Something about Venus Williams was shocking today in Melbourne and I'm not just talking about her sneaky pink shorts.
The Wimbledon champ put in a shaky performance down the stretch against '07 Roland Garros quarterfinalist Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round and was unceremoniously dumped out 6-2, 3-6, 5-7 after holding a 5-2 lead and a match point in the third. The Spaniard will battle compatriot Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez for a spot in the Round of 16.
Though the stats of the two lady ballers were relatively even (28-26 winners, 37-32 errors, 60-63 first serve percentage, 5 double faults each), V admitted the Spaniard was the better baller in the crucial moments:
Q. Do you think maybe you played a little bit too defensively in the third set?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I wasn't in control of the points. I definitely noticed that she kept getting the first shot. I was definitely playing defense. I'm definitely used to dictating the points a little bit more. It was kind of a pattern that wasn't the best for me.
Q. How heavy were her balls?It was V's earliest exit from Melbourne since 2006 when she went down to Tszvetana Pironkova in the first round.
VENUS WILLIAMS: She hit a lot of good balls. I felt like I was hitting my balls a little too short. I think she was taking good advantage of that.
Q. Were you feeling a hundred percent out there?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah. Like I said, I think she just played well. Really, really played well.
Oh Boy. There are going to be a few bookies, pundits, and fans alike who'll be kicking themselves after hearing this news today as she was a top pick to take home her first Aussie Open crown. However, as I mentioned in my preview, the 28-year old has only made the final once in 10 attempts and is traditionally a slow starter to the season. Regardless, this loss is a major upset.
But a huge congrats to Carla on the tremendous win and I hope she carries this momentum far into the tourney!
(image via Getty)
Damn! I had her winning the entire tournament. I don't know now, all the top seeds have been shaky but this may be Jankovic's tournament. She's been more solid than the others but my sentimental favorite is Dokic, what a wonderful comeback story.
ReplyDelete-Lisa
Double damn! I had her winning the whole thing, too. Great point you made about her being a slow starter, Rich. I just thought she had some momentum this time with winning the tour championships and playing well at that exhibition in Hong Kong.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking Elena still. I actually saw her taking out V in the quarters then ReRe in the semis.
ReplyDeleteI still think it's Elena's to lose - and she def can because as far as anyone's concerned she's still unproven, gold medal or not.
i watched this shit LIVE. i have to say, navarro looked awesome - staying aggressive, taking advantage of every short ball, placing her shots near-perfectly. i think she REALLY has the makings of a top ten player after the way she played, but i felt that way after the french, too. we'll have to see if she can capitalize on her win or not.
ReplyDeletedespite how good venus looked in the first round, i predicted a tough AO for her - but not this tough. as well as csn was playing, venus lost that match. her play really dropped in the second set. she picked it back up in the third and had match point, but just fell apart. i don't really know what happened, but i have a feeling it was her fitness (strange to say about the spartan sister).
watch out for cibulkova, who has been advancing without any fanfare. in two matches, she has dropped just TWO GAMES: 6-0 6-0 in the first, 6-0 6-2 in the second. looking ahead, a likely and mouthwatering fourth round match with dementieva - they are tied 1-1, but cibulkova took the most recent one in straight sets.
ummm, pretty sure this might just be a hairy situation:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/match_reports/2009-01-22/200901221232620653046.html
Yikes.
aw she is such a good sport though
ReplyDeleteHA! nice one johanne...
ReplyDeleteChris, good sports can still have bad hair. It's true!
I saw part of the second and third sets, and Suarez Navarro was really impressive. I'm glad Venus was gracious in defeat. Serena should learn from her sister.
ReplyDeleteVenus was in control, but as usual, lost it, but navarro was really clean, but venus was not the agressor, that is why she lost, oh well, hopefully serena can now focus more and not worry about venus later on...elena will choke up soon probably the quaters....she's not reliable.
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