Venus Williams vs Francesca Schiavone Recap
On Tuesday 7 September, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium court, Venus Williams defeated the French Open reigning champion Francesca Schiavone in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open.
When asked what she thought of her victory Venus said, “I want to be in the final because then obviously it’s just one more step, but I’m focused on the semis, and I don’t get too excited unless the tournament is over.”
There is plenty of reason for Venus to get excited; she hasn’t reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament in over a year. She hadn’t played a match in over two months. And to add insult to injury, she showed up at the U.S. Open with a sprained knee.
The match was a bizarre one due to windy conditions. The unpredictable swirls moved the balls around creating an erratic situation for the two tennis stars who both had trouble finding and maintaining control. There were a total of 15 service breaks, nine in the span of 10 games.
Francesca Schiavone switched up her style and the pacing constantly, trying to throw Venus off her game, but the 30 year old powerhouse didn’t flinch or falter. Williams did end the match with 33 unforced errors, but these were mostly due to the conditions. “I couldn’t even warm up my serve because the wind was blowing my toss,” Williams said later. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, what are we in for today?”
The match started around 6 p.m. and it was a close one at first with points going to both players evenly. Everything changed during the tiebreak. It was then that Venus went 4-0 and this was the turning point. After another close exchange between the two world class athletes, Schiavone lost a backhand long giving Williams the set point at 6-5. Schiavone then missed on a forehand long ending the play and giving Williams the set. The thing about Venus Williams is, if she wins the first set, she usually wins the match. It’s almost as though it’s written in stone. Maybe it’s got something to do with her confidence, maybe when she is fuelled by a win she becomes more powerful, like a boulder rolling on its own momentum. This was proven again today, making Venus Williams’ record when winning the first set an impressive 51-1.
The final score was 7-6 (5), 6-4.
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