Tennis News

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – A year ago, Venus Williams sat at home in Florida, never thinking that in 12 months time she would be walking back out onto Stadium Court at the BNP Paribas Open. But there she was on Friday afternoon, being greeted by a raucous standing ovation as the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” blasted from the stadium speakers.

Oh baby, give me one more chance (To show you that I love you)
Won’t you please let me back in your heart

And as the message became clear – yes, this crowd very much wanted her back – an impossibly wide, genuine, unbreakable smile spread wide across Venus’ face.

“I’m a person that’s not into the spotlight so much, so I guess such a warm welcome I actually felt a little shy,” Venus said after the match. “It’s been a wonderful moment. Fifteen years later to have such a joyous return is more than I could have ever. It’s such a blessing.”

Venus’ return to Indian Wells for the first time in 15 years was in stark contrast to Serena’s last year. While Serena kept her head down as the thunderous applause came, Venus looked up to the rafters and waved. Serena struggled (and failed) to hold back tears as she tried to settle into her chair. Venus beamed and sat triumphantly in her chair and took a moment to let it all wash over her.

She leaned back, smiled, and let out a huge sigh of relief as she soaked in the moment she never thought would come.

Welcome back! ? ? ?@VenusesWilliams returns to the @BNPParibasOpen after 15 years! #WTA https://t.co/wr7FU9gZ9X

— WTA (@WTA) March 12, 2016

“It was wonderful to be able to enjoy a moment. As an athlete you’re so focused that you don’t really realize the circumstances and how awesome it is to play in big stadiums like this until it’s all done because you’re just so focused. To have the moment and be able to enjoy it even for a few moments is worth a lifetime of memories.”

Venus’ return was a tag-team effort. When Serena told her last year she was thinking of returning to the desert after 14 years away, Venus did not actually believe her. She knew her sister was thinking about it, but Venus confessed on Friday that she never thought her kid sister would go through with it.

“Obviously I saw Serena come back last year, so that was really a wonderful moment,” Venus said. “Then just being here, just being on the practice court and on-site has been so positive and such a great experience.

“It just shows that you can always come back home, I guess. You can always go home.

“I did get emotional. When we were doing the coin toss I got a little watery eyed. Your opponent, you don’t want to give them any more encouragement. It was wonderful. I think I smiled the whole warm-up. I had to get my game face on. It was tough to do.”

Venus was unable to get the result she wanted, losing 6-4, 6-3 to Kurumi Nara in the second round. The match was played in cold and windy conditions, interrupted once by a lengthy rain delay. Nara played a smart, consistent match, while Venus struggled to get her big serve going in the wind.

“I think it wasn’t about winning,” Serena said after beating Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the third round. “When I come here, even to this day it’s not about winning. It’s just about closing that chapter in my life and her life and our lives and try to move on with our heads up, as we always had our heads up. But just continue to do that.”

“Not everything can end in a fairy tale,” Venus said. “It’s enough of a fairy tale to be here. Sometimes there’s a little bit of a glitch. Doesn’t mean that I can’t come back next year and try to do even better.”

In a thoughtful press conference after the match, Venus elaborated on what kept her away from the tournament since 2001.

“I’m definitely not an angry person, so I wouldn’t characterize it as anger, but I would characterize it as, you know, if you feel like there is a place where you don’t feel that welcome, then you can choose not to go somewhere where you don’t feel comfortable being,” she said. “At the time I didn’t feel comfortable. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable coming back through those doors. The very next year would have just been too overwhelming.

“So at the time it was just about being able to play in circumstances that are – and we’re not even talking about favorable, but just normal circumstances. You try to put yourself in a position where you’re not facing any adverse circumstances. So that’s really what it was at the time.

“I wasn’t angry,” she repeated. “I’m not an angry person. I definitely probably hold on to stuff like anybody normal.

“I have watched the tournament on TV. Enjoyed the matches and thought it was a great tournament. It just didn’t seem like a tournament for me. That’s more or less what it was. I didn’t dwell on or boycott or not watch it and all those things. It wasn’t like that at all.”

Venus reiterated the theme of forgiveness that drove Serena’s decision to return last year. “I think it’s a two-way street,” she said. “We could have come back here and everyone could have picked up where they left off.

“But everyone was welcoming, and also for us, we could have never come back. But we came back. You know, change your attitude and those sort of things. The change of attitudes on both ends isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely was a two-way street. For it to work, both parties involved, both us and the fans and the city had to have a positive attitude towards toward it. That’s how it worked.

“I think after Serena came back last year and she had such a warm welcome, I definitely thought to myself, I’ve got no reason not to go anymore. It was time to be able to just move on and let the past be the past.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

The stage is set in Strasbourg as the French headline their first Fed Cup final since 2005, when Amélie Mauresmo narrowly missed out on a hat trick of titles to team Russia. Mauresmo is back at the helm over a decade later, captaining a next generation squad that includes Roland Garros doubles winners Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.

“I’m lucky it brings out their best tennis,” the 2016 International Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee told WTA Insider in July. “They feel so good playing on the team, and are able to express their best during this competition, I’m very fortunate with that. It’s not only Caroline and Kiki, but also Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier; I hope they can all rise to the occasion in November.”

That occasion puts them head-to-head against defending champions in the Czech Republic, who have taken home the trophy in four of the last five years and took out the French in last April’s semifinal.

“We have a very difficult team ahead of us. There’s nothing to lose, being the underdogs. We’ll give it a good fight.”

Garcia will be ready for a good fight against the likes of Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova. The French No.1 won in Strasbourg earlier in the season, taking home the first of two titles in 2016.

“I’m really looking forward to it, but I’d rather be facing a team other than the Czechs!” she joked at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “They have so many great players, that they could even make two teams from all the players they have in the Top 50.

“But we’ve done well this year; not long ago, we were almost out of World Group, and we were fighting just to stay in World Group II. Everything’s come very fast for us. We are a very young team, and have nothing to lose; we will be in France, and we will give everything we have like we always do.”

Mladenovic echoed her partner’s sentiments after winning the Mutua Madrid Open doubles crown.

“We are all aware how tough it is to give all of yourself in Fed Cup every single year. Personally, I give a lot. You try to do your best, find a balance, and just be positive, work hard and keep going.”

She and Garcia duo rode a 15-match winning streak through the start of the clay court season, ultimately becoming the first all-French duo to triumph on the terre battue since 1971. Mauresmo took over coaching duties back in 2012, and admitted a need to adapt her strategies to a new set of national stars.

“It’s another learning experience for me, how to adjust to people, how to adjust to different personalities, different structures as well. They don’t operate the same way I did at all. You have to find different words, and it’s a challenge each time. But I love it. I love to adjust, listen to people, and decide from there what is the best course of action.”

Born in the same city as the two-time Grand Slam champion, Garcia earned the Fed Cup Heart Award following a heroic effort in the semifinals, where she and Mladenovic won a decisive doubles rubber to advance into the championship tie.

“I think it’s been a great opportunity to work with her. She really likes this competition. She gives a lot of herself, a lot of energy on the court. She’s had a lot of experience from her career in Fed Cup. She was No.1, won Grand Slams.

“She knows how tennis works, obviously. She trusts us and us on the court, that we can give everything. She wants us to win this Fed Cup; it was one of our goals, and now we’re so close!”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.