OT: Venus Williams

[wire chief]

This will be an odd duck of a portrayal, in that wcbb is just beginning and tennis' year is just about non-existent until the Australian Open. But please indulge this diehard fan as I report to the few(?) of you who cheer her success.
You know her history, this 35 year old who is still on the tour, when her once-contemporaries have hung up
their Nikes.
Anyway, the year end WTA tournament ended a week ago among the top 8 players. Now Venus' ranking was just short, so she wasn't invited. However a tournament in China that ended the day before yesterday was designed for the 2nd tier of players, including familiar names like Jelena Jankowicz and Madison Keys.
I watched the final in which Venus emerged victorious. She moved well, had good energy, showed none of the
extended lapses on ground strokes that has weakened her performance in the past.
She won in straight sets, showing mental toughness when saving a couple of set points.
This was her second tournament win in the last month, a total of 3 championships and 41 matches for the year.
And she is now back in the top 10.

While Serena describes herself as having "Rafa Nadal knees", passing up the afore-mentioned year end tournament and perhaps serving notice that the 33 year old may not again be her old self, big sis on Sunday
looked like there's no end in sight. Truly great woman.

 

[AnotherVolFan]

Even though I'm a huge Serena fan, I loveeeee when Venus wins! Her dominance at Wimbledon and the final against Davenport will forever be ingrained in my memory!

 

[VAUConnFan]

Venus and Serena have to hang in there long enough to pass the torch to another American. Madison Keys looks good right now and it is great that she is being coached by Lindsay. But we have had other flashes of American brilliance that faded to black within a couple of years. What does it take? Maybe, we should revisit the Richard Williams method.

 

[msf22b]

I am just delighted in seeing the wonderful Venus smile of delight in the photos following her recent victory.
The competitive fire still burns in this not-so-young (anymore) woman.
A true sports-woman.

What a fabulous role model for our youth.'
And an inspiration for the older folks.

Go get em Venus.

 

[kat0189]

I've been a fan of Venus since the beads and "the bump" (w/ Spirlea), so that's 1997.

In 1998 I saw her play at live at Stanford and ran down the bleachers for an autograph after one of her early round matches. I was so nervous that I fumbled my permanent marker while passing it down to her, she sort of juggled it a bit against her chest, and it ended up putting blue ink stains all over her the top of her white uniform/outfit!

Imagine my horror at age 12, meeting my favorite athlete in person! But she was all smiles and nothing but gracious .

 

[DaddyChoc]

Venus is the bomb

 

[wire chief]

She and Swin and Sue, age mates, exceeding expectations.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/14088806/tennis-venus-confidence-growing-age