Venus Williams: A Star in Steffi Graf-mould
Venus Williams [born June 17, 1980] is a former World no. 1 having won seven Grand Slam singles titles which includes five at Wimbledon. Additionally, she’s won twelve doubles majors and two more in the mixed-doubles categories. She’s also won the Olympics Gold in singles at the Sydney Games in 2000 besides winning the Gold in doubles at the same event and then at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Early Success, 1997 US Open…
The elder one amongst the famous Williams tennis stars, Venus Williams tasted success relatively earlier than her sister Serena Williams. Even in their junior days, it was Venus who at one point in time held an ominously dominating 64-0 record in the under-12 competition circuit. Venus took little time in adjusting to the senior circuit and made it to the final of the 1997 US Open at her very first attempt. In doing so, she became the first unseeded US Open women’s singles finalist since 1958.
Venus Williams And Martina Hingis…
In the final she came second best to the then World no. 1 Martina Hingis but the signs were there already that the American would do something special in her career. Hingis in particular bore the brunt of the Williams game in the years later. Williams and her style of play especially had a special role in derailing the career of Martina Hingis who was the undisputed queen of Tennis between 1997-99, years during which Venus and her sister Serena were making their impressions felt on the tour.
Venus’ huge serves and equally punishing ground-strokes, especially off her forehand were instrumental in slowly getting into the head of Hingis who was consistently found wanting whilst playing Venus and other ‘power packed players’. Though the Swiss Miss had a 11-10 winning record against Venus, the damage inflicted by Venus during major tournaments was enough to dethrone Martina Hingis from the top of the rankings tree, a position she'd held for a total of 209 weeks.
First Major Win…
After that US Open final appearance in 1997, Venus continued to do well on the tour and defeated the likes of Steffi Graf and Monica Seles at smaller tournaments without having the same amount of success in the majors. She had little difficulty in reaching up to the quarter-finals and semi-finals but couldn’t progress further. All that changed in 2000 where she finally overcame her nerves and won her maiden Grand Slam; the stage being Wimbledon. SW19 would become a place where Venus would win four more titles.
At 2000 Wimbledon…
Despite missing the first four months of 2000 due to an injury, Venus had an unbelievable winning streak of 35 matches and 6 titles after coming back on tour. She went on to win the Wimbledon crown that year after having defeated Martina Hingis in the quarter-final, Serena Williams in the semi-final and then later accounted for defending champion Lindsay Davenport in the final.
Success During The Rest Of The Year…
It would prove to be a very special year for Venus as she went onto win the US Open that year as well, once again by defeating Hingis and Davenport on the way. Despite not getting the coveted no. 1 ranking yet, Venus was the undisputed champion in the women’s game as she had the knack of doing well in the majors without even considering participating at the smaller events. She had also won the Gold Medal at the Sydney Games that year and capped it off the Games by also winning the doubles title with sister Serena. Venus Williams finished that year ranked World no. 3.
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