Wimbledon - Venus ready to reign again

Eurosport - Wed, 17 Jun 12:17:00 2009

When Venus Williams walks onto Centre Court to begin her defence of the Wimbledon title, the American will feel the lush grass under her feet and breathe a sigh of relief.

Venus Williams of the US plays a shot during her match against Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic at the French Open REUTERS - 0

In the 12 months since she was crowned champion at the All England Club for the fifth time, after brushing aside sister Serena in the final, the American has endured a dispiriting run of results that could easily have left her morale at a low ebb.

Winning only two minor WTA events this year represents an underwhelming effort for the former world number one, but it is the first week exits from the Australian and French Opens against the unheralded Carla Suarez Navarro and Agnes Szavay that really raised eyebrows.

Yet Venus has litte to worry about now she is back on grass because few trophies can have been as aptly named as the Venus Rosewater Dish awarded to the Wimbledon womens' champion.

This is the time of year Venus relishes most. While she has never won the Australian or French Opens, Wimbledon has been a love-affair almost from first sight.

Since winning Wimbledon for the first time in 2000, the 29-year-old has reached six of the following eight finals, with four more victories to her credit.

But for Serena's two victories over her sister in the 2002 and 2003 finals, Venus would be closing on Martina Navratilova's record of nine singles titles.

"That would be the ultimate," That target is still within sight however and Venus said. "Her career spanned three decades, so I'm not sure if I have that much time. But if I did (play that long), I think I would definitely dream of that."

Venus has another aim this year as she bids to become the first woman to win a hat-trick of Wimbledon singles' titles since Steffi Graf claimed three in a row from 1991 to 1993.

The strongest challenge to Venus's dominance is likely to come from across the breakfast table at her Wimbledon base in the leafy south-west London village.

As ever with her sister Serena, results in the lesser Tour events are no indicator of her ability to win Grand Slams, as she proved by failing to win a single tournament since January's victory at the Australian Open.

It is six years since Serena last won Wimbledon but on her day the world number two still has the beating of any of her peers - including Venus.

The same can't be said of world number one Dinara Safina, who will travel to London rocked after compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova thrashed her in the French Open final.

Safina has risen to the top of the womens' rankings without landing a Grand Slam victory.

The 23-year-old Russian may not fancy her chances of ending that frustrating run at Wimbledon as she has yet to make it past the third round.

If Safina can't dethrone Venus, the biggest threat could come from elsewhere in eastern Europe.

Maria Sharapova, the 2004 champion, is working her way back up the rankings after returning to the Tour in May following 10 months on the sidelines with a persistent shoulder injury.

The Russian insists her desire to succeed burns as brightly as ever.

"I've always been a fighter," she said. "If I was mentally weak I wouldn't be doing this, I'd be on some island with a nice cold pina colada. But there is no better feeling than waving to the crowd after you've won."

Another challenger should be Kuznetsova, whose morale is sky-high after her Roland Garros triumph, while world number four Elena Dementieva, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, reached the semi-finals last year.

There is no shortage of motivation for Serbian duo Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, who both failed to make it past the fourth round last year despite being seeded one and two respectively, and have struggled since.

Attention will also be focued on 16-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito, whose high-pitch on-court screeching has led the International Tennis Federation to consider making "noise hindrance" part of its code of conduct.

AFP

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  1. Chukwuemeka W
    There you go mr Chukwuemeka W; i have­ reported you for harassment.
    I do not come on here and­ attempt to censor your points of view, and so i expect­ the same courtesy in return.
    If this behaviour­ continues from you, then i will continue to report you­ . . . . . oh and mr Chukwuemeka W. . . . . , ­ 'Think for once and understand.'

    From cameron w, on Thu 18 Jun 6:33PM

  2. Chukwuemeka W
    They have only deleted it because you­ complained to them.
    HOW PATHETIC ARE­ YOU!!!!!!!!
    Whatever happened to freedom of speech!
    I­ am reporting you to Yahoo/Eurosport for harassment.

    From cameron w, on Thu 18 Jun 6:25PM

  3. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAR LOVELY LOVELY VENUS WILLIAMS!!!!­ HOPE YOU'LL RECEIVE YOUR BIG PRESENT IN THE­ UPCOMING 2 WEEKS...YEAH..YEAH...YEAH...

    From Serranno, on Thu 18 Jun 4:31PM

  4. GO VENUS!!! ALL THE BESSSSTTTTTTTT TO YOU AND­ SERENAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Serranno, on Thu 18 Jun 4:29PM

  5. Cameron W(17).....i vehemently agree with­ Sanchez.Santos except for the apologies part. I did say­ that opinion is a like a butt-hole....everybody got one­ including me and unfortunately you too. The Williams­ Sisters are 28 and 29 respectively. They are no longer­ 18 and 19 anymore and therefore can't play in every­ tournament like they USE to. I don't expect them to­ sacrifice their aging body for your entertainment.­ Think for once and understand.

    From Chukwuemeka, on Thu 18 Jun 10:08AM

  6. sanchez.santos
    Accepted.
    I never, ever doubt their­ supreme ability; it just annoys me that they just turn­ up for the Big events, take the Big money and run. The­ likes of Eastbourne could've really done with one­ of them making an appearance; that's what i call­ 'supporting the tour' - give a little back,­ that's all i'm asking!

    From cameron w, on Wed 17 Jun 10:57PM

  7. alright mr cameron, apologies, but the allegation was­ rather harsh especially as you made no attempt­ initially to back up your point. The williamses milions­ of fans and admirers could not possibly concur with the­ view that the benefit was a one way street like you­ portrayed.

    From sanchez.santos, on Wed 17 Jun 9:49PM

  8. sanchez.santos
    Bit harsh that; this is a tennis forum­ not a football forum!
    . . . . .
    As for you Chukwuemeka­ W,
    what nonsense!!!
    What do you think you are doing now­ then . . . . . . . doh!
    I'll give you a clue shall­ i . . . erm doh . . . you are giving an opinion!
    Forums­ are all about debate and opinions; in my opinion, the­ williams sisters bleed the WTA Tour dry without giving­ back any support . . . ok! I didn't demand that you­ have to agree, so less of the spoilt brat behaviour­ thank you very much.
    There are several people giving­ 'opinions' on here, why attack me; oh is that­ because YOUR opinion differs from mine - bit­ hypocritical that methinks! Or are peoples'­ opinions overlooked, so long as they happen to agree­ with YOUR opinions, i.e. it's fine so long as i­ support the williams 'girls' is it - bit­ dictatorial that is!

    From cameron w, on Wed 17 Jun 8:04PM

  9. The Satirist(12)......adding to comment no.17, 1st and­ 2nd round matches are played within the 1st week of the­ tournament. The editor clearly wrote that Venus exited­ the French Open on the 1st week and NOT 1st round as­ you claimed.

    From Smoke P, on Wed 17 Jun 7:39PM

  10. The Satirist(12)......The editor did his/her homework.­ Venus Williams is a 5 TIME Wimbledon­ champ.(2000,01,05,07 and 08) and not 6 times! Maybe­ you can share with us your knowledge of where and when­ Venus won for the 6th time.

    From Chukwuemeka, on Wed 17 Jun 7:11PM

  11. I share the sentiments Hatsuking, these are exciting­ times for the women's game. If I was a betting man,­ I'd say there would be a surprise winner at­ wimbledon this year (assuming sabine and dinara would­ be surprises ha ha). Big respect to the williamses, if­ serena is fit enough, then she may have one last hurrah­ but i think it will prove beyond venus now unless­ she's plotted this all year.

    From sanchez.santos, on Wed 17 Jun 6:21PM

  12. Who writes this pap? 2 minor tournaments? Fair enough­ the clay title was minor but Dubai is one of the most­ prestigious on the tour! Look who some of the other­ past winners are! And lets not forget Venus is the­ current holder of the end of season championships­ either. Venus knows how to turn it on when she wants to­ and she will be totally turned on for Wimbledon I put­ money on it!

    From Jude, on Wed 17 Jun 6:04PM

  13. good luck Vee you are a target for sure at this event!

    From ndizvozvo4life, on Wed 17 Jun 5:30PM

  14. For some tennis fans who have been court side for­ several+2 decades, current WTA matches promote more­ interest than the gladiators face-off years of Crissy,­ Navratalova Graf, and the anemic Hingis--those times­ when also-rans filled out the roster with little hope­ of creating excitement. The courts and fans­ "belonged" to the champions as they do now in­ the ATP, where great players--like Haas, who on his­ best day could take out any of the top four 'billy­ boys" in the ATP ranking--are not even seeded at­ Wimbledon. The elders of WTA fans today can get excited­ on the women's side because...sure, Venus might win­ again...or who knows? The Serbian duo are struggling,­ my personal favorite WTA player, "The Kuz,"­ might take the Venus tray, or even Safina could­ surprise us and finally loose her choke-hold on herself­ at Wimbledon. Anyway, I love the current freedom of­ "caste" in the WTA, of knowing that its­ reasonable to believe in miracles when there are no­ underdogs.

    From Hatsutking, on Wed 17 Jun 3:57PM

  15. THIS EDITOR NEEDS TO CHECK HIS STORIES ABOUT THE­ WILLIAMS SISTERS BEFORE PUBLISHING. VENUS WILLIAMS IS­ THE WIMBLEDON CHAMP FOR THE SIXTH TIME, NOT FIFTH as in­ his latest publication. Secondly she went out of the­ French open in the Second round not first. Mistakes­ like this were never made for Sharapova, Henin or­ Clisters. They are sport women and you need to maintain­ a level of fairness regardless of your personal­ preferences.

    From The Satirist, on Wed 17 Jun 3:56PM

  16. The best women grass court tennis players are Venus and­ Serena. Venus is amazing. Last two years she wasn't­ ranked among the top five but she show the best­ performance. When she plays on the grass she is the­ best in the world. Serena is also good. I hope she will­ win the Wimbledon. I hope for sisters final.

    From Svetlana, on Wed 17 Jun 3:54PM

  17. Chuk cameron w should know a lot about parasites. his­ beloved geordie team are packed full of them! He's­ been sick for four years whilst third rate players­ milked his club for millions, so he wouldnt recognise­ the talent the williamses have if he puts the bucket­ down, the blaady moron.

    From sanchez.santos, on Wed 17 Jun 3:39PM

  18. Happy baffday Pieter D, how blessed you must be to­ share a birth date with venus rosewater......er sorry­ williams!

    I think it will be a tough ask for maria to­ make it through the wimbledon rounds. give her another­ year please. quiet progress should be the best option­ for her, in all the circumstances.

    From sanchez.santos, on Wed 17 Jun 1:25PM

  19. Today is my birthay just like Venus :]
    I hope the final­ @ Wimbledon will be:
    Maria Sharapova vs Venus Williams­ :]

    From Pieter D, on Wed 17 Jun 12:50PM

  20. That is harsh. Safina was hardly "thrashed".­ It wasnt as if it was 6-0 6-0. Now I know she didnt­ play well in the final, but look at where Kuznetsova is­ now. She lost in the first round at Eastbourne and yet­ Safina bounced back yesterday with a 6-0 6-3 victory.­ If Safina can win at 's-Hertogenbosch (which she­ probably could seeing as the main threat - Cibulkova -­ is out) her recent performances (she played well up­ until the final) and confindence will carry her through­ Wimbledon.

    From Safina Fan, on Wed 17 Jun 12:17PM
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