Venus Williams is ranked as one of the best women tennis players in the world along with her sister Serena Williams. She was in for a massive surprise yesterday when Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, finished her off in straight sets to progress to the next round of the Rome Master Tournament in Rome.
Jelena Jankovic is a fantastic tennis player, who is ranked as the number 7 in the world. There might be many reasons by this is exactly what Venus Williams forgot when playing against the Serb in Rome. According to Wikipedia, “Jelena Jankovic is often regarded as one of the fittest and toughest players in recent years of women's tennis for her great defensive abilities and footwork, which classifies her as a counterpuncher. Jelena is known for being one of the few players who can slide on all surfaces, further enhancing her defense. In 2007, she played more matches than any other player and maintained her third rank as well, which is the proof of her incredible stamina and well-balanced performance,”
The interesting thing about this years' Rome Masters Tournament is that it has seen many top seeded players exiting earlier than expected from the tournament. It seems as if in every major tournament that is played in tennis today, some top seeded players are knocked out early. What is great about the game of tennis is that this leads to some very exciting matches and some new faces come to the forefront. This gives the younger lot a chance to see some top players sweating it out against unseeded players while trying to win their matches. It happened to Nadal earlier in the tournament, who barely managed to win his match against unseeded Gulbis who had knocked out Federer earlier in the tournament. This is why tennis is so exciting to watch and people love it so much. Every time a match is played, there is always the chance that the underdog could suddenly find some inspiration from somewhere, take the match by the horns, and cause a major upset.
Another reason for the cause of so many upsets could be the fact that tennis is played on different surfaces, some favouring different players that is why they get a natural advantage over their rivals. In the case of Jankovic, because of her ability to play well on all surfaces, she becomes a very dangerous opponent. This could be one reason why she was able to dislodge Venus Williams so easily. Venus may not have been ready for the onslaught that came in the form of Jankovic because she had underestimated her playing style and skill level. She was in a different mindset, aiming to win the match comfortably without much effort. Jankovic on the other hand had different plans, playing with strong shots and giving no room for complacency to Venus Williams.
Sometimes, it happens that a player will have such a good match and play so well that their opponents do not even know what hit them. Jankovic’s strong performance in the match has given Venus Williams a lot to think about in the remainder of the tournament. She seemed very surprised by the ease of her win. Experts on the other believe that Jankovic may have put her best effort of the tournament too soon. She may have exhausted all her strength and match winning ability to be able to take on the other Williams’ sister, but time is the best judge of what the future beholds. It could also be that she has managed to give herself a massive confidence boost by winning so decisively against Venus and this confidence boost will allow her to take on Serena and she might even beat her just as easily. In the exciting and unpredictable world of tennis, you never know that it may very well happen. Tennis fans will have to wait and see if Serena can be herself and dispatch the Serb in a manner her sister could not. Whom ever one would want to support, the match will be a very exciting one indeed.
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