Tennishead Hot Stuff: Venus Williams
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But for a single bad day at the office in Melbourne in January, Venus Williams has enjoyed a perfect four months.
After battering Italian world No.15 Flavia Pennetta into submission in the final of the Acapulco WTA Tour event in Mexico on Saturday, Williams has now won four of the last five tournaments she has played.
Her 6-1, 6-2 victory in just 62 minutes also took her recent match stats to 20 victories in 21 matches.
That streak began when Venus collected the Zurich title last October, before the 28-year-old seven-time Grand Slam champ went on to win her first WTA Tour Championships in Doha to finish off another great year.
After a surprise second round defeat to Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at the Aussie Open in Melbourne, the 28-year-old quickly returned to winning ways.
A fortnight ago she collected the Barclays Dubai Championships, beating the likes of world No.4 Elena Dementieva and sister Serena along the way, before bagging career title No.41 in South America last Saturday.
Venus is now up to No.5 in the world which, to put into context, is her highest ranking since 2003. Her tally of 41 singles titles is also the highest among all active players on the women’s tour.
Everything was on for Venus during last weekend’s demolition job of Pennetta. Her first serve was awesome, she returned superbly and she found the perfect blend of power and control from the back of the court.
Pennetta was stunned. “What happened to me? Venus Williams is what happened to me,” she told the media afterwards. “The No.5 player in the world is what happened to me!”
And all this on her least favourite surface, clay, and against a player who until Saturday held a winning record over the American.
The tennis she played in Acapulco suggests it won’t be long before she bags trophy No.42.
