Serena Williams: "Venus Has Been Putting In The Hard Work"
Serena Williams discusses Venus Williams’ success and their longevity in tennis in a press conference at the Australian Open.
Serena Williams discusses Venus Williams’ success and their longevity in tennis in a press conference at the Australian Open.
Venus Williams discusses her longevity and impact on tennis in a press conference in the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – 2003 finalist Venus Williams is back into the Australian Open final for the first time in 14 years after coming back from a set down to dispatch fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion celebrated Australia Day in the best way possible, notching a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 victory to reach her second final in Melbourne Park.
“It means so much to me, mostly because she played so well,” an emotional Venus addressed the crowd at Rod Laver Arena. “She played so unbelievable and I had to play defense the whole time, it feels like.
“There was never a moment of relaxation ever, so to be able to get to the final through a match like this… I’m excited about American tennis!”
“I would love more than anything to see her across the net from me on Saturday.” #Venus on possibly facing #Serena in the final #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/LBgBcTPqBq
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 26 de enero de 2017
Vandeweghe, whose power game suited perfectly to the faster court speeds of this year’s event, was enjoying her maiden Grand Slam semifinal appearance after a commanding run, which included a straight-sets stunner against World No.1 Angelique Kerber.
But she was out of her depth against the 36-year-old Venus, who relied on her veteran experience to allow Vandeweghe to take advantage of just one of her 13 break point chances.
“I don’t think I was totally freaking out or anything close to that when I came out there,” Vandeweghe reflected later in press. “I was pretty set on competing and working hard. I think it showed in kind of the tougher points and tougher moments.
“As far as not playing as well as I could have, it goes along with tennis. You’re going to have good days and bad days. You just have to adjust as best you can.”
Thank you #Vandeweghe for your wonderful performance at this year's #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xxuSL3OQj2
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 26 de enero de 2017
The younger American’s lone break of serve came in the very first game of the match, where she had Venus under pressure from the start. But the lead didn’t last very long, with Venus jumping on some second serves and a double fault – the first of 11 for Vandeweghe – to wrench back the advantage.
The pair stayed on par to take the set into the tiebreak, where Vandeweghe found her dictating form once again and Venus, while not making too many missteps, was left to react. Vandeweghe crushed a Venus second serve with a backhand down the line and took the tiebreak, the first set Venus had dropped in the entire tournament.
Venus was right back on track in the second set, though, switching gears to target the vulnerable Vandeweghe backhand and reel off five straight games for a 5-1 lead. The younger American didn’t cede an inch, bringing up four break points in the marathon, seven-minute seventh game, but Venus stayed in front.
The 36-year-old stayed the course in the third, breaking twice and, after two hours and thirty minutes on court, advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2009 Wimbledon.
.@Venuseswilliams is through to the women's final #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/3Jdo8Zlag9
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 26 de enero de 2017
With the win Venus becomes the oldest Grand Slam finalist since Martina Navratilova at 1994 Wimbledon, and the 14 years between this and her last Australian Open final appearance sets a new Open Era record.
Awaiting in the final is younger sister Serena Williams, who blew past Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in straight sets to book the first all-Williams final Down Under since their 2003 meeting.
“When I’m playing on the court with her, I think I’m playing the best competitor in the game,” Venus said in her post-match press conference. “I don’t think I’m chump change either, you know. I can compete against any odds. No matter what, I get out there and I compete.
“[It] won’t be an easy match. I know that it won’t be easy. You have to control yourself, then you also have to hopefully put your opponent in a box. This opponent is your sister, and she’s super awesome.”
Simona Halep’s BRD Bucharest Open challenge gathered further momentum with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Danka Kovinic on Friday evening.
KEY INFORMATION:
Tournament Level: Premier
Prize Money: $846,000
Draw Size: 28 main draw (4 byes)/16 qualifying
Qualifying Dates: Saturday, July 16 – Sunday, July 17
First Day of Main Draw: Monday, July 18
Singles Final: Sunday, July 24, 2pm PDT
Doubles Final: Sunday, July 24, after singles final
MUST FOLLOW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
@WTA
@WTA_Insider – WTA Insider, Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen
@BOTWClassic – Official handle
Get involved in conversations with the official hashtags, #BOTWClassic and #WTA.
TOURNAMENT NOTES:
· Two-time champion Venus Williams returns to tournament for the 13th time as top seed.
· Dominika Cibulkova, another former winner, is No.2 seed while Johanna Konta is No.3 seed. The 2012 runner-up, CoCo Vandeweghe, Jelena Ostapenko and Alizé Cornet are also in the draw.
· The draw’s highest-ranked player, World No.7 Venus Williams is nearly 20 years older than the lowest-ranked player 16-year-old Maria Mateas.
· Click here to see the draw after it is made on Saturday evening.
WILDCARDS:
CiCi Bellis (USA), Julia Boserup (USA), Maria Mateas (USA), Carol Zhao (USA)
WITHDRAWALS:
Timea Babos (left shoulder), Daria Kasatkina (illness), Mariana Duque-Mariño (gingivoplasty), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (left abductor), Agnieszka Radwanska (right hand), Lesia Tsurenko (left thigh)
Top seed Simona Halep put on a clay court masterclass against Anastasija Sevastova at the BRD Bucharest to win her second hometown title in three years.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Venus Williams made her debut at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy with plenty to celebrate; the American had just enjoyed her best run at a Grand Slam since 2009, falling to sister Serena at the Australian Open.
“No one plans to lose, so it’s never the outcome you work so hard for,” she said in her All-Access Hour interview. “But it was still a wonderful opportunity for me to be in the right situation to win a championship. At this point, I can’t wait to play another match.”
Venus had to make a quick turnaround from Melbourne, but still arrived in time for the Player’s Party in her first visit to Russia’s cultural capital.
“The party yesterday was beautiful, and very entertaining. I heard that the tournament does a great job with the players and now I’m seeing it for myself.”
Most players opt out of returning to the court so soon after a deep Slam run, but St. Petersburg was never in doubt for the No.4 seed, who plays Kristina Mladenovic on Thursday.
“I knew I was coming here, so mentally I was prepared. This is a place I want to be, and have always wanted to visit because of the historic value, and because it’s a beautiful city.
“Of course, it was a privilege to be in the Australian Open final because you think about how close you are to the championship and having a chance to play for that. That’s everything I wanted, but I always planned to come here, regardless.”
Check out more from Venus, along with some of the best photos from the start of her stay right here on wtatennis.com:
On her decision to play St. Petersburg for the first time and adjusting to the Russian winter…
I’ve always wanted to come here, so that was the first reason. The second is that, I know this tour pretty well, and no tournament can escape my glance.
I think it would been worse if it had been hot in Australia, but it really wasn’t so hot. So it wasn’t a massive change.
On her intent to never stop improving at 36 years old…
In practice, you try to train harder than you ever would in a match. Of course, you can’t practice the emotions of a match. But I’m always trying to improve things; you can’t stay in one place, because that’s when the world stops for you and the rest of the world is still going. I’m constantly trying to think about how I can do better, so that excitement and passion is always there.
On plans to explore the city…
I just got here, so I’m still adjusting to the time difference, but I’m looking forward to a nice dinner this evening. I’m really interested in the local fashion and the designers here because I like to be inspired by different cultures. Those two things are on the top of my list.
On the next generation of Russian talent…
I’m not sure who’s coming. I know who I have to play, and they’re all tough. That’s a great thing for tennis. But if the same history continues for Russia, the future will be very bright.
On her rivalry with Serena Williams entering its third decade on the WTA tour…
We’re just trying to win our dreams, and our dream is to be here. When it’s not, we’ll watch on TV.
All photos courtesy of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy 2017.
STANFORD, CA, USA – 17-year-old Catherine Bellis thrilled the Northern California crowd in her first round against No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko; the American ousted the Latvian youngster, 6-4, 6-4 at the Bank of the West Classic.
Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“In the end, I was just a little bit more consistent than she was,” she said in her on-court interview. “I just tried to make as many balls as I could – especially in that last game. It was a little tight; I had a couple of heart attacks, but it’s all good!”
Bellis burst onto the scene back in 2014, when at 15 years of age, she stunned Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the US Open to become the youngest woman to win a main draw match there in nearly a decade. Two years on, the potential still burned bright from the young American, who twice recovered from early deficits to survive the surging Ostapenko, who struggled on serve with nine double faults in the 72 minute match.
Injured in doubles on Monday, Bellis admitted to Andrew Krasny she considered pulling out of the tournament before the match took place.
“I didn’t even know if I was going to play tonight because yesterday I got hit with an overhead in the eye. I was crying so hard and wasn’t even able to see. So to even come out today meant so much to me.”
Improving to 3-2 against Top 50 opposition, Bellis will play the winner of the second night match in Stanford between qualifiers Sachia Vickery and Elitsa Kostova.
Her win over Ostapenko was the first Stadium Court match to last only two sets as Julia Boserup, Magda Linette, and Alison Riske each needed a decider to capture their first round wins. Another American wildcard who reached the third round of Wimbledon in her Grand Slam debut, Boserup dispatched rising star Naomi Osaka, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Linette recovered from a one-set deficit to defeat Kristyna Pliskova, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Riske pulled off the most dramatic win of all against Varvara Lepchenko, clinching victory in a third set tie-break, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).
More to come…
STANFORD, CA, USA – Former World No.1 Venus Williams treated the Bank of the West Classic to a topsy-turvy three-setter against Magda Linette, but the top seed found her way against the Pole when it counted, emerging victorious, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals.
Watch live action from Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Playing at the very tournament where she made her WTA debut back in 1994 – and playing as the No.1 seed at a WTA Premier level event for the first time since 2004 (Toray Pan Pacific Open) – Venus assumed the role of the favorite to emphatic effect to start the match, racing through the opening set without dropping serve and edging ahead an ostensibly decisive break to start the second.
Two games from elimination, Linette was coming off just her first WTA main draw win since reaching the quarterfinals of the Katowice Open, but nonetheless turned the tides against the illustrious American, breaking back to force a tie-break.
Venus had lost just one tie-break all year, and though she fell behind 6-2 two in Wednesday night’s sudden death, the five-time Wimbledon winner appeared poised to close out the match fairly quickly as she saved four set points in a row. But Linette held firm to level the match after a second set that lasted just over an hour.
The Pole had one last comeback in her late in the final set; after losing the first four games on the bounce, she nabbed one of the breaks back to put pressure on the Venus serve in the seventh game, one that had proven crucial in the second set. But with sister Serena in the stands, Venus made no mistake the second time around, and eased into the quarterfinals in two hours and 17 minutes.
Up next for the top seed is either qualifier Sachia Vickery or wildcard Catherine Bellis, who caused the upset of the tournament by taking out No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round.
More to come…
Venus Williams made a disappointing exit in St Petersburg – but she reassures fans that she loves tennis, and will always give everything in every match.