Venus Williams defeats Roberta Vinci at U.S. Open 2010
Venus Williams celebrated her 6-4, 6-1 victory over Roberta Vinci of Italy on the first day of the U.S. Open in New York on Monday. The two-time U.S. Champion showed signs of playing with a troublesome knee but easily managed to beat Roberta in the end. This was her first match after a gap of two months since spraining her left kneecap.
"It was doing pretty good, till I landed on that leg on the swing volley. I was pretty happy to get through after not playing in forever," said Williams, whose younger sister Serena isn't playing in the U.S. Open after undergoing surgery on her right foot.
Venus said that this year’s U.S. Open was not the same as sister Serena was missing in action. She further claimed that there’s added pressure on her to fill the void created by her absence.
As a result, Venus performed exceptionally well on Monday as she served 10 aces with an average speed of 126 mph. She is the fifth best woman in tennis at the moment with 200 career victories at major tournaments which is why she was expected to win the match with comfort. Venus Williams has till date won two U.S. Open titles in the year 2000 and 2001.
After the match, a dejected Roberta Vinci opined, "I hoped she would play worse."
Williams started the match and soon got into a 3-0 lead in the first set. However, the Italian fought back and reeled off three consecutive games to make it even at 4-4. That’s when Williams took over and delivered a smash on the next point which was followed by her fifth ace to hold for a 5-4 lead. Williams then broke Vinci at love to close the first set.
At the start of the second set, Venus Williams was quite uncomfortable when she planted her left foot on a winner near the net but she looked absolutely fine a couple of games later when she went ahead with a 2-1 lead.
"She kept pushing," claimed Vinci while explaining about the reasons for her loss against Venus Williams.
Moreover, Williams was looking stunning in her black skirt in her match against Vinci. Her sleek black dress had an exposed metal zipper up the back, though it was not as risqué as her laced French Open outfit. There were two layers of fringe at the bottom of her skirt. She topped off the look with a pair of dangling earrings and a ropelike necklace.
Her sister Serena weighed in with an opinion, tweeting: "Her dress is the best ever, so pretty!!!!!"
Venus Williams is one of the most powerful baseliner on the tour. She has the ability of producing an attacking all-court game. Her game is well adapted to grass but playing on hard courts is not difficult for the American player either. Williams’ has great court coverage, which is not seen in many players. Experts believe that Venus can play balls that most players would not be able to reach.
Williams has always been an explosive hitter. She hits the ball off the ground with a lot of power which is the main reason for her success at hard courts. Her forehand is occasionally not as good as her backhand. Under pressure, Williams’ is unable to display her prowess with her forehand but her backhand is more consistent in her ground strokes. Such is her strength that Venus’ forehand winner was measured at a speed of 94 mph at the 2008 Wimbledon women’s final. According to media analysts, Venus likes to play on grass but she has won numerous titles on hard courts as well.
The 30-year-old will now meet Canada’s Rebecca Marino in her next match who beat Ksenia Rervak of Russia in her first-round match. According to experts, Venus Williams is expected to make it to the U.S. Open 2010 semi-finals. Only time will tell if she’ll be able to meet the expectations and make her sister proud.
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