Serena’s US Open absence opens door for Venus
It’s been nine years since the crowds at Flushing Meadows last watched Venus Williams raise the US Open silverware, but her chances of doing so once again have surely improved with the withdrawal of sister Serena from the 2010 tournament.
Back in 2001, Venus claimed her second successive US Open title with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over her younger sister but it has been Serena who has had the upper hand over Venus in recent times, and at the US Open since that match.
In the tournament’s second straight all-Williams final, in 2002, current world No. 1 Serena reversed the previous year’s result, and while Venus knocked her sister out of contention in the fourth round in 2005, Serena returned the favour in the quarter-finals in 2008, in their most recent match in New York.
More tellingly, Serena has defeated Venus in their four most recent meetings to take a 13-10 win-loss record in their career head-to-heads.
In that context, Venus couldn’t be blamed if she gleaned some hope from the fact that this year she’s the family’s sole representative in the women’s singles draw, but the 30-year-old might yet need it after a virtually non-existent preparation for the year’s final Grand Slam.
While Serena remains in recovery from the foot injury that has sidelined her since the Wimbledon final, Venus has also been absent from the WTA Tour since bowing out in the quarter-finals at the All England Club as she’s nursed a knee injury while her rivals have warmed up in Cincinnati, Montreal and now New Haven this week.
While Venus has declared herself ready to go for the US Open, she’ll enter the tournament without any match practice behind her, a situation which must surely place the third seed at a disadvantage against some of her other main rivals for the title.
Defending champion Kim Clijsters (hip) and another former champion in Maria Sharapova (heel) have also seen their preparations hampered, but both had important hit-outs during the summer and both found form in Cincinnati, where Clijsters eventually prevailed over Sharapova in a rain-interrupted final.
That pair may or may not be waiting for the world No. 4 in the second week of play, but shaking off the rust that must have built up over the past couple of months during her early matches at Flushing Meadows must be the first focus for Venus as she begins her 2010 campaign in the Big Apple.
Should she succeed there, however, the fact that Serena will surely be supporting her from the stands rather than standing in her way on court, can’t hurt Venus’ chances of winning a third US Open title this September.
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