[WilliamsWillWin]

I think that's what I love about that 2008 Wimbledon final. Serena played well and Venus was actually able to find that peak level that Serena was talking about. I still remember a point in the 2nd set, it was like a 16-shot rally and Serena is tamely and quietly scrambling thru the entire thing while Venus is ROARING with every strike of the ball punishing it from corner to corner. That must be what Serena means by not being able to beat peak Venus with her power and speed. Your best hope is to run things down and hope she loses her focus, which she would often. But, not in that Wimbledon final, along with a few other matches you could name against Serena or many other matches you could name against the rest of the field at the time.

One thought about the contract discussion, look at all the beautiful angles each of you in great length analyzed that whole saga. It helps us understand why winning 2005 Wimbledon meant the world to her and why that's the only trophy she keeps by her bed. Thank God she won that!!! I mean there was a serious threat there she would have only won 4 slams in 2000-2001 and never again. I remember thinking that during that 4 year stretch. Such a relief as a fan and obviously even more special for her, not to mention in the historic match fashion it was done in!

Yup, when Venus is connecting like that and catching the returns, the opponent has to defend unilaterally. Serena was mature enough to know that Venus doesn't maintain this level for more than a set and she needs to keep it close and wait for her level to drop.

Mhmm! It's extremely different to look at it in hindsight and reflect knowing Venus was going to win 3 more Slams and a lot of other tournaments she won than having lived through it.

When Venus returned in AUS 2004, even with no warm-up event, seeded 3rd, people were expecting her to be in the mix with Justine and Clijsters. Definitely not a R3 exit to Lisa Raymond of all people. But it was clear with the eye test that Venus was getting used to a different service motion predicated by the abdominal injuries.

Sharapova and others said it takes about 2 years with the serve when you rebuild it to get comfortable. And I'd say it was about right for Venus. I don't count 2006 as a full season, but she needed time to tinker with it and be able to trust it.​

Q. Do you think that's attributable to the layoff or Lisa's fine play? How would you assess that?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I think she played really well. You know, she hung in there and played a lot of good shots and was really determined. And she's a really, really good player, really talented, and she has everything: good serve, good return, good groundstrokes, good volleys, good movement. So she had a lot of good things going on out there for her.


Q. You were having a lot of trouble with your first serve. Was that sun, something else?

VENUS WILLIAMS: A little bit. I think I had some good ones, some good first serves, a lot of good ones, actually, then some bad ones, too. Just a little bit off rhythm. That's all.


Q. Are you less disappointed than you would ordinarily be?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm pretty much in shock. I still can't believe it. But that's the way I feel after every loss - whether I've been off or on or what have you. It's definitely going to settle in this evening. It will be like, "No!" That's the way it is. You win some, you lose some. I definitely had a lot of high hopes to do well here, and of course ultimately to win. But the best player will, whoever that is. Unfortunately, it wasn't me in this fortnight.

Q. What is your schedule?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm playing in Tokyo and Antwerp and Dubai. So I have two weeks off now. Woe is me


Q. I know it's hard to evaluate something after a loss like this, but what sort of positives can you take away from the whole experience of coming back? Like you said, your stomach is better now.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I can be positive that my stomach is fine. Yes, that's it (laughter).

​

​

She was supposed to play after AO and withdrew from Tokyo and Antwerp (one of her favorite non-Slam events and was going for the Diamond Racquet). She flopped in Dubai to Kuznetsova.

Anyway, with her results from 2000-2003 no one was expecting her comeback to be so muted. And with the press already eager to celebrate the downfall of the Williams Sisters after dealing with them suffocating every other player, they seized the opportunity.

People really don't understand the kind of questions and narrative that started off with Venus during this time and eventually spread to Serena later. Even American commentators were openly declaring the Williams Sisters' period of dominance was over and they would be non-factors or just outside contenders going forward.

After Miami 2004 it was beginning.

Q. Where do you think you are now? You've had an up and down year. Australia started okay. Then you've had injuries. You're not the Venus we've known, but where do you stand?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Just on the up and up.


Q. You feel it's coming?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Uh-hmm.

By US 2004 these were the kind of questions being asked at her.

Q. There had been a lot of talk over the last year or so that the aura of the Williams sisters, who were dominant for so long, had an advantage when they stepped on court against some opponents who were afraid to play or didn't think they would have a chance. It sounds though, tonight, a little bit like what you're saying is in your own mind, you didn't feel like you were where you could be, and now maybe you're starting to get some of that feeling back.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I was not prepared at events, basically is what I'm trying to say. I was not prepared, but I came anyway. And I was better off to skip those events. The truth of the matter is that in the past year, both myself and Serena, we have not been healthy. When you look at the players playing, they're trying to play like us, they're trying to do what we do. You know, they're trying to see what we do and what we'll come up with next. If we're healthy, and we're going toe-to-toe, it's going to be a good match no matter who we're playing.

When she started off flopping in 2005, all benefit of the doubt was gone.

Q. Do you still feel as competitive in Grand Slams as you did three, four years ago?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Absolutely.


Q. What's changed since then? Not just injuries and things, but has anything changed mentally, perhaps, that's stopping you from winning them?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I just feel like you win some, you lose some. And I feel like that was one I definitely should have won. I just was off of my rhythm.


Q. When you were winning the Grand Slams, you were going through matches, winning sets easily, matches easily. It didn't seem to be coming to you quite as easily as it was.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I feel like - like I said - this is a tough tournament to win because of the timing of it. You have to definitely be on immediately. I feel like I was playing well, but tonight I was just off a bit. And can't afford to do that.


Q. What goals did you set for yourself coming into the tournament?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, definitely I wanted to win the event, obviously. A few rounds short of that. But I'll just go home and work a little harder, ask my mom what I was doing wrong out there today. I couldn't quite get a handle on, you know, what was going wrong. I think that hurt me a lot today.


Q. What do you think you were doing wrong?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I haven't thought about it yet. I need to think about it.


Q. You still obviously feel deep down you can win Grand Slams?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah.


Q. Is there one thing that has to change for that to happen again?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I would say it's the same thing for you. If you take some time off from writing, there's no doubt you can still write. So I can still play. So there's no doubt about that.


Q. But have the other players caught up? I mean, obviously you and Serena brought a different type of game to tennis, a different level. Have they caught up?

VENUS WILLIAMS: I would say players are playing better, but I would definitely also say that when I'm playing well, I feel like I'm the best. And today was not my best, absolutely not my best.


Q. When was the last time you felt you were playing consistently well?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Third round.

Venus was in her mid-20s, the prime ages of an athlete, and was effectively written off by the tennis world and facing hostile questions about her ability to ever win again. So yeah, the context matters.

 

[WilliamsWillWin]

If you watched full matches during that time of the girls who rose up during that period, Belgians + Sharapova, the commentators gushed over them and how they had taken over tennis and declared that it would be hard (if not impossible) for the Williams Sisters to wrestle back control of the WTA.

And then:

1. Mauresmo's career was effectively done as an elite player after NOV 2006
2. Davenport declined due to age and injury in 2006
3. Clijsters retired in 2007 to start a family
4. Hingis came back and got banned and retired in 2007
5. Justine abruptly retired in 2008

1. Venus rebuilt her ranking after injury in 2006 and got back to winning Slams
2. Serena returned to #1 in 2008 after winning US Open for the first time since 2003. The then-longest gap between reigns, eventually broken by Wozniacki in 2018
3. The Williams Sisters continued to play against each other in Slam Fs
4. The Williams Sisters returned to #1 and #2 in the world in MAY 2010

 

[jean_genie]

Looks like Reebok is doing better with Angel Reese and their AR1 shoe, debuting today. For those who might not know her, she's just finished her rookie year with the WNBA's Chicago Sky, a terribly managed team, where she put up amazing numbers but didn't win a title or lead her team to a championship. This is how you showcase the talent you've signed:



And here's a commercial (NOTICE THE BASKETBALL):


And here's a posed shot:

 

[mienshao]

The looks on Venus' face was so shady when Serena said "I have to wait for her to make a mistake or just outlast her, and that became my strategy in some of the matches."

 

[Chance]

Really interesting analysis.

WilliamsWillWin you have an amazing memory.

I always felt Venus needed to change her game up with Serena, because Serena knew what to expect .

That green clay final against Justine showed Vee could change her game up and that surprise would have thrown Serena off .

Interesting to hear Serena knew if she kept her errors low she could weather the V storm.

 

[LegionArgentina]

Wedding on Friday???

https://www.ilmattino.it/en/venus_williams_fairytale_wedding_in_ischia-9073533.html

Any info about it?

 

[Queen V]

Any info about it?

Yeah, I have an update.

Venus Williams Stuns in a Sporty, Custom Bridal Look Ahead of Her Wedding to Andrea Preti

 

[jean_genie]

InStyle is rehashing old information, so nothing new besides her tooling around in a "Mrs. Preti" sun hat

Her sister Lyndrea posted a video on a boat, going out to the island but still no sighting of the bride. I wonder if there's an exclusive for the wedding with Vogue Italia or some other publication so the photos and info are limited??

Come on Vee, we want to see you in your wedding dress

 

[Couver]

Yeah I'm guessing some mag is going to get the exclusive. Serena worked with People right? Or was that for Olympia's birth?

Is it for sure confirmed the wedding happened this weekend though?

 

[jean_genie]

Yeah I'm guessing some mag is going to get the exclusive. Serena worked with People right? Or was that for Olympia's birth?

Is it for sure confirmed the wedding happened this weekend though?

I think it was People and Vogue who covered Serena's wedding. And Serena is seriously chomping at the bit to post something because the outfit she put on her IG today definitely looks like bridal party pjs or loungewear

We know that Venus doesn't really care about making everything public but I think she'll at least allow us to see some pictures once the wedding happens. I mean, if her whole family weren't on the Amalfi coast this past week/weekend, then I too would doubt whether or not the wedding actually took place

Wonder who will get the exclusive--InStyle, People or Vogue (Italia or American)?

 

[Couver]

Vogue is a big fan of theirs so maybe them. Although Anna isn't editor anymore so who knows.

 

[jean_genie]

Vogue is a big fan of theirs so maybe them. Although Anna isn't editor anymore so who knows.

True. They're also close with Edward Enniful too, right? I do believe someone is getting the exclusive for pictures and we'll just have to bite our nails and wait a bit longer sigh

 

[Couver]

I guess we also don't know who her fiance/hubby knows too. He is/was a model right? So maybe Vogue Italia or something?

 

[WilliamsWillWin]

Really interesting analysis.

WilliamsWillWin you have an amazing memory.

I always felt Venus needed to change her game up with Serena, because Serena knew what to expect .

That green clay final against Justine showed Vee could change her game up and that surprise would have thrown Serena off .

Interesting to hear Serena knew if she kept her errors low she could weather the V storm.

There's not much almost anyone can do if Venus is catching the ball on the center of the racquet and playing cleanly. Her movement and ability to leap on the short ball was so urgent.

Venus used the drop shot in the 90s and early 00s, mostly against Davenport, but sometimes against others to good effect. I wish she would have kept that as part of her arsenal. It's impossible to not be pushed behind the baseline against her and to respect her pace, so the drop doesn't need to be perfect to be effective. It also could have broke rhythm.

Particularly against Serena, it's one of her few weaknesses to be brought to the net against her will. Justine used this tactic to beat her often.