[Queen_Vee_92]

Don't know if this thread has ever been done, but i'm bored and desperate for the Olympics to start in general so i thought i'd be the one to start a new thread :lol:

Obviously certain matches get referred to as "Peak" Venus normally all residing in the early 00's but i thought it'd be interesting to look back at her 15 year career and find the gems from each year, and compare on what day Venus really brought it, giving her opponent no chance

For me, this is not about wins, but more about performance so even losses i suppose could count to this thread
Performance both in how dominant Vee was in that match, but also considering the player she had to beat in the match with Serena clearly being better than Niculescu

I'll start from 2005 when i first really got into Vee cos i don't want to base my thoughts on highlights, so you guys will have to fill me in on earlier ones.

2005

vs Sharapova 05 Wimbledon SF- obviously the final was a herculean effort and the Pierce match was vintage Venus but at her best tournament of that year, this result sticks out because of how Venus dictated Pova and some of the backhand angles she hit in that match were just

2006

I literally cannot think of a match worthy to accompany the others on this list so i'm gunna leave it blank, please remind me if i've missed a blinder :lol:

2007

vs Ivanovic 07 USO 4R- i nearly picked the Henin loss just cos of the astounding quality from both, but i remember watching this a couple of rounds earlier and Venus' game was just massive that day, as it was all tournament really. Movement, serve, groundies all clicked!

2008

Vs Rena 08 Wimby Final- she didnt't play out of this world good, but the h2h and matchup considered she played brilliant power tennis, and was so clutch under pressure against a Serena that wasn't as bad as some people have made out. Probably the most clutch mentally strong match she played post 03.

2009

vs Flavia Acapulco- so many to choose from in this year for some reason. Coudl've picked Safina at Wimbledon, JJ in Hong Kong, or Dementieva in Stanford. Chose this because it was flawless tennis, hitting through Flavia who'd troubles her, on clay, dropping just 3 games. She treated her like a scrub getting beat up on grass or something. Just brilliant

2010

vs Azarenka Dubai- far and away her best match of 2010. Azarenka played well but those backhands were just laser and her whole game looked like she'd turned back the clock 10 years that day. Probably the last "Great" performance to date.

2011

vs Amanmuradova Wimbldon 1R- Again a crap year, but her serve and groundies in this match were really really good. Strong hitting and the highlights are really good from both actually.

2012

vs Stosur Rome- admittedly Stosur is a mess, and Vee's bitch but still a good performance from Venus. Not disturbed by her condition and hit some big serves, great backhands and even showed a bit of variety with slices towards the end of the match.

Obviously mine's long and drawn out but just listing the matches and getting a discussion going would be good. Interested to know if my picks are popular or not

 

[Veerror]

2006, I'd say Warsaw against Hingis. Purely because of her fight and the way she came back from cramping.

 

[Olórin]

IMO
1998 Venus def. Kournikova to win first Miami
1999 Venus def. Hingis in straights in the final of her home tournament, Zurich
2000 Venus def. Hingis USO or the same match at Wimbledon
2001 Venus def. Capriati Miami Final
2002 Maybe defeating Henin in the finals of Amelia Island, or possibly Hingis in Hamburg
2003 If you judge from her reaction definitely defeating Henin to get to the finals of the Aussie.

 

[vw.]

Since I started following Vee in 2002...

2002 - def. Mauresmo US Open SF - I remember being so tight during this one!
2003 - def. Clijsters Wimbledon SF - great fight despite her ab injury.
2004 - def. Kuznetsova Warsaw F - amazing claycourt play... too bad it didn't translate to RG
2005 - def. Davenport Wimbledon F - 'nuff said
2006 - def. Jankovic Rome QF - entertaining match, tough to find a good match from this year (The Warsaw win against Hingis was great too as previously mentioned)
2007 - def. Jankovic US Open QF - just a great fight from Vee, her level definitely dipped from the previous rounds, but found a way to beat Jelena.
2008 - def. Serena Wimbledon F - her (hopefully not) last major
2009 - def. Safina Wimbledon SF - pure. domination.
2010 - def. Azarenka Dubai F - remember those two backhands DTLs?
2011 - def. Date-Krumm Wimbledon 2R - so tense :lol:
2012 - def. Ivanovic Miami 4R - after a Sjogren's day playing Wozniak, she brought her A game!

 

[Pump-it-UP]

2000 - d. Hingis USO SF
2001 - d. Capriati USO SF
2002 - :shrug: Davenport New Haven F? Henin Wimbledon SF? Seles at the US Open? Admittedly I only vaguely remember the last two.
2003 - d. Henin AO SF
2004 - d. Sprem Berlin SF
2005 - d. Pierce Wimbledon QF This match is SO overshadowed by the SF/F.
2006 - d. Hingis Warsaw QF. She was brilliant in parts of her Wimbledon R2 vs Raymond too, but the horrific 1st set ruins it.
2007 - d. Ivanovic USO R16. Honorable mention to her Memphis F demolition of Peer and her Wimbledon R16 annihilation of Sharapova.
2008 - d. Safina Stuttgart QF
2009 - d. Safina Wimbledon SF; d. Dementieva Stanford SF; d. Radwanska Rome QF; d. Pennetta Acapulco F; d. Pavlyuchenkova Dubai R16
2010 - d. Azarenka Dubai F; d. Peer Madrid SF
2011 - d. Ivanovic Eastbourne R2; d. Martinez Sanchez Wimbledon R3
2012 - d. Ivanovic Miami R16

Ivanovic's basic groundstrokes really bring out the best in her. :lol: Wimbledon 2009 R16 would have made the list too if it didnt end in a retirement.

 

[Maddox]

1998 Aussie Open QF vs Davenport: Thought the tennis was insane in this match. Venus was up, should have won this match.
1999 Hamburg F vs Pierce: Pure dominance on clay, by far Venus's best performance on clay, she creamed her backhand and forehand, had so many winners and very few unforced, her serve clicked as well. Lost about 3 or 4 game iirc
2000 Linz F vs Davenport: I know, odd choice but these 2 played a superb match indoors, crazy hustling from Venus in this match, she lost though.
2001 Australian 4th Rd vs Mauresmo: Amelie put up a fight but Venus put her in her place, her groundies were sensational in some parts of the match
2002 Anterwp F vs Henin: High quality tennis indoors from both players, Venus reigning supreme
2003 Aussie Open SF vs Henin: Henin had no chance here
2004 Roland Garros 3rd vs Pierce: Venus played so well on clay, even in Paris in 04 until that QF, Venus punished Pierce and silenced the French crowd
Other matches I will mention; 2004 Stanford F against Davenport, intense match with so many beautifully constructed points too bad she lost here, very close match
2005 Wimbledon SF vs Maria: Hello, SHE'S BACK!!! Loved how Venus was seen as the underdog and at the end she was seen as the SW19 GOAT :lol: clutch performance and btw the match I've seen more times then any other EVER
2006 Rome QF vs Jankovic: Vee's first victory over JJ I think, great match
2007 Wimbledon SF vs Ivanovic: This one gets my vote, there were a lot of good matches in 07
2008 Wimbledon F vs Serena: Venus's best performance against Serena, this was the first time Venus showed no mercy against Serena, this was very clutch especially mentally.
Also 2008 Stuttgart SF against Jankovic, 2008 US Open 4th rd vs Radwanska
2009 Wimbledon SF vs Safina: Pure dominance, only had 1 UE
Also 2009 Rome QF vs Radwanska
2010 Dubai F vs Azarenka: Those 2 backhands hello???? :lol: Vintage Venus here
Also 2010 Aussie Open QF vs Li Na, don't crucify me for this mention, but until she served for it in the 2nd, she played very well, and moved even better
2011 US Open 1st rd vs Dolonts: We were deprived of Vee last year, only played 10 complete matches, this won gets my vote, before she would withdraw she showed no signs of it in this match, loved her topspin 2nd serves here and showed great confidence and movement which was lacking at Wimbledon
2012 Rome 3rd rd vs Stosur: I loved how she reverted back to tactics against Sam, unlike in Charleston. Hopefully there will be a match this year that will be the one I will choose.

 

[Olórin]

IMO
1998 Venus def. Kournikova to win first Miami
1999 Venus def. Hingis in straights in the final of her home tournament, Zurich
2000 Venus def. Hingis USO or the same match at Wimbledon
2001 Venus def. Capriati Miami Final
2002 Maybe defeating Henin in the finals of Amelia Island, or possibly Hingis in Hamburg
2003 If you judge from her reaction definitely defeating Henin to get to the finals of the Aussie.

Oh I didn't read the part about it being absolute PEAK and irresistible Venus
In that case I'd definitely say USO SF with Capriati for 2001 and Wimbledon SF against Henin for 2002, although their Amelia Island was of good quality and a very good win as Henin was known as a bit of beast on clay even a year before she first won RG.

It's hard to pick for 2000 because she played near her best in so many matches from Wimbledon onwards, the Wimbledon Final was very solid imposing from Venus.

And the 2003 semi-final was by far the best match she ever played at the AO as well as that year probably.

 

[Patoranking]

I'm not an expert on Venus's matches, especially from the early part of the decade but here are mine. These are my favorites and not strictly based on "peak" or whatever form, and unfortunately some years will be missing from the list :shrug:

2000 def. Seles, New Haven 6-2 6-4. Well I only saw the highlights but it looked pretty amazing
2002 def. Clijsters, Stanford. Again only saw the highlights but she was in phenomenal athletic form at the time. That backhand
2003 def. Henin, AO.
2005 def. Davenport, Wimbledon
2006 def. Jankovic, Rome. This was before Venus's ground-strokes started to change. Everything was hard, hard, hard! Really amazing from a purely technical point of view. vswfan uploaded the highlights last year i believe.
2007 def. Jankovic/Sjogrens, USO. This is one of the most obvious example of Venus struggling with fatigue prior to this year. I never understood why she was gasping for breath after rallies late in the third set, but knowing now what I know it impresses me so much how she fought to win that in a final set tie-break.
2008 def. Safina, Stuttgart. This was Venus at her indoors finest. Attacking forehands, crisp volleys and accurate serving. Love this underrated match.
2009 def. Carla Suarez Navarro, Wimbledon. I know people don't think anything of this match because of how CSN turned out to be, it being grass and all that, but this match is probably my favorite of all time because of how deliberate Venus was in getting that first set bagel. Sometimes just happens to win 6-0 sets in early rounds IYKWIM cuz her opponents are error prone/nervous/not good enough etc but in this match Venus won that bagel not because of her CSN's inadequacy but simply because she wanted to win every. Single. Game. She came in with a plan and she executed it perfectly and I absolutely loved that.
2010 def. Kleybanova, Wimbledon. Random choice but this was like the last Queen-of-Grass match she played at Wimbledon :shrug:.
2011 ummm.... def Errani, AO? :lol: Choices were lacking this year. But Venus played really good in this match. I loved how she served out the match
2012 def. Whats Her Face, Charleston. I forget her name, but it was the match before Stosur. It was a really good match.

 

[Nataliafsa4d]

well

Thanks for your post.