Tracy Austin
WIMBLEDON, England - Shortly after she had won her opening-round match at Wimbledon, Venus Williams wore a smile that could have brightened even the darkest of summer sky that is usually no stranger over the All-England Club. So far this fortnight the rain has taken a rain check so tennis fans on the grounds are in good spirits. Their frame of mind is positive over what’s forecasted to be a stretch of good weather this opening week but no one’s outlook over this year’s grass court major is as rosy as Venus’.
Venus is passionate about playing in The Championships. She’s won this Grand Slam event four times including last year and her affinity for it led her to proclaim on television that Wimbledon “this year has actually become the love of my life.”
With that being the case, not many are lining up to pick against her once again emerging queen of the lawns.
For Venus the opening act in the defense of her title came in a bit of a tough tussle with Briton Naomi Cavaday in a 7-6, 6-1 win. Venus initially needed to work out how to deal with Cavaday’s slice serve and heavy groundstrokes but once she took the first set, she showed why her trophy shelf has four Wimbledon mementos.
Cavaday proved a good beginning for Venus as she needed to have a pesky opponent considering she played no grass court warm-up event. Wimbledon is the major where she’s been the most successful, taking the title three other times besides last year – 2005, 2001 and 2000. She also lost in the finals to sister Serena in 2003 and 2002.
Venus has won two U.S. Open titles (2000, 2001) but has never been a champion at the French Open or the Australian Open. Her best showing in Paris was reaching the final in 2002 and she was also a finalist in Melbourne in 2003, losing both of those matches to Serena.
It’s hard not to be so very impressed with her title-winning performances here in 2005 and 2007 when she ranked outside the top 10. Nobody put her in the group of favorites to win the title in 2005 -- she wasn’t even a consideration by most. And last year, seeded No. 23, Venus appeared to have too tough a road to travel to another championship.
I didn’t believe that and I was one of the few people who included Venus on my list of favorites -- a decision I made based solely on her championship here two years before, which signaled to me that Venus always has to be counted in the title hunt at Wimbledon.
I knew last year that Venus deserved for us to pay attention to her at Wimbledon because she proved in 2005 that this piece of real estate is her territory. Without a doubt her ability to win here in 2005 and 2007 recharged her career and redeemed her reputation as a serious contender every time she heads into another Wimbledon.
Venus feels at home at Wimbledon. Grass is a surface where she can get that first strike in and if she can do that she knows it’s going to be difficult for any opponent to play successful defense against her. She has a big forehand, big backhand and big serve and it often takes just one big shot to put her in the driver’s seat on a point.
Having been a player on tour, I can pretty well guess how the other players feel about Venus at Wimbledon -- none of them wants any part of her on grass. That’s a big key psychologically for Venus -- she knows that opponents aren’t comfortable against her on this surface and they know she loves mowing them down on the lawns.
Venus has very fond memories of Wimbledon. Don’t underestimate the importance of that to her title chances. As someone who played professionally, I know that if you find yourself in trouble during a match, you can call on those good memories to boost your confidence in believing you can come through in a tough spot.
Venus seems relaxed and serene. She appears to be content with being considered a favorite and being talked about all the time. Her familiarity with winning here allows Venus to believe she can successfully compete with any of the top contenders. Certainly, Venus knows that Serena can play well here and she knows Maria Sharapova can also perform well as the Russian owns one Wimbledon title – but it’s Venus not Serena or Maria who is a Wimbledon champion four times over.
There are three players that come to mind as Wimbledon’s elite of recent times -- Billie Jean King won the title here six times, Steffi Graf won it seven times and Martina Navratilova won an amazing nine times.
Interestingly, Venus’ game in no way resembles the games of any of those three great players. Both King and Navratilova came from a different era when players couldn’t wait to visit the net. Incredible serve-and-volley talents, it's no surprise that King and Navratilova account for 15 Wimbledon titles between them.
As for Graf, she was a different player than Venus because she had the monstrous forehand and slice backhand. That slice backhand wasn’t delivering winners but it was sending balls back very low, which helped her set up points.
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Venus, has a very different style -- her style is today’s style where she has a big serve, hits power shots from the baseline and only occasionally ventures to the net.
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