Venus rises again
by Bren O'Brien
Saturday, January 17, 2004</I>
Venus Williams has revealed that Australian Open 2004 will see her take a new approach to her game as she returns to the WTA Tour after recovering from an abdominal injury which has sidelined her since her Wimbledon final defeat last year.
The 23-year-old admits she has made mistakes over the past 12 months and she said on Saturday that she had learned her lessons and can't wait to get back to enjoying her tennis.
"I feel eager. Obviously I have not been in a competition in quite a few months. I'm quite excited to be playing and I'm bursting with energy," Williams explained.
"I just want to have fun. I want to go out there and enjoy the competition. I just want to enjoy hitting the ball back and forth. I want to enjoy my opponent hitting a good shot on me and getting one back on them. And when I'm doing all that it just comes easy."
Williams' main regret from 2003 was playing while injured - in particular at the French Open, where her bid to make a fifth-straight Grand Slam final was thwarted by Vera Zvonareva in the fourth-round.
"Looking back I shouldn't have played the French Open at all because I wasn't ready," she said. "I've learned now that if I'm not ready, if you have only a few days of practice, you can't go and play a Grand Slam. It was a hard lesson to learn."
Williams said she had also ignored her father Richard's advice not to play in the doubles at Wimbledon, and her stubbornness had contributed to the length she subsequently spent out of the game.
"At the time I really just felt like I wanted to play because I didn't want to look back and think 'maybe I could have done it and I could have played through it.'"
"The hardest thing is to accept your limitations, to accept that I couldn't do it. I was never taught to say 'I can't' - but I couldn't," she said.
The absence of both Venus and her younger sister Serena has seen Belgian pair Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters climb to the top of the rankings, and Williams said that she would not be satisfied that her comeback was complete until she was back on the top of the pile.
"I didn't even know I was No.11, I really didn't. I knew I'd dropped a little bit but that was to be expected. I suppose if you are No.1 in the world, you feel No.1, if you're anything less than that, you feel like you want to get to No.1."
"I'm obviously a few tournaments away from reaching my personal best ranking. As long as I play well I can keep climbing."
Williams is seeded No.3 for Australian Open 2004, after being granted an exception by the WTA, but says she wouldn't have been concerned if she had been seeded lower.
"If I was No.11 or No.3 I still would be very, very happy to play," she said. "For me I don't care who I play because I'm here to compete. I'm not afraid of anyone."
Williams will get her Australian Open campaign underway against teenage compatriot Ashley Harkleroad.
by Bren O'Brien
Saturday, January 17, 2004</I>
Venus Williams has revealed that Australian Open 2004 will see her take a new approach to her game as she returns to the WTA Tour after recovering from an abdominal injury which has sidelined her since her Wimbledon final defeat last year.
The 23-year-old admits she has made mistakes over the past 12 months and she said on Saturday that she had learned her lessons and can't wait to get back to enjoying her tennis.
"I feel eager. Obviously I have not been in a competition in quite a few months. I'm quite excited to be playing and I'm bursting with energy," Williams explained.
"I just want to have fun. I want to go out there and enjoy the competition. I just want to enjoy hitting the ball back and forth. I want to enjoy my opponent hitting a good shot on me and getting one back on them. And when I'm doing all that it just comes easy."
Williams' main regret from 2003 was playing while injured - in particular at the French Open, where her bid to make a fifth-straight Grand Slam final was thwarted by Vera Zvonareva in the fourth-round.
"Looking back I shouldn't have played the French Open at all because I wasn't ready," she said. "I've learned now that if I'm not ready, if you have only a few days of practice, you can't go and play a Grand Slam. It was a hard lesson to learn."
Williams said she had also ignored her father Richard's advice not to play in the doubles at Wimbledon, and her stubbornness had contributed to the length she subsequently spent out of the game.
"At the time I really just felt like I wanted to play because I didn't want to look back and think 'maybe I could have done it and I could have played through it.'"
"The hardest thing is to accept your limitations, to accept that I couldn't do it. I was never taught to say 'I can't' - but I couldn't," she said.
The absence of both Venus and her younger sister Serena has seen Belgian pair Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters climb to the top of the rankings, and Williams said that she would not be satisfied that her comeback was complete until she was back on the top of the pile.
"I didn't even know I was No.11, I really didn't. I knew I'd dropped a little bit but that was to be expected. I suppose if you are No.1 in the world, you feel No.1, if you're anything less than that, you feel like you want to get to No.1."
"I'm obviously a few tournaments away from reaching my personal best ranking. As long as I play well I can keep climbing."
Williams is seeded No.3 for Australian Open 2004, after being granted an exception by the WTA, but says she wouldn't have been concerned if she had been seeded lower.
"If I was No.11 or No.3 I still would be very, very happy to play," she said. "For me I don't care who I play because I'm here to compete. I'm not afraid of anyone."
Williams will get her Australian Open campaign underway against teenage compatriot Ashley Harkleroad.