I Think We Saw Two Very Special Things Tonight:

Schiavone may not be a teenager, but she's still 'one to watch' this year. Looking at the current top 20, it's clear that to make it to the elite whilst still a teenager is actually quite rare. Testud, Coetzer, Farina Elia, Shaughnessy etc. were late bloomers compared with Hingis, the Williamses, Clijsters etc. Schiavone may not be a future Slam champion, but this could be her breakthrough year. I'd say she'll end up as a Testud/Van Roost type player who is etched permanently in the top 20, makes the occasional rare foray into the top 10 and is always 'dangerous'.

Hantuchova, on the other hand, IS something special. A lot of people are saying that Venus was not 100%, and that a 100% Venus would have flattened Daniela. I disagree - Venus herself noted that since they last played, Daniela has improved immensely - but these people seem to have forgotten that Daniela may have been healthy, but she hasn't even begun to reach 100% of her potential.

And I do agree with Dawn: this has all the makings of an epic rivalry. I for one hope it happens.

Dawn

I'm not an imposter

Haters are (for me) V****y and all antiWilliams fans who were saying
nasty things about Williams not necessarily in this thread but in many others for Exemple "Venus Vs Daniela live score"
OR "Can Daniela Beat Venus" While ignoring
that player like Jen Cap is in the same situation (injuried)

back to tennis ...Those who said Daniela was very,Very and very
close to beat Venus are making me laugh

twice venus had the opportunities to finish her off but
silly mistakes brought Daniela into the game

then they were both tied at 4-4 Daniela was serving but was quickly broken and the rest is history that was the coup de grace

I give her credits for putting up such a great fight but IMHO i can't
call that "very,very close to beat venus....."

Dawn ...once again I didn't like what you called me

regards

What I really do not get is that why some poster cannot accept the fact that Venus lost a set. God, is that really that embarassing for Venus to lose a set that some kind of reasons has to be made. All the threads regarding can Daniela beat Venus, is for poster who is interested in analysing the game and see how Daniela can match up against Venus, not directly towards Venus. I for one is very interested in some analysis of the game, (so is many people who is drawn into this board because of tennis). If someone start a thread by saying my fav player Monica is gonna lose in the fourth round or saying things like she has no chance against Venus, so be it as long as I can see a valid point. So please, stop being so paranoid and think that all post about Venus is either 100% support or 100% against Venus.

I did not once say anything nasty about Venus during this match. In fact, if you read my post assesing the match, you'd realize I actually said some nice things about Venus. I did not even cheer anybody on in the scores thread. I simply congratulated both players on a good match after it was over. Maybe you should pay attention to posts more instead of jumping to conclusions all the time.

In short:
Daniela Hantuchova pushed Venus Williams to three sets. It was awesome for her true fans to see her playing so well. It was also awesome to see Venus stepping up and playing a good, inspired match. Whether she is injured or not is up for debate. That's not what we're talking about here.

also, I can "hate" any player I choose. Just like you dislike Daniela, I don't like Venus. However, you should not take anything away from Daniela. I did not take anything away from Venus when she won this match. Just because Venus defeated her easily 7 months ago on grass, doesn't mean anything... a lot can change in that amount of time.

itsallaboutinis: Excuse me.. but who are you to say what I saw and what I didn't?

I didn't overdramatize Daniela's effort. If you actually saw the match (which you most likely didn't, they you're talking) you'd see Daniela played very well against the best player in the world. If you look at the stats.... 37 winners for Venus, 29 for Daniela... most players pick up their points on Venus' mistakes but Daniela was actually earning her points! Like I said, the match and the stats speak for themselves. I don't care what the newspapers say because they are extremely biased. Of course they are going to make out the world's top player to be playing awful when she drops a set to the 32nd seed. It has to be expected.

I also should add: It was very nice to see Venus fighting and determined. I'm not taking anything away from her efforts at all. It was a tough match but she fought and won it. It was a good workout for her, she usually doesn't have to fight in matches. Maybe she was injured, but that's not an excuse.. she went out there and played... and won. I don't see what the big deal is.