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Venus' Golden Olympic Omen

Venus' Golden Olympic Omen

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Venus Williams, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and fashion designer, is preparing for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the most Venus way possible: by designing her own Team USA tennis outfit to be worn in the competition.

Venus Williams

The special edition EleVen By Venus dress will be worn on a very special occasion: the 2016 Rio Olympics will be Venus’ fifth Olympic Games, a feat which matches a record set by Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of most Olympic appearances by a female tennis player.

Here’s her impressive Olympic resume, which spans an incredible 12 years and counting:
2000 Sydney – Singles: Gold medal, Doubles: Gold medal
2004 Athens – Singles: R16, Doubles: R1
2008 Beijing – Singles: Quarterfinals, Doubles: Gold medal
2012 London – Singles: R16, Doubles: Gold medal

With her four gold medals across singles and doubles, Venus is also among the most decorated tennis Olympians. She’s tied with Serena for most gold medals, and sits one medal behind the all-time record set by Kathleen McKane.

Most Olympic Medals (all women’s tennis disciplines):
Kathleen McKane – 1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
Serena Williams – 4 gold
Venus Williams – 4 gold
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario – 2 silver, 2 bronze

With the Rio Olympics being staged on hardcourts, Venus looks set to add to her gold medal haul. She’s already got one hardcourt title under her belt at the Taiwan Open in Kaohsiung earlier this year. And odds are that she’s also going to be competing in doubles with her sister, which brings up another good omen for Venus: the Williams sisters have never lost an Olympic doubles event while partnered up.

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

DUBAI, UAE – Kristyna Pliskova is quickly rising out from under the shadow of twin sister and World No.3 Karolina as the Czech lefty scored a big upset at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, dispatching No.16 seed Roberta Vinci, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

“All week I felt pretty bad in practice, so I’m happy I made it through this match,” she said after the match. “It wasn’t easy at all.”

As Karolina was reaching her maiden Grand Slam final at last summer’s US Open, Kristyna was making a breakthrough of her own at the WTA 125K Series event in Dalian, following that up with her first career title at the Tashkent Open. Ranked just shy of her career-high of No.55, Pliskova earned a comeback victory over Vinci, a runner-up in Flushing back in 2015.

“It’s much slower on the Center Court and the balls aren’t flying that much. Plus, she’s a tricky opponent.”

Vinci appeared in control as she served for the match in the second set, but Pliskova broke back and rode the momentum into a decisive three-set victory after just under two hours on court. With a serve as big – if not bigger – than her sister’s, the 24-year-old struck nine aces throughout and maintained an impressive 82% winning percentage behind her first serve, losing just two points in the decider.

“I was trying to fight all match, but sometimes you have a few bad games. She was solid, serving well. I resolved to be more aggressive and that’s when she started making a few more mistakes.”

Up next for Pliskova is a potentially tough challenge in either ASB Classic champion Lauren Davis or lucky loser (and Taiwan Open semifinalist) Mandy Minella.

“I’m happy to still be in the tournament and to fight for another win.”

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