was just playing a little better,'' Venus said.
Venus sweeps past Fernandez
Thursday, June 6, 2002
No2 seed Venus Williams turned the dream debut of Clarisa Fernandez into a nightmare on Court Philippe Chatrier Thursday, wiping out her inexperienced foe in 50 minutes to advance to her first Roland Garros final.
"I wanted to do better here because I was starting to think that I had maybe a jinx at this tournament," a relieved Williams said after the match.
Williams downed the nervous Argentine 6-1 6-4 to leap into the final, where little sister Serena awaits. Serena's semifinal win over Jennifer Capriati allows Venus and Serena to move, for the first time, to the No1 and No2 spots when the rankings are released next Monday.
"Today I guess was just a tough day with Serena's match going on first. I was watching a little too much of it. It was hard to really be calm in my match. I was too excited, too stressed maybe about hers.
"But I don't think we were even really thinking about that (the rankings). We were just wanting to do so well for the French Open because we hadn't always done our best here... But this makes it all the much more sweeter," said the four-time Grand Slam titlist. "I'd like to stay No1 but I'd like to see Serena No1 one day also. I'm not giving it up though."
Playing her usually aggressive backcourt game, the physically superior Venus dominated Fernandez in the 21-minute first set by coming into the net at every opportunity and using her wide wingspan to close out easy points.
Despite the 21-year-old American dropping her first service game of the match, and then again in the third, fifth and eighth games of the second, she nevertheless overwhelmed the shell-shocked Fernandez, who could come up with just one winner during the encounter. "In her case it was difficult to come out there in the semifinals. It's never easy. I've been in the position where I've been in the finals for the first time, and I was really young. So I guess either you can come out and play really great or not so well," said Williams.
"I never felt like I was going to lose the match, but I certainly didn't want to prolong it. But just a few shots I missed here and there."
Fernandez played right into the hands of the powerful American, by failing to gain any depth on her groundstrokes, and not lacing them with the topspin that had the potential to annoy her opponent.
Then late in the second set, but only for a fleeting moment, the 87-ranked Argentine produced some of the form that had seen her sensationally oust No4 Kim Clijsters and No13 Elena Dementieva earlier on. She saved match point at 2-5 in the second set when Williams clunked a backhand into the net, before breaking the Florida-native and holding serve to trail 4-5.
But her comeback was short-lived, and Williams gained three more match points on Fernandez's next service game, eventually closing out the dual with a sizzling backhand that stumped the Argentine in the backcourt.
Williams found it hard to find her rhythm in the final stages, and ended the day with a shocking 37 unforced errors, compared to Fernandez's 35.
Venus' final against Serena will be the second time the pair has met in a Grand Slam final - the first was at the 2001 US Open, with victory going to Venus.
Venus vs Clarisa
Wednesday, June 5, 2002
VENUS WILLIAMS (USA) (2) VS. CLARISA FERNANDEZ (ARG)
By her own admission, No2 seed Venus Williams is a different person and more importantly, a "smarter and better" player than the one who crashed out of the quarterfinal here in 2000 and then suffered a shocking first round loss last year, her earliest Grand Slam loss since Wimbledon in 1997.
"Different times for sure," said Williams when referring to her embarrassing defeat by three-time champ Arantxa Sanchez Vicario two years ago. "I just couldn't make the ball do what I wanted it to do at that point," summed up the four-time Grand Slam titlist.
This week Williams secured her first Roland Garros semifinal berth in six attempts, which means that she must have come pretty close to discovering her claycourt feet. The 6'1" Florida resident it seems, has finally realised that brute strength, height and power do not a Roland Garros champion make.
According to Williams, 'French Venus' has suddenly surfaced at Roland Garros this year, equipping the American with a truckload of patience and an ability to move the ball around the red dirt without whacking the cover off it in the first three strokes. She's also discovered the power of sliding, despite still preferring to step into the ball to crank winners.
Joked the 21-year-old American about French Venus or 'Ven-oos' as she pronounces it: "You can't talk to her that much because she's so serious and hardly ever leaves her hotel room, only to eat. If she can she'll have her food brought to her. She just reads books, concentrates. You can't get her to smile that much. That's Venus."
Whether 'French Venus' will capture her first French Open in three days time is anyone's guess, but she's as primed and determined as she's ever been to win on the clay and her results this fortnight will firmly attest to that. She is the only women's semifinalist yet to drop a set in this event, and has spent the least amount of time on court on route to the final four (four hours, 46 minutes).
In the quarterfinal, Williams pummelled countrywoman Monica Seles, a firm payback to the three-time Roland Garros champ who'd short-circuited her run to the Australian Open final in January. Prior to Seles, she'd scored routine victories over Chanda Rubin, No31 Rita Grande, Indonesia's Wynne Prakusya and German Bianka Lamade.
"I always felt I had the groundstrokes and the speed to play well here; it just hasn't happened yet. But now I'm a little older, a little wiser, I hope."
Williams' semifinal opponent, the surprise packet Clarisa Fernandez, is in the midst of a dream debut here, after ousting No4 Kim Clijsters and No13 Elena Dementieva in the third and fourth rounds.
The second lowest ranked player (No87) ever to reach the semifinals here, Fernandez is also the first Argentine woman in the final four since Gabriela Sabatini in 1992, although she's loathe to compare herself to the great Argentine. "I don't really think it's a question of being better than her or not, I'm just very happy about my own situation right now."
Their first match will be a study of contrasts, both on and off the court. 20-year-old Fernandez is a slightly built but gritty player on the clay, having grown up honing her skills on the dirt courts of a private Argentinean tennis club. Despite being one year younger than the more athletic Williams, Fernandez did not start to play tennis until 15 years of age, preferring to pay attention to her schoolwork.
Under the watchful eye of father Richard, Williams began playing tennis at age four, but on the public courts in her local neighbourhood of Compton, a downtrodden area of Los Angeles. She turned pro at 14 and then mixed home study with formal schooling. She is now studying fashion design at a university in Florida.
Since turning pro in 1998, Fernandez had played in the main draw of just three Grand Slam events, and had previously never progressed past the first round. As a 17-year-old Williams reached the final of the 1997 US Open on debut.
"The truth is that it's a great surprise for me to reach the semifinals here," said the shy Argentine who broke through onto the WTA Tour last month by advancing to her first career quarterfinal at Madrid. "I feel very confident about my game, and I think I could win against almost any opponent."
Of the four semifinalists, Fernandez has the spent the most time on court on her way through (seven hours, 29 minutes) and dropped sets against Dementieva and compatriot Paola Suarez.
On Thursday, Williams will be expected to easily out-muscle the Argentine and gallop into her first French Open final, where she might face little sister Serena (if she beats defending champ Jennifer Capriati).
Despite Fernandez's favorite surface being grass, it is here that she has tasted greatest success. In downing Clijsters and Dementieva she showed she can more than hold her own against the big-hitters. She proved her mental and physical worth by outlasting highly favored opponent Paola Suarez in the quarters, and if she can mix it up with an assortment of sliced, diced and topspin balls, she just might fluster the American, who prefers to deal with hard, flat groundstrokes from the baseline. The left-handed Fernandez's flashy backcourt game - interspersed with some feisty net play - will nevertheless prove a new and interesting challenge for the former world No1.
Expect the rowdy Parisian fans to warm to the underdog Argentine, but don't expect Venus to be bothered by their affections, because she has her eyes on the prize. "I just think I'd love to do well here. I'd love to win. Especially being so close, in the semifinals."
Whether she wins or not, Williams will move to world No1 next Monday, but something tells us a French Open crown might be higher up on her wish list.
Fernandez has nothing to lose and everything to gain so she will be tempted to take some wild swings at Williams' balls in the hope of startling the American, but the second seed will draw on a wealth of experience to shut-out the Argentine, most likely in straight sets.
Venus breezes through in Paris
PARIS, June 2/02
Second seed Venus Williams beat fellow American Chanda Rubin 6-3 6-2 in less than an hour on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The straightforward, one-sided victory on Court One allowed Williams to match her best finish to date at Roland Garros.
A first-round loser last year, she also reached the last eight in 2000 and 1998.
The Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion will face sixth seed Monica Seles next after the American beat Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 7-5.
Williams went into the match with a 6-1 lifetime record against Rubin and there was never any hint that Rubin might redress the balance.
Rubin, ranked 45th in the world, has recently recovered from a long-term knee injury and was playing only her fourth tournament of the year. Williams's superior form and fitness were evident from the outset.
Only in the dying stages of the match, when Williams served for victory at 6-3 5-2, did Rubin put up any resistance but even then the two match points she saved proved to be little more than a postponement of the inevitable.
"I was definitely concentrating on every point because she's known for her comebacks," Williams said.
Venus rising to occasion at French Open; back at No. 1
5/31/02
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer
PARIS (AP) _ Venus Williams' future opponents might get intimidated if they watched tapes of her first three matches at the French Open.
Looking for a breakthrough at the Grand Slam tournament that's given her the most trouble, the second-seeded Williams was downright dominant again Friday, moving into the fourth round by beating No. 31 Rita Grande of Italy 6-1, 6-4, and clinching a return to the top of the rankings.
Williams will become No. 1 for the third time, overtaking Jennifer Capriati, no matter how each fares the rest of the way at Roland Garros.
At times, the match against Grande had the feel of a 52-minute practice session for Williams, who produced 23 winners to just one for her opponent. Williams has dropped 12 games through three matches in Paris, where she lost to Barbara Schett in the first round in 2001.
``It's nice not to be on the court too long. On clay courts, anything can happen, especially at this tournament,'' the two-time Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion said.
``So if you can just shut your opponents out, with not too many mistakes, you don't find yourself in a situation that you feel is out of your control.''
She spoke about an hour after No. 4 Kim Clijsters, thought to be the most dangerous player left on Williams' half of the draw, was upset 6-4, 6-0 by 87th-ranked Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina. Clijsters lost to Capriati in last year's final.
Williams (who had a small bandage on her left knee) did have a late lapse against Grande, losing two straight games at love. It was an eight-point aberration completely of her own doing _ seven errors plus a double fault _ and, in a sense, illustrative of how lopsided the match was.
``I didn't feel pressure that she was going to hit winners on me, because her game is not a power game,'' said Williams, who withdrew from her last tournament, the Italian Open, citing a wrist injury. ``It's more finesse and placement.''
An encouraging stat for Williams: She won the point on nine of 11 trips to the net.
A gracious Grande provided quite a scouting report.
``She dictated everything. I just did what I could to get the ball back,'' said Grande, who had a set point against Capriati in the Australian Open's round of 16. ``You hit a great shot, and she takes two steps and is there.''
Next up for Williams is 45th-ranked Chanda Rubin, in just her third tournament of 2002 after left knee surgery. Rubin _ a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros in '95 and '00, and a semifinalist at the '96 Australian Open _ followed up her second-round upset of the 16th-seeded Schett by beating No. 23 Anne Kremer 6-1, 6-0.
``I definitely feel I can win,'' Rubin said. ``A player like Venus is not going to go down without a fight.''
With a game that once was primarily power-based, but now is increasingly nuanced, Williams leaves her opponents few options.
Grande noticed: ``What am I supposed to do? Go to the net? She'll pass you. Return well? She hits a serve (120 mph). She makes you change your tactics completely.''
After teaching Grande a thing or two, Williams, recipient of an honorary degree from Howard University, was asked whether she thinks about what it would have been like to go to college instead of joining the tennis tour.
``I've spoken to a lot of people who say it's some of the greatest years of their lives,'' the 21-year-old Williams said. ``Surely, I'd be a struggling college student, fighting for the next Cup O' Noodles.
``Here, at least, I can fight for the next filet mignon.''
Fumble fingers Venus sticks to the day job
By Pritha Sarkar
PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) - Venus Williams may be an amazing force on the tennis court but when it comes to turning her hands to using a keyboard she suffers from 'fumbleitis'.
Despite her hands generating immense power on the tennis courts, Venus admitted that her fumble fingers have led to the slow death of the newsletter, 'Tennis Recap', which she wrote and published with sister Serena.
"Oh Lord, I couldn't type any more," Venus announced to a bemused crowd of assembled journalists following her quickfire 6-1 6-4 thrashing of Italy's Rita Grande in the third round of the French Open on Friday.
"We were always at least two weeks beyond the printing date. It was fun while it lasted. Maybe we should hire someone to type for us."
Asked if the publication made her realise the daily hardships faced by journalists, she added: "I've always admired your work because in writing class I had to work so hard.
"I always thought I did pretty good. But the teachers always found something wrong with my essays.
"I'm glad I don't have to take any more writing classes. I'm through."
FASHION DEGREE
But the American is no stranger to academia as she was awarded an honorary degree at Howard University, Washington D.C., last year.
Having pursued a fashion degree for over two years now, and with no sign of it being completed in the near future, Venus admitted that receiving the honour was a humbling experience.
"I found out about the degree last year so I made sure in my schedule that I could be there because I've worked so hard to get a degree," she said.
"I haven't got one yet and as this is all I can get...it meant so much to me. Hopefully I can get there one day on my own."
Despite having millions of dollars in the bank and a globetrotting lifestyle that most students aspire to, Williams said she was still envious of missing out on her student bonding years.
"It was really nice to be at Howard and actually see students, people who I want to be like as opposed to maybe people that would like to be me," said the 21-year-old, whose two older sisters attended Howard.
"I speak to a lot of people and most of them say the greatest years of their lives were when they were in college.
"If I wasn't a tennis player, I think surely I'd be a struggling college student, fighting for the next cup of noodles.
"At least I can fight for the next filet mignon here," Williams quipped.
Tennis-Venus races into French fourth round
By Pritha Sarkar
PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) - Venus Williams blasted her way past Rita Grande of Italy 6-1 6-4 on Friday to become the first player to reach the French Open fourth round.
Second seed Williams, who has kept a relatively low profile at Roland Garros this year while younger sister Serena set tongues wagging with her wacky fashion sense, made the most of the hot summer conditions and never let her 27-year-old opponent settle into the 52-minute contest.
The American, who had to pull out of the Italian Open earlier this month after sustaining a freak wrist injury while lifting luggage, said: "It's been nice not to be on court for too long especially since I'm coming off injuries.
"I think more than anywhere else, anything can happen on clay courts. So if you just shut your opponents out and not make too many mistakes, you won't find yourself in a situation that is out of your control."
SLEEVELESS DRESS
The Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, wearing a white sleeveless dress, was at her ruthless best during the first set. Grande watched in despair as ball after ball whizzed past her outstretched racket.
With Grande holding her serve just once at 1-1, Williams ended the 34th ranked Italian's first-set ordeal in just 25 minutes after reeling off five successive games.
The only blip in an otherwise faultless Williams performance came as she attempted to serve out for the match at 5-2 in the second set but handed Grande a break by hitting four unforced errors.
A jubilant Grande, who achieved her best result in the French capital last year when she reached the last 16, threw her arms up in the air to acknowledge a minor victory of having broken the mighty Williams serve.
However, Grande's jubilation was short-lived as Williams -- a winner on green clay at Amelia Island in April -- ended the contest two games later when the Italian weakly dumped a thundering Williams groundstroke into the net.
Referring to the game when she dropped her serve Williams said: "I just committed a few unforced errors and it only takes a few of those and you lose the game.
"But I felt okay going into the 5-4 game because I was serving pretty good and feeling strong."
Williams, a shock first-round loser in 2001, will equal her best result at the tournament if she defeats Anne Kremer or Chanda Rubin to reach the quarter-finals.
Venus overcomes Lamade
Matthew Cronin
May 27
Showing some of the effects of her recent wrist injury, No2 seed Venus Williams grinded past Germany's Bianka Lamade 6-3 6-3 to move into the second round on Monday.
"It was a little tough this morning because it's so cold," Williams said. "It's hard to warm up. But once I get going, I seem to do okay."
Given the heady distinction of opening play on Court Philippe Chatrier, the No2 seed played an erratic, impatient match again the hard hitting German, struggling on her service games and battling to find the range on her forehand. But the four-time Grand Slam champion was still the superior player on the day, smoking in big first serves when she needed to, attacking the net at key moments and winning numerous baseline exchanges with her vaunted backhand.
Lamade - a 19-year-old German who had only two matches this year coming into the contest - went for broke much of the day, rarely attempting to engage the American in long rallies and frequently going for outright winners off both wings. In the end, the 21-year-old Williams showed her champion's mettle, closing the match out with a series of blistering groundstrokes.
The savvy Williams said that the key to great clay court tennis is "patience, running a lot of balls down, getting a little lucky, just playing the ball and the court, really understanding the game, how to move the ball and your opponent around, taking advantage. Really, it's a lot of fun."
Roland Garros is the one Grand Slam where the elder Williams has never made a serious run, only reaching the quarterfinals once, in 1998, when she was tripped up by Martina Hingis. Last year, the 6-foot-2 powerballer was stunned in the first round by Austrian Barbara Schett.
"I think I just have to play well, like any other place, being willing to compete on every point," said Williams, who attributed her poor results here in the past to "slow starts. But this year's been okay for me. It may be my best start ever. I'd like to keep it rolling."
This year, Williams comes into Roland Garros with four titles, but only one of them, Amelia Island, on clay. She reached the Hamburg final three weeks ago, but was outslugged by Kim Clijsters. Then in Rome two weeks ago, she was forced to pull out of her match against Anna Kournikova after she sprained a ligament in her right wrist. Williams said that her wrist is getting sore periodically and isn't sure how long the pain will last.
"I won't be able to tell you which shots are tougher on my wrist but as long as I keep my practices down, don't push myself and hopefully keep the sets down [I'll be okay]," she said. "But that's no guarantee."
Williams will play the winner of the match between German Anka Barna and Indonesia's Wynne Prakusya.
PARIS (May 24 )
Venus is injury free for the French
Wimbledon and US Open champion Venus Williams may have been deprived of her third Grand Slam title in a row in Australia but the world number two believes she can redeem herself in her favorite city from next Monday.
The powerful American second seed has already won the Paris Indoor Open last February at the Coubertin Stadium, not far from Roland Garros, after Yugoslavia's Jelena Dokic pulled out with a leg injury before the final.
But it is the clay that she must tame if she is to finish better than two quarter-final finishes at the French Open in 1998 and 2000.
Williams had a strong start this season by gaining a title at Gold Coast without dropping a set, but her impressive 24-match win-streak was ended by compatriot Monica Seles at the Australian Open quarter-final.
The American has recovered from a wrist sprain that forced her out of Rome but hasn't played in competition since losing the final in Hamburg on May 5 to Belgian Kim Clijsters.
And the 21-year-old, who February became the first African-American world number one, knows that she must work hard if she is to win her fifth title this year.
"I know I have to hit the ball three or four times more than on hard court to finish a point. But that doesn't bother me," said Williams.
"I want this title," said Williams, who was dumped out of the first round last year by Austrian Barbara Schett.
"It's like in Australia where I've never managed to play a final. But that doesn't really worry me because I know that one day I know I'll have my chance and I hope it will be this year."
And Williams finds it hard to explain her failure at Roland Garros, having already won on clay last year at Hamburg.
"I don't really know why," said Williams. "I like playing on clay and feel comfortable. Before arriving on the pro-circuit I practiced on this surface as did Serena. I like clay as much as hard court."
Winning in Paris would be special for Williams who is learning French and often visits the city outside the tennis circuit.
"I love France, I love Paris. I manage to speak a little French. It's great," she enthuses.
"At the Paris Indoor Open I tried, but I was too shy," she said of her ability to give a speech in French.
"But this time if I win the trophy, and I want this title this year, I promise that I'll speak French," she added.
Tennis-Williams sisters face French examination
By Pritha Sarkar
Venus and Serena Williams have made a habit of bulldozing their opponents ever since they turned professional in the mid 1990s but the French Open remains the one grand slam where both sisters have failed to stamp their authority.
In five attempts, Venus has failed to even reach the semifinals -- quarter-final appearances in 1998 and 2000 being her best results at Roland Garros -- while the younger Serena matched her sister's last-eight achievement in 2001 having been ousted earlier in her two previous outings.
The claycourt major was the only grand slam event in 2001 -- in a year when Venus successfully defended her Wimbledon crown before winning a second U.S. Open title by defeating Serena in the historic Flushing Meadows final -- not to feature a Williams in the semifinals.
Although Serena has made no secret that clay is her least favoured surface, Venus's failure at the French is rather surprising as she has won four claycourt titles in her career.
The athletic Americans have left countless opponents bruised and battered as they ruthlessly charge towards claiming every title of note on the tennis calendar, but the French Open, which starts next Monday, could once again prove to be their Achilles heel.
Venus, a winner on green clay at Amelia Island last month, raised doubts about her participation when she pulled out of this month's Italian Open at the last moment with an injured wrist.
MENTAL BATTLE
But for Serena, winning the title will be more of a mental battle as she has only just cracked her claycourt jinx by taking her first title on the surface at the Italian Open on Sunday with victory over an in-form Justine Henin.
"Winning the French Open would be a dream come true. I like it there so much and I'm definitely looking forward to doing well there," said Serena, who was runner-up to Henin in Berlin eight days ago before she gained revenge in Rome.
At 20, Serena is regarded as more technically gifted than older sister and world number two Venus.
Having also bagged hardcourt titles in Scottsdale and Miami this season, Serena believes she has at last found a way to make an impact on the slow clay despite her bludgeoning serves not having the same devastating effect as they do on the faster surfaces.
"I don't think the surface is such an important factor to me but for my opponents it is," said Serena, who until two weeks ago had never made it past the quarter-finals on clay.
"The score is different on grass than on clay. On clay it's closer."
POWER BLUNTED
Referring to her attitude on clay, Serena added: "I think it's all mental and mentally I'm now there."
Venus's immediate target must be to improve on her 2001 performance at Roland Garros when her immense power was blunted by a determined Barbara Schett in the first round.
It was the first time the American had suffered an opening-round exit at a grand slam since Wimbledon 1997.
"I just had a rough day, a very rough day," a disappointed Venus said following the loss.
"I can't turn the clock back I just have to look forward."
While the tournament proved to be the only blip in Venus's hugely successful season -- she won seven of the 12 tournaments she entered -- her ambition to dominate the tour means she has to prove herself on the world's biggest claycourt stage in the coming weeks.
By Bud Collins, Globe Columnist, 5/19/2002
HOME - Carry on, Sister.
Venus Williams came to town to do a little shopping, make commercial appearances, win a tennis tournament called the Italian Open, and burnish her status as No. 1 among the world's racket flappers. However, something went wrong. She strained her right wrist doing some heavy lifting (her luggage, not her wallet), and didn't even make it to the starting gate.
That left Little Sister Serena to carry the family name all the way up the storied seven hills of Rome and into today's final in place of the expected Venus.
Spectacularly she did, but it wasn't easy after three soft matches because the newly minted No. 1, Jennifer Capriati (stepping past benched Venus), stood in Serena's semifinal way yesterday. ''And when Jennifer and I play, it's always a battle,'' said Serena. ''She pushes me to the limit.''
It was the limit-plus, an extraordinary battle that became a conflagration of fiery shotmaking from all over the dirt rectangle, warming a screaming crowd of 5,500 at Il Foro Italico as sunny afternoon turned to cool, floodlit evening.
This was the kind of blaze that would have sent flame-loving Roman Emperor Nero into rapturous cadenzas on his fiddle, serenading the ever-in-question 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, triumph of the 20-year-old Williams.
Earlier in the day, those two Brussels sprouts, teenagers Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, fought it out to see who would represent Belgium against the United States for the title this afternoon. It was the slight slugger Henin, 19, breaking down her sturdier 18-year-old pal, Clijsters, after a rocky start, 7-5, 6-2, whipping through the last five games on a loss of four points.
Henin, the Wimbledon finalist to Venus Williams last summer, has racked up nine straight match wins, her lightning-bolt single-handed backhand flashing often in the sunshine, and her driving forehand no cinch either. A week ago she beat Serena Williams to win Berlin, and both may be somewhat gimpy today. Henin played with her left thigh strapped, and called an injury timeout to have it redone.
Williams called one herself to have her right thigh strapped, during the tremendous third set, just after she'd slipped Capriati's noose from 0-3 to go ahead, 4-3.
''I suspect we'll both be fine,'' said Williams, acknowledging that neither she nor Henin appeared to lose speed or movement. ''It's this clay with all the sliding, doing the splits a couple of times and going all out on your shots that annoys the body. Yeah, I guess I'm playing my best on this stuff where I've never won a tournament.''
She and Capriati banged away at each other for 21/4 hours, sprinting brilliantly to retrieve and transforming thundering shots from one into winners for the other.
Capriati had pulled out a 2-hour-8-minute quarterfinal win over Amelie Mauresmo 24 hours before. Although the Frenchwoman, losing, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, had enough game points in the third set to win it, 6-1, Capriati wouldn't let her go.
Rifling groundies to the deep reaches of the court, Capriati and Williams raised the excitement level incredibly in the third, driving the witnesses to roars that hadn't been heard around the Foro since beloved hometown boy Adriano Panatta was shaking emotions loose a quarter-century ago.
Williams's backhand was shaky, until she really needed a winner. Her forehand was dynamite. Capriati was torrid from both sides, but her serve failed her near the end, a double fault parting them to 6-5.
Yet Williams had trouble finishing Capriati, surviving a break point that would have sent them into a conclusive tiebreaker. There Capriati's backhand return hit the tape and paused suspensefully as she yelled, ''Get over!'' But instead the ball fell back and Capriati's powerful shoulders drooped.
Capriati missed a backhand, and Williams closed with a mighty serve that set up her short, decisive backhand from the service line.
Just two more points might have nudged Capriati, the Australian Open champ, into her third final of the year, and avenged her Key Biscayne title loss to Serena.
However, Serena was equal to Capriati's heavy-duty pressure in the game she called ''the turning point.'' Surely it was, a monster of a passage of nearly a quarter-hour, the fourth game of the last set. Down, 0-3, to a resurgent Capriati, Williams dodged three break points and wove through six deuces to rescue the game.
''I think from 4-0 I would have had a very good chance,'' Capriati said, ''but with Serena and me, nothing is certain.''
One of those breakers and it's 4-0. And if the netcord ball in the final game falls her way, maybe Capriati can force, then carry a tiebreaker.
Pure speculation, but not much doubt that this was the struggle of the season among the women. Now Williams gets to do an encore today, hoping to regain the title last a family possession when Big Sister won it three years ago.
ROME --
Venus Williams pulled out of her match against Anna Kournikova at the Italian Open Tuesday night because of a wrist injury, with the stadium already half-full for the highly awaited encounter.
The world's top-ranked player said she injured her right wrist while picking up her bag at practice this week. The 21-year-old American appeared on court and apologized to the crowd minutes before the match was to begin.
Williams said she told the WTA about her withdrawal a half hour before the match was scheduled to start.
"It happened this week," Williams said at a news conference later. "This morning in practice it hurt and then during the day it got worse with more swelling. I could have played with the pain but it did not seem correct.
"Hopefully it won't be very serious. Hopefully I'll be able to practice soon. I'm just going to take some time off and maybe finally see something in Rome."
The injury comes at a bad time for Williams, with the French Open less than two weeks away.
"It really makes me somewhat nervous about the French, that I won't be able to play this week, that I'll have two weeks that I can't play a tournament," she said.
Last year, Williams pulled out of a semifinal match against her sister Serena in similar fashion at a tournament in Indian Wells, Calif.
Asked Tuesday if she should have announced her injury sooner, Williams replied: "No."
"I did notice it at the time, but then I was OK," she said. "But right now, the same symptoms and same pain I had then is the same that I'm having now."
Tournament officials released a statement saying the injury had been certified by the WTA but that the tournament doctor and a WTA trainer would re-evaluate the injury on Wednesday.
"I think I'm going to stay here and support Serena, then hopefully start practicing on clay," Williams said.
Williams, entering her seventh straight week at No. 1, was also entered in the doubles draw with her sister in the $1.22 million event.
The clay-court tournament is a major tuneup for Roland Garros, which begins May 27.
Lilia Osterloh of the United States took Williams' place in the draw.
May 13, 2002
Anna Kournikova says she’s looking forward to seeing how far her game has come since the stress fracture of her foot kept her out for most of last year, and against Venus Williams, the world number one, she will find out.
Kournikova and Williams meet in the night match at the Foro Italico on Tuesday in what promises to be a fascinating encounter. If history is anything to go by, the Russian is going to have a tough time of it. She hasn’t won any of their previous seven meetings, and only taken two sets.
But her 6-3, 6-3 win over Marta Marrero, the Spaniard who reached the French Open quarterfinals two years ago, suggested that she’s moving in the right direction, and after that first round match, she talked with confidence of the task facing her.
“She (Venus) is obviously a great player, we don’t have to talk about that, but why go on court if you don’t feel or think that you can win?” said Kournikova.
“I really have nothing to lose. I’m just going to go and play my game, try to bring to life whatever I’ve been working on, and see what happens. That will give me a good sense of where I am and what I have to work on.”
With four titles to her name already this year, Williams doesn’t need to work on much at all. She isn’t at her best on clay though, and Kournikova will have few better opportunities than this.
Second seed Jennifer Capriati also begins her campaign on day two, with a first round match against Maja Matevzic. The American will hope to go a couple of steps further than in her last two clay court outings on the Sanex WTA Tour, after reaching semifinals in Charleston and Berlin.
Anna Smashnova, a semifinalist in Berlin last week, opens up play on Campo Centrale against Adriana Serra Zanetti of Italy.
On the outside courts, Pacific Life Open Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova meets Anastasia Myskina, while four-time Italian Open champion Conchita Martinez faces Gala Leon Garcia.
5/13/02
Hamburg - Venus Williams of the United States maintained first place in the latest WTA Tour rankings issued on Monday while younger sister Serena jumped to fourth by reaching the final of the German Open in Berlin the previous day.
Venus Williams tops the bill with 4 591 points for a slim lead over compatriot Jennifer Capriati, who has 4 449 points after losing in the German Open semi-finals to eventual winner Justine Henin of Belgium.
Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters is third with 3 699 points followed by German Open finalist Serena Williams with 3 360 points.
Williams and fellow Americans Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport all jumped one place as Martina Hingis of Switzerland dropped from fourth to seventh.
Henin is eighth after her Berlin victory, trailed by Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia and French woman Sandrine Testud.
WTA Tour top 10 as of May 13 (previous week in parenthesis)
1. (1) Venus Williams, United States, 4 591 points;
2. (2) Jennifer Capriati, United States, 4 449;
3. (3) Kim Clijsters, Belgium, 3 699;
4. (5) Serena Williams, United States, 3 609;
5. (6) Monica Seles, United States, 3 360;
6. (7) Lindsay Davenport, United States, 3 350;
7. (4) Martina Hingis, Switzerland, 3 338;
8. (8) Justine Henin, Belgium, 3 335;
9. (9) Jelena Dokic, Yugoslavia, 3 074;
10. (10) Sandrine Testud, France 2 183. - Sapa-DPA
Saturday, May 11 at Howard University, Washington, D.C. Venus Williams was awarded
the Honorary Doctorate. In her remarks she told the graduating students that they were the real role models. She still has in her vision her comittment to have a graduate degree.
Clijsters rallies to beat Venus Williams in Barclay final
5/5
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Kim Clijsters rallied from a loss in the first set to beat top-ranked and defending champion Venus Williams 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Betty Barclay Open on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Clijsters, ranked No. 3, used powerful groundstrokes on the slow clay court in the second and third sets to keep Williams on the defensive and win her seventh title.
Williams, who beat Martina Hingis to reach the title match and retain the No. 1 ranking for at least another week, capitalized on 12 unforced errors by Clijsters to easily win the first set.
``Venus played so well in the first set - she didn't make any mistakes,'' Clijsters said. ``I just had to fight back and I got better.''
Clijsters lost in straight sets at the U.S. Open in her only other match against Williams. She advanced to the final when Jelena Dokic withdrew in the semifinal round because of injury while leading 6-4, 4-4.
Williams, who also won the Barclay Open in 1999, was looking for her fifth title of the year. She earned $49,500, approximately $100,000 short of the $10 million in career earnings.
Venus Williams easily sweeps past Hingis to reach final
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Venus Williams beat Martina Hingis in straight sets Saturday to reach the final of the Betty Barclay Open and remain the world's No. 1 player for another week.
Williams dominated with her power tennis, despite the slow clay courts, and converted her fourth match point against to win 6-3, 7-5.
``I felt in control the whole time,'' Williams said. ``Sometimes it's definitely my weakness keeping the ball in play, but today I just felt like I definitely put power on the ball and kept it in the court.''
The 21-year-old American, who was taped but showed no signs of an ankle injury, is seeking her third title at the $585,000 event after winning in 1999 and last year. She will face Kim Clijsters, who advanced past an injured Jelena Dokic, in Sunday's final.
Dokic withdrew with a strained thigh while she was ahead 6-4, 4-4.
Williams and Hingis played each other for the 19th time, with Hingis holding a 10-9 lead. It turned out to be one of the easiest victories for the American, who controlled the match with early breaks in each set.
Hingis lost to Williams for the sixth time in eight meetings as she tries to regain the No. 1 ranking she held for 209 weeks before an ankle injury sidelined her late last year.
``I always served to her forehand,'' Hingis said. ``I kept doing the same stupid things, you can't even cry about or get annoyed anymore.''
The match was played under a closed roof because of rain.
Williams, who regained the top ranking from Jennifer Capriati this week, is trying for her fifth title of the year. The first-place prize money of $93,000 would move her within $76,000 of $10 million in career earnings.
Capriati could regain the top ranking next week at the German Open.
Williams, once saddled with a reputation for playing poorly on clay courts, is hoping to win the French Open. The only Grand Slam tournament played on clay starts in three weeks.
``It's very important to my priorities, as far as my tennis career goes, probably No. 1,'' Williams said. ``I'm not going to put any pressure on myself to win, but it will be a real dream to win the French.''
The existence of the Betty Barclay Open is threatened, according to promoters. The current television contract runs out this year and negotiations for a new one have stalled.
The event, started in 1987, will not be continued without the money or exposure. Interest was high when Steffi Graf and Boris Becker were playing, but it has declined since they retired.
Tennis-Venus struggles through as Clijsters cruises
Williams struggles, but advances in Hamburg
May 3
Associated Press
HAMBURG, Germany -- Top-ranked Venus Williams rallied from a three-game deficit in the second set, beating Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 Friday to set up a semifinal match against Martina Hingis in the Betty Barclay Cup.
Trailing 4-1 in the second set, Williams called in a trainer to get a new bandage on her inflamed ankle and went on to win 11 of the next 12 games.
"The ankle was sore when I woke up this morning," Williams told Reuters. "I definitely wanted to cut out on the movement. I didn't want to have any sudden twists. I've never had an injury like this before. I'm on new ground -- new shaky ground -- so I just have to see how it goes."
Williams and Sanchez-Vicario have won a total of five Hamburg titles. Williams won the clay-court event in 1999 and 2001. Sanchez-Vicario won in 1993, '94 and '96.
The third-seeded Hingis easily moved into the semifinals, beating sixth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-4.
Hantuchova squandered a set point in the first set, and Hingis played with patience, waiting for her opponent's mistakes.
Williams, who has won eight of 18 matches against Hingis, is looking for her fifth title of the year.
Second-seeded Kim Clijsters advanced to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Barbara Schett, and fifth-seeded Jelena Dokic defeated fourth-seeded Justine Henin 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3).
By Barry Wood
HAMBURG, Germany, May 3 (Reuters) - Defending champion Venus Williams overcame an ankle injury to beat Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and reach the semifinals of the Hamburg Cup on Friday.
Top seed Williams came from a set down for a 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory and will now face third seed Martina Hingis, who beat sixth seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-5 6-4.
The other semifinal will be between second seed Kim Clijsters, who dismissed Barbara Schett 6-4 6-2, and fifth seed Jelena Dokic, who upset fourth seed Justine Henin 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3).
Williams, nursing a suspected strained tendon, was tentative at first and stayed largely on the baseline, and it was not until midway through the final set that she began to take control.
Up until that stage the eighth-seeded Spaniard had done her best to exploit Williams' lack of mobility, but a number of unforced errors and the American's greater aggression in the final stages prevented an upset.
"It was sore when I woke up this morning," said Williams of her ankle. "I definitely wanted to cut out on the movement.
"I didn't want to have any sudden twists. I don't know how it's going to be. I've never had an injury like this before. I'm on new ground - new shaky ground - so I just have to see how it goes."
Although she was in some pain, Williams did not consider retiring from the match.
"I wasn't really trying to push myself to the point where I would have to quit the match," she said. "I wanted to stay out there, of course for myself and also for the fans and the tournament.
"I thought if I could survive one more day I could have a fighting chance for the next day."
__________________
Venus rising
Thursday, April 25, 2002
Already the holder of two Wimbledon and two US Open championship titles, Venus Williams rose to the top of the world rankings for the first time in 2002. But two major titles still elude her: the Australian Open (she lost in the quarterfinals this year) and above all, Roland Garros. Will this be Venus's year?
Clay is currently the weakest surface of the four-times Grand Slam champion. Venus can impose herself on hard courts, grass and indoor surfaces, but the tall American's power is eroded a little by the red clay, a surface on which she also moves less fluidly. Her record at Roland Garros testifies to this: she has reached the quarterfinals "only" twice (beaten in 1998 by Martina Hingis and in 2000 by Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario). Last year, William's suffered a massive disappointment when she fell in the first round to Austria's Barbara Schett (6/4, 6/4).
America's women under duress
Yet Venus "can" play on clay, as her victories in Hamburg (1999, 2001), Rome (1999), and this April in Amelia Island (on Har Tru, the American grey clay) prove. In April she took on a fired up Justine Henin in the Final to win the 25th title of her career. The Belgian player had led 6/2, 4-0, and held two points for 5-0. Henin then served for the match at 5/4 in the final set, before Venus imposed herself and eventually triumphed 2/6, 7/5, 7/6. Her victory showed her determination to improve on this surface. "This match was a revelation", Venus said after the final. "I am definitely going to have to work a bit harder."
For a champion of this calibre, Roland Garros is a natural goal. And Venus will be even hungrier this year, after crashing out of the quarterfinals of the Australian Open against her compatriot Monica Seles. Triumph in Paris is a priority for the young woman who became the world no. 1 on March 4 this year. This would be a particularly cherished victory for the American. Since the reign of Chris Evert (1974-75-79-80-83-85-86), American women have not done well on the Philippe Chatrier Court. That was until Jennifer Capriati's victory last year, which has clearly given Venus some ideas…
Venus reclaims No.1 April 24, 2002
Venus Williams has reclaimed the Sanex WTA world No.1 singles ranking this week, spending her fourth week in total in the top spot.
With Jennifer Capriati failing to defend all the points she earned by winning last year’s Family Circle Cup (losing this year in the semifinals), Venus’s points total of 4669 is now 116 points ahead of Capriati’s.
Williams has been the most successful player on the Sanex WTA Tour to date this season with four titles – Gold Coast, Paris, Antwerp and Amelia Island.
In other ranking news, Venus’s sister Serena returns to the Top 5 for the first time since June last year after her quarterfinal run in Charleston.
Charleston runner-up Patty Schnyder vaults from No.30 to No.17, largely due to the massive bonus points garnered for beating three Top 10 players last week – No.10 Amélie Mauresmo, No.7 Serena Williams and No.1 Capriati.
Family Circle Cup winner Iva Majoli leaps from No.58 to No.33, her highest position in six months.
German Martina Müller, who claimed her first Sanex WTA Tour singles title over the weekend in Budapest, rises to a career-high No.65.
Williams wins Amelia Island for fourth title this year
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) --
Venus Williams wouldn't allow herself to lose.
Down a set and four games to Justine Henin in the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships, the world's second-ranked women's tennis player rallied Sunday for a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory.
``It's very tough to close a top player out, very tough to close me out,'' Williams said after wiping out a 4-0 deficit in the second set and twice refusing to give in when Henin came within two points of winning.
``Back in the day, I lost a lot of matches like these. I guess about two years ago it came to a point where I was tired of losing. I was tired of heartbreak. I was tired, not that I didn't deserve it, of watching other people win when I was at the finish line.''
The title was Williams' fourth this season, and 25th overall, boosting her career earnings past $9.8 million.
Henin flirted with victory twice, but she couldn't hold a 5-4 lead in the second set and faltered again after going up 5-3 in the third.
``I'm a little disappointed, but that's tennis,'' Henin said. ``I'm only 19. I got nervous trying to finish the match. I have to work on that.''
Williams won five straight points to go up 6-1 in the third-set tiebreaker. The second-seeded Henin fought off match point four times before smashing a forehand into the net to end the 2-hour, 24-minute match.
Williams, who earned $93,000 to increase this season's winnings to $501,673, is 4-0 in finals against Henin, including a three-set victory at Wimbledon last year.
She also beat Henin in the Australian Women's Hardcourt Championships in January and the Diamond Championships in February.
``She was impressive,'' said Henin, ranked ninth in the world. ``She's a tough player, a great champion, and I have a lot of respect for her.''
Williams, who's won 16 of the last 17 finals she's played, improved to 5-1 lifetime against Henin, whose only victory against Williams came in the only other match they played on clay.
That win in the round of 16 at the 2001 German Open, as well as a three-set loss on carpet in the Diamond Championships, gave Henin confidence that she could pull an upset Sunday.
She broke Williams' serve five straight times on the way to winning the first set and building the 4-0 lead in the second. Although Williams dropped eight straight games at point, the top seed remained confident she would win if she could extend the match to a third set.
``I always believed that I could somehow pull it out, but it was really bleak. The way she was playing, I just wasn't sure I could do anything about (losing) at that point,'' Williams said.
``I just wanted it to look presentable. I didn't want to lose 6-2, 6-0. I got a game, then I got another. I kept telling myself I wasn't losing today.''
Williams overcomes slow start to win Bausch & Lomb
At times, Venus Williams felt like she was battling two players -- Justine Henin and herself -- in the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships.
Overcoming fatigue and 60 unforced errors, the world's second-ranked women's player rallied for a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory in the $585,000 clay court event at Amelia Island Plantation on Sunday.
Williams was down a set and four games before working her way back into the match. The title was her fourth this year, and 25th overall, boosting her career earnings past $9.8 million.
"I just wanted it to look presentable. I didn't want to lose 6-2, 6-0," said Williams, who also rebounded from a slow start to beat Anne Kremer in the semifinals. "I got a game, then I got another. I kept telling myself I wasn't losing today."
An exhausted Henin, playing her third match in 24 hours, served twice for the championship. But she couldn't hold a 5-4 lead in the second set, then faltered again when she had a chance to close after going up 5-3 in the third.
"I'm a little disappointed, but that's tennis," Henin said. "I'm only 19. I got nervous trying to finish the match. I have to work on that."
Williams won five straight points to go up 6-1 in the third-set tiebreaker. The second-seeded Henin fought off match point four times before smashing a forehand into the net to end the 2-hour, 24-minute match.
It was Henin's third loss to Williams in a final this year.
Williams, who has won 16 of the last 17 finals she played, improved to 5-1 lifetime against Henin, whose only victory against Williams came in the only other match they played on clay.
That win in the 2001 German Open, as well as a three-set loss on carpet at this year's Diamond Championships, gave Henin confidence that she could pull an upset Sunday.
She broke Williams' serve five straight times on the way to winning the first set and building the 4-0 lead in the second. Even though Williams had dropped eight straight games at point, the top seed remained confident she would win if she could extend the match to a third set.
"I always believed that I could somehow pull it out, but it was really bleak. The way she was playing, I just wasn't sure I could do anything about [losing] at that point," she said.
Williams improved her record to 26-3 this year, and the $93,000 winner's check boosted her 2002 earnings to $501,673. She's 4-0 lifetime in finals against Henin, including a three-set victory at Wimbledon last year.
Williams also beat Henin to win the Australian Women's Hardcourt Championships in January.
It's a struggle, but Venus wins
By Jeff Elliott
Times-Union sports writer
For nearly 2 1/2 hours, Venus Williams and Justine Henin battled in the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island Plantation Sunday.
In the end, the match turned out to be as close as the final point -- a shot by Henin that caught the top of the net cord; popped up in the air; and, with all eyes in the Stadium Court on it, fell slowly back on her side of the court.
"I always felt that somehow I could pull this out. It's just that it was looking bleak, especially the way she was playing," Williams said. "I wasn't sure I could do anything against that. But, eventually, the tide turned."
The net cord point completed a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) win by Williams in an Amelia Island final rivaled in its competitiveness only by the 1986 final, in which Steffi Graf beat Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (3). With the victory, Williams earned the $93,000 first-place prize.
"I had my chance today to win this tournament, so I have to be happy about that," Henin said. "This gave me the confidence that I needed. It was my first tournament here, my first finals on clay this year and I went three sets against the No. 2 player in the world."
However, she could have had a straight-set victory.
In front of a sun-soaked, sellout crowd, Henin routed Williams in the 23-minute first set. Henin won the final four games of the set and won the first four games of the second set before Williams stopped the run.
"I just wanted it to look presentable," Williams said. "I didn't want to lose 6-2, 6-0. I got one game and then another and another, and I just told myself I wasn't going to lose today."
Through the first 12 games of the match, Williams had sprayed her shots wide, deep and into the net. She made 24 unforced errors during that stretch. She had difficulty returning Henin's serve, and Williams' trademark booming serve deserted her.
Henin had Williams running from side to side with stinging backhands and kept Williams guessing on her serves. She committed nine unforced errors during that 12-game span.
When Williams held serve in the fifth game of the second set -- after five consecutive breaks -- the Amelia Island crowd gave her a sympathetic round of applause. Williams won the next three games to tie the set at 4, prompting one fan to call out, "Come on, Venus, you won 10 in a row yesterday [against Anne Kremer]; You can do it again."
Henin went up 5-4 and won the first two points of game 10, however, to move within two points of her first title of the year and of ending a four-match losing streak to Williams.
"Sometimes when I serve, I'm a little bit nervous to finish the match," Henin said. "I'm only 19 and that will come [change] with experience and more matches I feel."
Instead, Williams won that game and the next two to capture the second set. But Henin, ranked ninth, bounced right back and seized a 5-3 lead in the third set.
Twice in the ninth game of the set with Williams serving, Henin was within two points of the match: at 30-30 and deuce. Instead, Williams won that game and the next two to take a 6-5 lead. Henin forced the tiebreaker by holding serve in the 12th game.
Williams captured six of the first seven points in the tiebreaker, before Henin pulled within one, 6-5. Her bid for the tie found the net cord.
"Venus won, she's a great champion and she proved it today," Henin said. "A great champion can always come back and she did that today. She's cool and calm and has many victories, many Grand Slams and a lot of experience."
Monday, April 15, 2002
Williams' comeback defies logical thinking
It was shaping up to be one of the most boring, melodramatic finals in Bausch & Lomb tournament history.
An impatient Venus Williams kept hitting balls out, which soon gave way to her displaying that notorious disinterested look she gets when nothing she tries is working.
Williams was down one set and 4-love Sunday, then trailing 15-40 on her serve in the next game against Justine Henin, the No. 9-ranked player in the world.
"My God, I thought I was going down," Williams admitted.
Her hitting partner this week, ATP tennis director David Witt, had similar thoughts of doom watching the tournament's top seed lose five consecutive service games and spraying shots all over the stadium court at Amelia Island Racquet Park.
"She was two minutes away from being in the shower," said Witt.
Then with no forewarning, it happened. The Belgian waffled.
Bit by bit, Henin's lead, which looked much safer than anything Tiger Woods had on the back nine at Augusta, just withered away. She served for the match at 5-4 in both the second and third sets. She was two points away from victory on three different occasions.
Henin tried to console herself with the fact she regained some lost confidence by reaching the Bausch & Lomb final after flaming out in her first match at the Nasdaq-100 Open. But deep down, this inexplicable collapse in a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 loss to Williams had to hurt.
"At this time, I'm a little sad," said Henin. "I played well until I had to finish the match."
But a double fault here, a netted backhand there, and suddenly, Henin's playing these mind games with herself and everything gradually starts to fall apart. Williams is back in a match that she was never in for the first 40 minutes.
"At 6-2, 4-0, I was thinking, 'Be careful,' " said Henin. "I was probably thinking too early about the victory. A great champion can always come back."
Sure enough, two hours later, the two-time defending Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion was hoisting a Waterford crystal trophy. And a gracious, but dumbfounded Henin was kicking herself for blowing the biggest lead of her career.
Understand this much about professional tennis on both sides of the gender line: Outside of a reborn Jennifer Capriati, it's almost unheard of for anybody to rally from that kind of deficit against a Top 10-caliber player.
Somebody ranked No. 75 might let a seemingly insurmountable lead slip away, but rarely does it happen to someone good enough to be a French Open semifinalist and Wimbledon finalist like Henin. And now this year, surprisingly, it has happened twice. Martina Hingis also blew a one-set, 4-love lead to Capriati in the Australian Open final.
For Williams, this was a comeback of epic proportions, saying it ranked even higher on her list than overcoming eight match points against Capriati at the 2001 Ericsson Open.
"By the time I got down 4-love in the second set, I didn't know what to think," said Williams.
When it was over, the 21-year-old Floridian was so spent that she barely had the energy to give the sellout crowd a victory bow. The winner's check for Williams' 25th career singles title might have been for $93,000, but this was a million-dollar comeback.
Williams could finally breathe a sigh of relief. All because Henin let her come up for air.
Williams makes semis; Dokic in quarters at Bausch & Lomb Tennis
April 14, 2002
AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA (TICKER) -- When there is a possibility to meet in a WTA final, Venus Williams of the United States and Justine Henin of Belgium seem to take it.
Williams, the top seed, needed just 63 minutes on Saturday to get past Anne Kremer of Luxembourg, 7-5, 6-0, and advance to the final of the $585,000 Bausch & Lomb Championships.
Henin, the second seed, battled to a 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal triumph over No. 6 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy. Then the 19-year-old opened a 6-2, 4-1 advantage in her semifinal before fellow teenager Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, the third seed, was forced to retire due to a stomach virus.
Williams and Henin will meet in their third WTA final in 2002. After the American posted a straight-sets victory at the Gold Coast event in January, she needed three sets to outlast her foe at Antwerp in February.
Williams is looking to extend her winning streak against Henin to five matches. The Belgian's last success against Williams came in the round of 16 at the 2001 German Open claycourt event.
Their most famous confrontation came in July 2001, when Williams beat Henin to defend her Wimbledon crown.
The 21-year-old Williams is looking to win her four WTA title of the year, but her first on clay. She captured the Gold Coast, Paris Indoor and Antwerp crowns en route to the No. 1 ranking on February 25.
This also marks the 10th time in Bausch & Lomb history that the top two seeds will square off for the title. The last time was in 1995, when Spain's Conchita Martinez overwhelmed Argentina's Gabriela Sabatini in the title match.
The champion earns $93,000.
Venus reaches semis
While the rest of the field in the Bausch & Lomb Championships waited out rain delay after rain delay with the hope of getting in their match and moving into today's quarterfinals, a well-rested Venus Williams stayed one step ahead of everyone last night by beating Paola Suarez 6-3, 6-1 to move into one of today's semifinal matchups at the Amelia Island Plantation.
Williams, who has had the good fortune of getting her match in around the rain showers the last three days, awaits the winner of this morning's quarterfinal match between Anne Kremer and Sandrine Testud. Both Kremer and Testud played grueling three-set matches last night; Williams breezed by Suarez in less than an hour.
Williams tried to downplay the significance of the advantage she holds in playing just one match today.
"I think more than anything, the players will realize that they will be more tired than I will be," Williams said. "I've been in that situation before, and it's really just mental. I've played two matches in one day and I was OK. A lot of players do that all the time in singles and doubles, so I think they'll be ready."
Williams dominated play off her serve as usual, winning 71 percent of the points on her first serve. She only double faulted twice and recorded a pair of aces as she ended Suarez's upset run.
The Argentinian native beat Anna Kournikova in an opening round match and then surprised seventh-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy in the second round with a three-set win.
After helplessly watching thundershowers wash out their matches Wednesday and Thursday, all of the top remaining seeded players finally got back on the courts yesterday.
Some made it a quick outing. Some were extended to as long as three hours.
But in the end, all five seeded players won their afternoon matches, though several ended up having to play under the lights because of the late afternoon start to yesterday's play.
Venus avoids early exit on day of upsets
By Jeff Elliott
Times-Union sports writer
Just one more win and Venus Williams will finally have a .500 won-lost mark at Bausch & Lomb Championships competition.
It's hard to fathom that the world's No.2-ranked player had managed just one win in three Amelia Island tournaments prior to last night's second-round match against Amy Frazier, but that's what her resume read.
She showed last night that it's about to change.
Using a booming serve and powerful ground strokes, Williams avoided joining the rash of upsets by beating Frazier 6-1, 7-5 in the featured evening match. The top-seeded Williams, who had a first-round bye, needed just 23 minutes to put away Frazier in the opening set, and another 40 minutes to complete the win.
"This is my first time to the quarterfinals ... oops, I mean third round," Williams said. "To me that alone is a victory."
When asked about all the upsets that took place yesterday, including defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, Williams said, "Wow, I didn't know that. See that was me ... that was me three years in a row [referring to her three early exists in previous tournaments here]."
Williams won 77 percent of her first serves. She continually was clocked at over 100 mph, and recorded a tournament-best 119 mph ace on match point, her eighth of the match.
Heavy Weight Champ
Venus Williams has reached the summit of the sport, but she has one major goal this year: the French Open. In this exclusive interview she tells ace, "I know I have a chance of winning anywhere and everywhere...including Paris"
After an exhausting and highly successful two months on the road, reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion Venus Williams celebrated her historic arrival at No 1 in the world. Venus, who has more than fulfilled her extraordinary teenage promise, has been around so long that it seems hard to believe she is still only 21!
Her place is assured in the record books: she's the only 10th player to hold the top spot since the WTA world rankings began in 1975, replacing her compatriot Jennifer Capriati, who held the top spot for the previous nine weeks.
Following a strong start to the year which included titles at Gold Coast, Paris and Antwerp, Venus headed home after reaching the semi-finals in Dubai for some well deserved rest and relaxation. In an exclusive interview, she tells ace just what it means to fulfill the controversial and widely ridiculed predictions which she and her father had made in her early teens that she would one day reach No.1.
"I have always set myself difficult goals in life", she explains. "Quite simply because otherwise you don't achieve any of the difficult goals. I don't think my plan was unrealistic. I was young, fresh, gutsy, aggressive and I had the talent you need...so why shouldn't I have achieved it?
"I have never been bothered about what other people say, what other people write, what people say on televison. It was like water off a duck's back. The only pressure there is comes from yourself. I'm the one who gets the best out of herself, I'm the one who says: Venus you have to win this match. Or you must become the best tennis player.
"But my father played an enormously important role, because it was he who made Serena and me what we are: two of the best players in the world."
Despite his huge influence, Richard Williams, once ever present at his daughter’s matches, now rarely goes to their tournaments - something Venus attributes to the sheer stress of watching them play.
"I think he's afraid that he won't always be able to cope with the strain on his nerves on the spot, on the court," she says. "A journey as long as the one we made to Australia is not his idea of fun in any case; our mother comes on her own with us then. Daddy has quite a bad fear of flying, so a trip like that would have been an absolute nightmare for him. He also has a lot of business interests at home, so he has more to think about than just dealing with tennis day in day out."
She admits that much of the personal criticism of her mercurial father is hurtful, particularly as he remains so crucial to her career. "He was, he is and he will continue to be," she defiantly declares. "Even if other people don't like him and make offensive remarks. He made sure that we were able to find our way in tennis at our own pace and didn’t burn out at an early age like other kids. Serena and I will be eternally grateful to him for that"
Fear of burnout dictated both sisters' light tournament schedules and explained why neither of them played on the junior tour. Venus is convinced that this was the ideal solution for them, even though they and their father encountered huge criticism for entering so few tournaments and also pulling out unexpectedly from others for no obvious reason.
"We say plenty of bad examples," Venus recalls. "Girls who had great results as 13 or 14 year old girls but the disappeared into no man's land when they went on the regular tour. Even Jennifer Capriati had her problems, before she made that great comeback and won a number of major tournaments. Serena and I - we never stopped enjoying our tennis because we had planned our program carefully.
"Everyone in tennis has to be comfortable with what they're doing and to be able to do what is right for them personally. It was important not to play each and every tournament going, because you need to stay fit and be ready for the top competitions and still have time for other interests - such as my design course. What's so bad about that? Besides, I now play to a fairly intensive schedule; I was on the move virtually non-stop during the first two months of this year."
Continued
She admits that her success is like a dream come true after her rough start in one of Los Angeles' most intimidating suburbs. "We have had a really tough time, now we've made it to the safe side. But we have also been shaped by our childhood; it was the toughest school you can imagine.
"I remember one time when we were practicing on a public court - my father, Serena and I - and suddenly a shoot out started on the court next door. My father threw himself on top of us and said: 'Keep still, don't say a word, otherwise it's all over'. We saw stabbings, brawls, and gang fights as well. That was every day life for us. We will never forget it."
Venus like the rest of the Williams clan has never been troubled by false modesty but, surprisingly, despite the boxer speak, the apparent naivety and the taste for spending sprees around the shopping malls, she has an impressive grasp of tennis history and the role of other black stars who blazed a trail for their modern-day counterparts. She is thrilled to be the first African-American, man or woman, to reach the top spot in tennis's computer rankings, but equally aware of the influence of former greats such as Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, both Wimbledon champions - Gibson in 1957 and 1958 and Ashe in 1975.
"I don't feel I'm anything the first", she insists. "Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe were also really No.1 in their day, even if it was not obvious from the rankings in those days. (Gibson's era was long before the introduction of official world rankings, whilst Jimmy Connors kept Ashe off the ATP’s top spot). Althea was an even more important personality, a role model for many athletes of my color. She must never be forgotten. In any case I represent all of America in my sport. I think that's important."
Apart from Gibson, Venus names Steffi Graf as her greatest tennis idol. "Steffi was the most fantastic player in modern women's tennis," she declares. "She is head and shoulders above everyone else. I always wanted to have the same strength and athleticism as Steffi. One thing is clear: there is plenty I want to achieve in tennis but no-one - not me, nor any other player in the future will be able to come close to Steffi. Such a dominance and so many titles...will never happen again".
She points to the formidably high standard of the current stars of the women's game to emphasize the daunting task she face in trying to stay No.1. "There are plenty of brilliant players, such as Hingis, Davenport, Capriati, Seles or the Belgians, Henin and Clijsters. But I hope Serena will provide the strongest opposition. Maybe her form is still a little inconsistent. But our matches will still be hard-fought. And our matches will be fair too.
"And if there's anyone I don't mind losing to at the end of the day, it has to be Serena. We will always be inseparable, even if we do battle it out on court. We argue very rarely. And it's never serious. We have always joined forces against all the others who wanted to have a go at us. We make a very formidable duo. And we are always up for it, having fun. Particularly now, traveling the world together. It's like an exciting adventure for us - the new cities, all the different people, all these new things to experience".
Best of all however is the realization that has truly earned her position at No.1, through her big match victories in the majors which have helped to build the crucial self belief that she is capable of anything, including a first victory in the French Open.
"The step up to the top has come at just the right time for me," she grins. "Because my Grand Slam titles last year have allowed me to establish the platform from which I can feel - in my own mind - that I really deserve this position. The No.1 position would be meaningless for me if I hadn't won the Grand Slams. But the two together - the major titles and being No.1 - that is an absolute dream. I know I have a chance of winning anywhere and everywhere, including Paris. If my mind's right, anything is possible.
"If there is one thing I have learnt over recent years, it is how important it is to believe in yourself. Once you have the confidence, everything else comes automatically."
It's all relative: Serena earns breakthrough win over Venus
By STEVEN WINE
.c The Associated Press
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) - At the end, Serena Williams' shots were accompanied by grunts louder than her tangerine dress.
One last sequence of overpowering strokes gave Williams a victory she wanted badly, not so much because she advanced to the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open, but because she beat her older sister.
Serena routed Venus 6-2, 6-2 in a semifinal sibling showdown Thursday, calling the win the biggest of her career. Perhaps that's an overstatement, given that Serena won the U.S. Open in 1999.
Or perhaps not.
``I'm shaking a little,'' she said moments after the victory, which took her just 50 minutes to complete. ``I can't believe I finally beat her. I'm like in shock.''
For Serena, the win meant a breakthrough and a shift in the balance of power within the first family of women's tennis. She beat Venus for only the second time in their seven meetings, and her other victory came in the 1999 Grand Slam Cup, which she considered an exhibition.
``This is a big milestone for me and for all younger sisters and brothers out there,'' she said, laughing. ``It definitely removed a mental block for me.''
While there was no doubting Serena's motivation, Venus' performance was so listless that the crowd booed her briefly in the second set. Venus said she felt fine and merely had a bad day against a hot opponent.
``I just felt like I never really got into the match,'' said Venus, seeded second. ``Before I knew it, it was over.''
So is Venus' reign on Key Biscayne, where she had won 22 consecutive matches and titles in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Now it's eighth-seeded Serena with a shot at her first Key Biscayne championship.
Her opponent in the final Saturday will be the winner of Thursday night's semifinal between top-seeded Jennifer Capriati and No. 5 Monica Seles. Regardless of the results the rest of the week, Capriati is assured of retaining the No. 1 ranking until at least April 15.
In a matchup between the past two U.S. Open men's champions, top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt need 2 hours, 44 minutes to beat No. 6 Marat Safin 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Hewitt's opponent in the semifinals Friday night will be No. 12 Roger Federer, who beat Andrei Pavel 6-1, 6-1.
The other semifinal Friday will pit No. 9 Andre Agassi against 1998 champion Marcelo Rios.
Williams-Williams VII generated none of the hype that accompanied their last meeting in the 2001 U.S. Open final, and the 14,000-seat stadium at Crandon Park was only one-third full when the match began.
Serena smacked winners on the first four points to break serve at love, and the rout was on. Venus rarely ventured to the net, where she can be most dangerous, and struggled to keep her groundstrokes in play. One shot sailed so wildly that Serena, standing at the baseline, had to leap out of the way.
And Serena feasted on Venus' tentative second serve. There were 16 such points, and Serena won all but one, often smacking her return for a winner.
``I don't care who's playing against me,'' Serena said. ``Man, woman or dog, I'm going to attack their second serve.''
As Serena's lead reached 3-1 in the second set, Venus looked increasingly lethargic.
``C'mon, Venus, wake up!'' a fan shouted.
But she lost her serve for the fourth time to fall behind 4-1, and as she walked slowly to her chair, the crowd booed and whistled. There were more jeers two games later as Venus lost her serve yet again.
``I heard it,'' she said. ``I got applause when I left, so that was OK.''
As usual when Williams plays Williams, the match was hardly an artistic triumph, which probably contributed to the crowd's displeasure. With both sisters playing high-risk tennis, there were lots of errors and few long points. The nature of the matchup is such is that it has rarely been entertaining to watch.
``We're not out there hitting 100-ball rallies,'' Venus said. ``That's not us.''
Few points lasted longer than three or four shots, and many ended with a misfire by Venus.
``She was very erratic out there,'' Serena said. ``She played the way I normally play.''
When it ended, there was no repeat of the emotional scene following last year's U.S. Open final, which Venus won. On that occasion the sisters embraced and Serena cried. This time they met at the net with a perfunctory handshake like after any other match against any other opponent.
Their prematch routine was a family affair. Barely an hour before the start the sisters warmed up together, with father Richard tutoring Serena as he talked on a cell phone. Just before taking the court, Venus tended to Serena's dress and made sure it looked right.
``We're really close,'' Serena said. ``I just count on her for so much. I remember one time - this was so long ago - I didn't have any money to eat my lunch. Venus went without lunch just to make sure I ate.
``She still does things like that for me. So I kind of feel really as if I'm cheating someone.''
But for 50 minutes Thursday, Serena put aside those mixed emotions. Gratitude for your sister's lunch money goes only so far.
Williams Keen to Avoid Birthday Blues in Eastbourne
Fri Mar 22, 7:59 AM ET
MIAMI (Reuters) - Venus Williams will not be preparing for the defense of her Wimbledon crown at the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament this year -- the American does not want to risk ruining her birthday.
|
|
"I lost on my birthday at Eastbourne one year... that was a devastating experience," the world number two said at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami.
Instead of playing in the June event on England's south coast, Williams -- who turns 22 on the opening day of the tournament -- will practice at her Palm Beach, Florida home.
"I enjoy having the two weeks in between (the French Open and Wimbledon) and going home and training," the 21-year-old said.
Venus Williams to Play More Events This Season
Thu Mar 21, 4:21 PM ET
By Steve Keating
MIAMI (Reuters) - Under pressure from the WTA, media and tennis fans to play more events, Venus Williams (news - web sites) said on Thursday she expected to enter 18 tournaments this season.
That would represent a significant increase for the Wimbledon (news - web sites) and U.S. Open (news - web sites) champion, who was severely criticized last year for playing only 12 events.
Williams, who held the number one world ranking for three weeks before Australian Open (news - web sites) champion Jennifer Capriati reclaimed top spot on Monday, will be playing her sixth tournament of the year when she opens her defense of the Nasdaq-100 Open Masters title against Danish qualifier Eva Dyrberg.
"This year I'm trying to get up to 17 or 18," said Williams, the winner of three titles this season, Paris, Antwerp and the Gold Coast. "I want to live up to the commitment, the tournaments and the Tour.
"Really that's my goal this year, is to play at least 17 tournaments.
"That might not be easy but I think I owe it to myself and I'd like to help the Tour out also.
"The events people want to see the top players play and I need to show up."
Playing in Paris, Antwerp and Dubai was the first time since late 1998 that Williams had competed in three consecutive events, the effort briefly earning her the number one ranking for the first time in her career.
Williams's comments came as welcome news to the WTA, which went through most of last season with one of its biggest attractions only making rare appearances.
"She is arguably one of the most recognizable athletes in the world and certainly a fan favorite so it is certainly a positive development that we are going to be seeing her more on the Tour," WTA communications director Jim Fuhse said.
"There had been indications that she planned to play more but this is super news."
While Williams will be increasing her tournament load, the 21-year-old American and her sister Serena will not be playing Fed Cup against Austria next month in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Williams sisters were not in the U.S squad announced by captain Billie Jean King on Thursday, Venus indicating that they had not planned to play in the tie anyway.
"I was 50-50 about playing anyway because I was playing here and in another tournament," Venus said. "Believe it or not, I have a few things going on in my life and I needed to be at home too."
1/5
Venus Williams defeats Justine Henin 7-5 6-2
to win her first tournament on Australian soil today, taking the Thalgo Australian Women's Hardcourts with a 75 62 victory over defending champion Justine Henin.
Williams has now won 20 matches in a row and four consecutive titles – San Diego, New Haven, the US Open and today's 70-minute Gold Coast triumph.
So thrilled was she with winning her 22nd career title, Williams said she would plan to defend her Gold Coast crown next year.
"I think it's a good idea because a lot of times, I played Sydney about twice, and it just seems so fast-paced there," she said. "There's so many top players in the tournament, you don't feel like you get a chance to settle in and here like I felt like I had the opportunity to take my time. I feel like I got all the practice and the matches in and also I got a title."
The victory was even more remarkable given Williams' four-month respite from tennis to heal a wrist injury and continue her studies in fashion design. After a week's break, which she will take supporting her sister, Serena, at the adidas International in Sydney, the world No.3 will throw herself into Australian Open 2002, a grand slam title she is desperate to add to her collection of two US Open and two Wimbledon singles crowns.
Judging by her form at the Royal Pines Resort, Williams will be nicely primed to better her record in Melbourne, where she has never gone past the semifinals.
"For me it's been a good week because I've been able to at least play a little consistently throughout the matches and to gauge where my game was at and to know what I have to work on before Melbourne," she said.
While she made a shaky start, dropping her opening serve, Williams was simply too powerful for the diminutive Belgian, who had embarked on a weight-training program to compensate for her physical limitations after losing to Williams in the Wimbledon final and again at New Haven.
The first set was an even contest, but crunch time came in the tenth game when Henin was pushed to save four set points. Williams easily held for 6-5 and Henin once again fell in a hole with a foot-fault and a netted forehand. This time Williams made good use of her set point, thumping balls back until Henin hit a backhand long.
Henin had three break points in the third game of the second set, but couldn't convert then lost her own serve twice running to fall behind a fatal 5-1. The 1200 capacity crowd lifted in the sticky heat when Henin broke Williams for 5-2, but she was unable to hold and the match ended with a double fault.
Henin, who has been suffering with flu-like symptoms, said it had been a taxing match but was still able to return to the court and win the doubles title with Meghann Shaughnessy, beating Asa Carlsson and Miriam Oremans 61 76(6).
"I had to work very hard in the first set and it was mentally and physically very hard for me," she said. "Because I had to fight a lot to come back at 5-5 I had a little down.
"I'm happy because I feel stronger on court, I feel I can play rallies with Venus. To stay with this level during a match with her is a little bit difficult. They key was the serve. She served very well on the big points. It was difficult for me to keep my serve, especially mentally, because she returned very well. "
And while she feels positive and determined, the world No.7 knows she needs to keep working like a Jack Russell if she is ever going to trouble the power-hitters.
"I will have to work more and more and more if I want to beat this kind of player. Venus is a great champion, I'm still young and I'm learning. It's a good experience for me and I know what I have to work on. I feel that the difference is very little now. She's taller than me, she's stronger than me, but I'm not afraid about this because I feel it's a lot better now that it was last year."
Henin will now head to Sydney and is happy with the preparation the Gold Coast event has offered in the lead-up to the Australian Open. "It gives me a lot of confidence to be in the again in the final and it's a good preparation so I think I will not change it next year."
Venus Williams Targets French Open Title (2-5-02)
PARIS (Reuters) - World number two Venus Williams says winning Grand Slam tournaments means more to her than nabbing the top spot in the WTA rankings and her next key target is the French Open.
"To be number one or number 100 isn't important, but winning Grand Slams, yes, that's very important to me," Williams told French sports daily L'Equipe Tuesday.
"I'd like to take control at Roland Garros. I'm fed up with losing over there," the American said.
Williams, in France to compete in the Paris Open indoor women's tournament which starts Tuesday, is a two-time winner both at Wimbledon and at the U.S. Open but has never won the Australian or French Opens.
"I've never been at my best at the French. This year I'm going to start by getting there in good physical shape.
"All year round, most players would be happy to have my serve and my power, but at Roland Garros I need to find a good balance between power and other things you need when you're playing on a clay court," she said.
Williams said that despite never having reached top spot in world rankings, she started each match thinking she was the real number one.
"It's the way I feel deep down. Every time I enter a court...I think 'I'm the best."'
The American said she would need to play at least 12 tournaments per year to make it to the top and that this year she planned to compete in 15.
But she insisted that there were other areas in her life, such as her studies at a fashion design school, that she was not prepared to give up for the sake of the number one ranking.
"That's the way I am. I get bored very easily and if I spent all my time playing tennis it would start to bore me. I have a great job and most of the time I enjoy it, but I need to do other things in my life," she said.
"I would like to win the French Open and I would like to be number one. But I realize I need to play more to achieve that and I don't know if I'm determined enough to do that."
Venus Williams wins Paris tennis in walkover
February 10, 2002
PARIS (TICKER) -- Venus Williams claimed her second title of the year Sunday when an injured Jelena Dokic was unable to compete in the final of the $585,000 Open Gaz de France because of a strained right thigh.
Williams, the top seed from the United States, earned $93,000 without playing a point when Sunday's match was canceled.
"I was ready to play Jelena, mentally and physically but it happens and it's something that tournaments and players know," Williams said. "I'm happy to be the winner, despite no final, it's always nice to be the last one standing."
Dokic sustained a right adductor strain in the third set of her semifinal against Monica Seles on Saturday. The ailment became worse in the evening when the fourth seed from Yugoslavia played her doubles semifinals with a thigh wrap.
On Sunday morning, Dokic had a MRI examination and the WTA Tour medical staff and tournament doctor determined the 18-year-old was unfit to play the final.
"It didn't hurt too badly at first, as I was still warm," Dokic said. "I went on to play the doubles (with Magdalena Maleeva) but towards the end of that match, I could hardly walk and it was hurting a lot. I had treatment straight away and this morning, the doctor saw me again and there was no doubt I couldn't play."
Dokic, 18, was playing in only her second event of the year. She will receive more treatment in the hopes she will be ready to play her second-round match at the Proximus Diamond games in Antwerp on Thursday.
Despite her disappointing finish, Dokic will rise to a career-high No. 6 when the rankings are released on Monday.
Williams has won five of her last six tournaments dating to last season. She finished 2001 with three straight titles, including her fourth Grand Slam triumph at the U.S. Open, and started this season with a win at the Australian Women's Hardcourts in Gold Coast. The 21-year-old American notched her 23rd career tournament triumph.
The final was replaced with a mixed doubles exhibition featuring former men's player Yannick Noah and last year's winner Amelie Mauresmo of France against Williams and ATP senior tour's Mansour Bahrami of Iran.
"It's the first time I met Yannick Noah," Williams said. "I saw him on TV but I never talked to him. So today is also special for me, it's a great moment to meet and play with him. Today was a strange day but it was a lot of fun."
The doubles final also was canceled as Russian Elena Dementieva, who was playing with Janette Husarova of Slovakia, withdrew due to bronchitis and pharyingitis with fever. France's Nathalie Dechy and American Meilen Tu were declared the winners.
Williams wins in Antwerp
February 17, 2002
World number two Venus Williams claimed her second title in seven days with a 6-3 5-7 6-3 win over Justine Henin in the final of the Antwerp Open.
The top seed denied the Belgian crowd the opportunity of seeing home favourite Henin lift the trophy of a solid gold racket dotted with a thousand diamonds.
"For me and my family this is a dream come true," said Williams, who will get to keep the racket if she can win the tournament three times in five years.
Two breaks helped Williams to take the first set comfortably and the American broke again in the fourth game of the second set.
But Henin was determined to put up a strong showing in front of a crowd of 12,000, and she fought back to level at 5-5 after saving three match points.
The Belgian took the next two games to level the match but in a scrappy final set it was Williams' power that made the difference.
"With the support of the public I was able to turn things around in the second set, now I'm a bit disappointed," said Henin.
Belgian crown Prince Philippe and injured world number five Kim Clijsters were among the crowd cheering Henin on, and afterwards she vowed to return.
"I'll try to do better next year," she said.
It is the third title of the season for Williams after victories at the Gold Coast in Australia, and in Paris last week.
The American, who moves on to a tournament in Dubai next week, admitted that she had come close to defeat in Antwerp.
"She was putting me on the run, putting me in compromising positions," said Williams.
"She definitely could have won that match."
February 25, 2002
Lisa Dillman:
On Tennis
Minority of One
Her ascent to No. 1 finally realized, Venus Williams definitely followed her own path.
Computer wisdom finally caught up with conventional wisdom in women's tennis today.
This is why the news that Venus Williams officially became No. 1 isn't more of a blockbuster announcement. If you walked into any sports bar last week--managing to pull fans away from curling and hockey--and quizzed people about the top-ranked player in the world, undoubtedly, the answer would have been Williams, not Jennifer Capriati.
Surely, hadn't Williams been No. 1 already after winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open the last two years? And, if not, why had it taken so long? The computer is the partial culprit, much-maligned and all, but of course, not as much as Olympic figure skating judges or the bowl championship series. It artificially propped up Martina Hingis, who benefited by playing more and winning smaller, less prestigious events. Even Lindsay Davenport seemed slightly embarrassed by finishing last year ranked No. 1, admitting Williams was the true top player.
Williams, too, had something to do with the strangeness. She played a limited schedule last year, and no events after the U.S. Open because of the terrorist attacks and an injured wrist.
Just as quixotically, she took a different approach in 2002. Having been criticized for playing too little, she flipped that notion and has been in five tournaments the first eight weeks of the year.
Williams left her Florida home on Dec. 27 for Australia and has been on the road since, starting at Gold Coast, Queensland, winding through Paris and Antwerp, Belgium, and finishing in Dubai.
Call it coincidence or providence, but, in a larger sense, the timing couldn't have worked out better. Williams has become the first African-American, male or female, to be ranked No. 1 by their professional tennis association. Arthur Ashe reached No. 2 on the ATP's computer rankings in 1975, and Althea Gibson was ranked No. 1 in 1957 by a world panel, long before the WTA computer rankings started in 1975.
The historic moment arrived near the end of February, Black History Month. It came two days after another African-American player, Alexandra Stevenson--a childhood friend of Williams from their Southern California days--reached the tour final in Memphis, losing to Lisa Raymond. And it dawned only a day after another African-American, James Blake, played in the Memphis final against his Davis Cup teammate, Andy Roddick, also losing.
There were more than thoughts of Ashe and Gibson when Williams spoke about her latest accomplishment on a ragged phone line on Saturday from Dubai. An associate of Gibson's got on the conference call, warmly congratulated Williams, and said that Gibson wanted to personally offer kudos but was unable to do so.
"It would be foolish to forget Althea Gibson," Williams said. "She was the first. And more than anything, I just feel proud to represent America in my sport."
The dream--of winning Grand Slams and reaching No. 1--was not hers at the start. Richard Williams, her father, had the notion first when Venus and her younger sister Serena were growing up in Compton. He boldly predicted Venus would become No. 1. He even said Serena would be better than Venus, which did happen, briefly, when Serena won the U.S. Open in 1999.
"I thought he was telling the truth," Venus said of the No. 1 prediction. "I was just being the daughter of a proud father. And more than anything, I think he knew he put the work in and that we were listening to him, and I think that's why he had that confidence to say that myself and Serena would be Grand Slam champions.
"Right now, we are some of the best players in the game, I guess, in history, and I just think that I give a lot of credit to my dad for that."
Her mother and coach, Oracene, should receive just as much credit. She has been with her daughter since the start of this final determined charge toward No. 1. Increasingly, Williams has taken charge of her career as she has matured. At the Australian Open, she played through the pain of an injured knee, hinting she didn't consult her parents, and fought her way to the quarterfinals though hampered, losing to a resurgent Monica Seles.
Behind the scenes, she found support from her Italian boyfriend, Davide, who was with her in Australia as well as the European stretch and final stop in Dubai. It hasn't been easy. She played three consecutive weeks, the first time she had done so since October 1998.
In the Paris final, Williams defeated local favorite Amelie Mauresmo and took on another local favorite, Justine Henin, a week later in the Antwerp final. Williams has won three titles this year and lost in the semifinals to Sandrine Testud of France on Friday in Dubai.
"I did intend to be on the road," said Williams, who added the Antwerp tournament when she realized how close she was to No. 1. "I gave my full commitment for the first two months of the year. I knew it would be really tough, and mentally I've prepared to not be at home. But I really miss my dog ... and I miss Serena too. I miss the States more than anything. I haven't really had a chance to watch the Olympics, so I missed out on a few things."
Lately, the reigns at No. 1 have been short. Williams is the fourth player in the last five months to reach No. 1. Capriati, Davenport and Hingis are the others. Williams and her sister Serena will not be playing at Indian Wells next week, not surprising after last year's controversy, in which they were booed by the crowd. Venus pulled out of a scheduled semifinal against Serena because of an injury.
"Well, all in all, it was just basically an incredible scene last year in Indian Wells, but that's part of sports, playing with the good and the bad," Venus said.
Whether she is passed by Capriati this week in Scottsdale or by not playing at Indian Wells, Williams doesn't appear overly concerned. She reached No. 1 her special way, and why be any different now?
"I think the best part is that I've enjoyed myself along the way and that I have not limited myself just to playing tennis or made myself believe that that's the only thing in life," she said. "I've always been doing things at the same time and having a career; for me that's the best part."
<This link's target cannot be found>