Venus Williams aiming to win two titles at Wimbledon
Venus Williams will be coming to Wimbledon planning to leave with both the Singles and Doubles trophies, though she’ll need a little help from her younger sister, Serena, to win both.
Williams, currently the no.2 ranked female tennis player in the world, will be one of the favourites to win the tournament. She’s won five times in the past, and has been a runner-up three other times, meaning that of the 10 past Wimbledon tournaments, eight of the finals have featured Williams. Williams is known for her powerful baseline play, and the fast grass of Wimbledon benefits her style, leading to her dominance in the singles tournament.
In the doubles, Venus and Serena will be an even more formidable force, as they are easily the no.1 ranked team in the world. Most commentators expect they will win easily in the doubles competition, a category where they hold 19 titles together. They won the last four Grand Slam titles in the doubles competition.
"It would be a great achievement, and I hope we can do it," Venus Williams said on winning at Wimbledon. "I'm depending a lot on her."
But in the singles competition they certainly won’t be working together, as if Venus wants to win, she may just have to beat her sister, the defending champion. There is potential for a match-up in the finals, as Serena and Venus enter the tournament on the opposite sides of the bracket. Top ranked Serena beat Venus in last year’s final, while in 2008 it was the other way around, with Venus taking the title.
Different paths to the finals
Rossana de los Rios will be Venus’ first opponent, and will not be expected to provide a stiff challenge. Venus should be able to advance to the quarterfinals without too much difficulty, where she may end up facing tougher opponents such as Francesca Schiavone, who recently won the French Open. Another potential opponent could be Marion Bartoli, who lost to Venus in the 2007 Wimbledon finals.
For Serena, she should also have a relatively easy time making the quarterfinals, where she may have to deal with no. 7 ranked Agnieszka Radwanska. Other favourites the sisters may have to deal with are Caroline Wozniacki or Maria Sharapova, who is the only other former Wimbledon winner in the field this year.
Both sisters are coming in off of strong years thus far, with Venus racking up tournament wins in Dubai and Acapulco to move her back into the no. 2 ranking. Serena has been even better, holding the no.1 spot since November, and having recently won the Female Athlete of the Year award from the Associated Press. The sisters have met four times in the Wimbledon finals, with Serena winning three of those encounters.
Venus’ style turning heads
The elder Williams has been creating a stir recently not just for her solid play for also for her eye-catching outfits, which she designs herself. She recently sported a slit-legged dress at the Australian Open that revealed much of her leg, before donning a low-cut lacy dress at the French Open with skin-tight black shorts underneath, creating quite a stir. This time will probably be no different, as she described her outfit to USA Today.
"It's definitely inspired by Tina Turner," Williams said. "It's called a shimmy dress. You'll see. It's got fringe. That's all I can say."
Some commentators thought Williams’ outfits gave her an unfair advantage in matches because of their distraction to her opponents, but so far no action has been taken. But it seems as though spectators will be able to look forward to more than just her play when she takes the court.
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