Are the Williams sisters yesterday's news? I hope not
Today, in the third round of the French Open, Venus was defeated 6-3,1-6, 6-1 by Sesil Karatantcheva, the 15-year-old who won last year's French Open junior championship. Karantantcheva got back an amazing number of balls, and--despite the rather lopsided score--dominated Venus for most of the match. As always, the Venus forehand was shaky (except in the second set), and Venus made continual unforced errors.
Some of us thought that when Venus defeated Serena for the first time in three and a half years at this year's Nasdaq-100 in Miami, things would turn around for her. Granted, clay is not Venus's best surface, but in the past, she hasn't exactly been poor on it, either. Only last year, she won the green clay Family Circle Cup in Charleston, but she was knocked out in the round of 16 this year by rising star Tatiana Golovin. A week ago, she won the Istambul Cup, which is played on red clay.
Serena withdrew from this year's French Open because of an ankle injury. And "injury" has been the key word in the Williams sisters' tennis career for the past couple of years. They have both suffered multiple injuries, and Serena was not able to play for eight months. They have also gone through the murder of their half-sister, and two subsequent mistrials of the suspect. The toughest person cannot function at her optimal level when she is battling a beaten up body and major bereavement.
So I cut Venus and Serena some slack; they have been through a terrible time.
There is another side to the coin, however: Serena, in particular, is concentrating on a lot more than just tennis. She is a key Hollywood figure, and likes to make the club scene a lot. She also has her own clothing design company, Aneres, and she has publicly stated that she thinks acting and fashion designing are her main callings. This makes sense, when you consider that even the best athlete's years are always numbered.
Venus, for her part, owns and operates V Starr Interiors, an interior design and decorating company. As far as I can tell, Venus never has "ASID" after her name, and in the company bio, does refer to herself as an interior decorator, but apparently, she has designers working for her. Whether she intends to pursue ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) certification is unknown.
Tennis commentators are fond of saying that Venus and Serena raised the bar with their brand of power tennis, but then other players--especially the younger ones--took the challenge seriously, and now they, too, can play power tennis. Some of us, who prefer more strategic and graceful tennis, are not so thrilled about that, but that is the way it is. Maybe the pendulum will swing one day, maybe it won't.
In the meantime, Venus and Serena are vulnerable. Serena won the 2005 Australian Open, though it wasn't a pretty sight, with perfectionist and part-time head case Lindsay Davenport totally melting down (perhaps literally, so intense was the heat during the tournament) in the third set and practically handing the championship to Serena.
As the players gear up for Wimbledon, all eyes will be on the Williams sisters, who I hope will be injury-free and ready to give fans some tough Williams sisters game.
Some of us thought that when Venus defeated Serena for the first time in three and a half years at this year's Nasdaq-100 in Miami, things would turn around for her. Granted, clay is not Venus's best surface, but in the past, she hasn't exactly been poor on it, either. Only last year, she won the green clay Family Circle Cup in Charleston, but she was knocked out in the round of 16 this year by rising star Tatiana Golovin. A week ago, she won the Istambul Cup, which is played on red clay.
Serena withdrew from this year's French Open because of an ankle injury. And "injury" has been the key word in the Williams sisters' tennis career for the past couple of years. They have both suffered multiple injuries, and Serena was not able to play for eight months. They have also gone through the murder of their half-sister, and two subsequent mistrials of the suspect. The toughest person cannot function at her optimal level when she is battling a beaten up body and major bereavement.
So I cut Venus and Serena some slack; they have been through a terrible time.
There is another side to the coin, however: Serena, in particular, is concentrating on a lot more than just tennis. She is a key Hollywood figure, and likes to make the club scene a lot. She also has her own clothing design company, Aneres, and she has publicly stated that she thinks acting and fashion designing are her main callings. This makes sense, when you consider that even the best athlete's years are always numbered.
Venus, for her part, owns and operates V Starr Interiors, an interior design and decorating company. As far as I can tell, Venus never has "ASID" after her name, and in the company bio, does refer to herself as an interior decorator, but apparently, she has designers working for her. Whether she intends to pursue ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) certification is unknown.
Tennis commentators are fond of saying that Venus and Serena raised the bar with their brand of power tennis, but then other players--especially the younger ones--took the challenge seriously, and now they, too, can play power tennis. Some of us, who prefer more strategic and graceful tennis, are not so thrilled about that, but that is the way it is. Maybe the pendulum will swing one day, maybe it won't.
In the meantime, Venus and Serena are vulnerable. Serena won the 2005 Australian Open, though it wasn't a pretty sight, with perfectionist and part-time head case Lindsay Davenport totally melting down (perhaps literally, so intense was the heat during the tournament) in the third set and practically handing the championship to Serena.
As the players gear up for Wimbledon, all eyes will be on the Williams sisters, who I hope will be injury-free and ready to give fans some tough Williams sisters game.
posted by Diane at 2:27 PM
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