Where does Venus go from here?

[Ballmachine]

This is the first time that Venus has failed to reach the semifinals of the US Open in her career. She has been beaten many times this season by players that she at one time would not lose to.

Personally, I just can't understand why Venus has not worked on the two glaring weaknesses in her game: her forehand and second serve. It is because of these obvious cracks in her game, that Venus is unable to reach the elite status she once had. I also think that her ego has prevented her from working on these areas, and I also believe that she is too old to do anything about it now.

At first I was a bit disappointed in the short-shake that Lindsay gave Venus at the net after a fierce battle. However, I do understand Lindsay's point. Venus has never given her opponents the proper credit when she loses, and today was no different. Venus said that it was her own inconsistency that led to the defeat, and gave no praise whatsoever to Lindsay. It is just sad when you can't give credit where credit is due. I haven't seen Lindsay Davenport serve as well as she did today since the 1999 Wimbledon Final when she beat Steffi Graf. If Lindsay can continue to serve like she did today, she will be a force to be reckoned with. Maybe Lindsay can ride the wave of her current win streak all the way to the final and recapture some glory of old. Wouldn't that be great? I for one would like it very much!

[arosen]

Davenport is definitely a threat of colossal proportions at this USO. Just as u said, she has been serving her best in a long time. She is very agressive from the get-go too, very focused, all no-nonsense. She used to wilt away, but these days she seem to be out there for the kill. The way she has been playing, the thought of Devenport-Serena final makes me salivate. The way she moves her opponents around and finishes points at the net- it's beatiful to watch.

[gully]

Strikes me as a pivotal moment for Venus, and for tennis history. Remember: she had a chance to be the greatest ever. She won't be now. What will she choose to do? If she hunkers down to work on her 2nd serve and forehand, and hits the practice court and gym like Lendl in his prime, she can rule this game for a few years and establish a hall-of-fame (six-to-ten grand slams) career. If she doesn't focus, she'll never win another major -- or even come particularly close. Losses to players like Davenports in 4th rounds (no offense to Lindsay, who's having a great summer but hasn't won a major in four years) will become the norm rather than the exception.

[mileslong]

back to the far side of the sun...

[mlee2]

Originally Posted by Ballmachine

Venus has never given her opponents the proper credit when she loses, and today was no different. Venus said that it was her own inconsistency that led to the defeat, and gave no praise whatsoever to Lindsay.

Let's not troll for something that isn't there. Just because she didn't "praise" Lindsay doesn't mean there's bad sportsmanship or whatever false conclusion you're trying to draw. She spoke honestly and like you said, she probably looked and felt defeated. She didn't exactly speak ill of her, did she?

[AndyC]

not a fan of the Williams but to be fair I'm not a fan of women's tennis. still looking at the match stats.. Venus made 42 unforced errors to Davenport's 20, 32 winners to Davenport's 24. aside from that there isn't much to choose from between the 2 of them.

I think it's a fair statement by Venus that she was inconsistent. if she had made 1/2 the unforced errors she did then I suspect it would have been a 3rd set and maybe a win.

[Camilio Pascual]

Originally Posted by gully

Remember: she had a chance to be the greatest ever. She won't be now. ...she can rule this game for a few years and establish a hall-of-fame (six-to-ten grand slams) career.

Maybe she never had a chance to be the greatest ever and it just looked that way. She is very injury prone, do you really think someone as injury prone as her has a realistic chance to be the greatest ever? I think you were wildly overestimating her.
She's won 4 Majors and Olympic gold, she's a pushbutton for the Hall of Fame, the only thing keeping her from getting there is retirement.

[gully]

Originally Posted by Camilio Pascual

Maybe she never had a chance to be the greatest ever and it just looked that way. She is very injury prone, do you really think someone as injury prone as her has a realistic chance to be the greatest ever? I think you were wildly overestimating her.

No, I said she had "a chance," and I'd stand by that as something less than a "wild overestimation." She dominated the game for a while and it looked like there was room for ample improvement. She had/has remarkable wingspan and reach, but didn't improve what could have been improved: S&V, forehand, 2nd serve, error management.

One of the things that kept her from dominating -- and something, as the father of two daughters, I love about Venus -- is her love and affection for Serena. It became clear that when Serena started to compete for, and win, slams against Venus, that Venus was truly and deeply happy for little Sis. Unfortunately for Venus, while Serena dominated, her own confidence and work ethic waned, and now -- at what, no. 20 in the world? -- she's facing the crossroads.

Another way for her to have responded to the Serena challenge would have been to get mad, then get even, and then get better. Venus didn't -- she's not that kind of person, and not that kind of sister.

[baseliner]

Richard has always said tennis is just a small part of who his daughters are. Education is no 1 so I assume she is enrolling in Harvard or MIT. OOps that's right she is studying fashion design. So I guess its on to the business world. In actuality, she keeps plodding on. If either of the sisters would break from their Dad and hire a coach to work on their technical faults, I believe either one would regain #1 status. Venus in particular would benefit from an objective coach to rework her serve and tweak her forehand. Don't think it will happen.

[gully]

Originally Posted by Camilio Pascual

She's won 4 Majors and Olympic gold, she's a pushbutton for the Hall of Fame, the only thing keeping her from getting there is retirement.

Yep. Even if she retired tomorrow morning, she'd be in, deservedly so. I would like to see if she's capable of going to work and turning her career around, but it's up to her, and she seems like a perfectly happy and healthy young woman no matter what career choice she makes.

[Camilio Pascual]

[/quote]
She had/has remarkable wingspan and reach, but didn't improve what could have been improved: S&V, forehand, 2nd serve, error management.

Another way for her to have responded to the Serena challenge would have been to get mad, then get even, and then get better. Venus didn't -- she's not that kind of person, and not that kind of sister.[/quote]

Well said.
It's a shame, the Venus of the summers of 2000 and 2001 played the best tennis I've ever seen a woman play. She isn't the greatest by a long shot, but she's played the greatest tennis.