*Ed. Note: Peter Bodo is on vacation until August 16th. In the interim, we are proud to present commentary by members of the TW Tribe.
*So… here they stand (or sit) in the not too impressive 30th and 110th spots in the Sony Ericsson WTA rankings, yet everyone – well, everyone who follows women’s tennis – is wondering where they are headed and, more specifically, how they will fare in the upcoming US Open. Why?
As Irina Spirlea, using language eschewed by the TW tribe, would say, it’s because they are Venus Ebone Starr Williams and Serena Jameka Williams, two of the most spectacular players ever to appear on the women’s professional tennis circuit.
Let’s start with Little Sister Serena. In the eleven months since last year’s USO, she has played in only four tournaments (including this week’s L.A. tourney) and vanquished only nine players, none of whom resides within the top 20 -- except, of course, for the famously streaky Anastasia Myskina whom Serena beat last month in Cincy. Serena has been playing well, but she had to pull out of San Diego because of her chronic knee problem, which, it seems, will plague her for the rest of her tennis career.
So what can we expect from her? According to Serena (after her first LA match), she is “slowly but surely going in the direction” that she wants to go. And I, for one, would not be a bit surprised if she were able to put on a terrific performance in the event at which, in 1999, she became the first Williams sister to win a Slam. What do you think?
As for Venus, my favorite Williams sister, she has been a little more active than her younger sister since last year’s USO. She has played in six tournaments since then, winning 15 of 21 matches, and claiming victories against players like Schnyder, Hingis, and Raymond who all played well in their matches with her. But there have been disappointing losses (like Pironkova at the Australian Open) and no truly outstanding wins.
Like Serena, Venus has also missed many tournaments in the past year because of recurring problems with her wrist, elbow, and arm. So, here we go again. What can we expect from Venus at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (I just had to say that!) in just a few weeks?
When I had an opportunity to ask Venus a question during a Q&A session before one of her WTT matches in the Philly area, I didn’t ask her about singles; instead, I asked her if she planned to play mixed doubles at the USO as she did at Wimbledon. After apologizing for not being able to go all the way and win the Wimby mixed doubles title, she replied that she would, indeed, love to play mixed doubles at the USO with Bob Bryan IF, as she put, “the body holds up.” Well, I hope that that fragile body of hers does hold up; and, if it does, I expect great things from her in both the singles and the mixed doubles at the USO.
There’s a wonderfully and sadly true line in one of the songs in the late George Harrison’s last album: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” People have often accused Venus and Serena of taking the wrong paths or not knowing where they are or should be going. I have never been one of those people.
I’ve always felt that these two young women know exactly where they want to go in their tennis careers and in the rest of their lives; I also think that they know quite well the roads they must take to get there. And, whether we’re talking about USO 2006 or the next several years of their lives, all I can say is “You, go, girls!”
--Ruth