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AP
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NEW YORK - Of course they play doubles at the U.S. Open -- just not the kind of doubles top-seeded Justine Henin has played in the singles draw at this major.
The brilliant Belgian, who stands just 5-foot-5, but who also stands alone at the top of the women's tour, wrapped up the 'Williams double" by beating Venus in straight sets (7-6, 6-4) in the semifinals on Friday, just three days after she defeated Venus' younger sister, Serena, in the quarterfinals, also doing so in straight sets.
Fans who witnessed the Venus-Henin match got a real treat to some top-notch tennis, and both players can be proud of the skills they put on display and the efforts they put forth. But for the Williams group of family and friends there was no upgrade in post-match emotions. The sting of disappointment stung even harder the second time around. First Serena gone and then Venus exits -- and all before the final weekend in Flushing Meadows. And, in contrast, for Henin, the smile only grew wider and the confidence just shot higher after these two message-sending wins.
Unless something goes seriously awry, come Saturday night Henin will win the second U.S. Open title of her career, the first coming in 2003. Fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, whose one major title came in the 2004 U.S. Open awaits Henin in the final, but with all due respect to the Russian any fan who closely follows this sport would bet just about anything that the semifinal tilt between Henin and Venus determined the woman who will hold high the championship trophy.
Tight match, but Venus' flaws exposed
There was definitely very little difference between Henin and Venus in their showdown. For the most part both played high-quality tennis, indeed the type of match worthy of a U.S. Open semifinal. But if there was something that broke down for Venus in her loss it would be the same old thing always talked about when the subject comes up over where Venus can become vulnerable. While it wasn’t very noticeable, the trouble she did get into was with her forehand -- the shot she tends to make errors on when she's in pressure situations.
Also hurting Venus' chances at victory was her second serve that just didn't have the pop it should. And another thing not good for Venus was that she started off slowly by losing her serve in the opening game, which meant that she was always playing catch up. Sound familiar? Playing catch up was just what Serena did in her match against Henin, and we all know how that worked out for little sister.
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The Belgian bundle of brilliance got tight in the 10th game of the first set so instead of Henin being able to take advantage of three set points, Venus evened the score to 5-5. At 6-5, 30-30, Venus was just two points from closing out the set, but Henin held on to her serve and from there she raced through the tiebreaker and eventually to a 3-0 lead in the second set.
Venus had a big opportunity to change the momentum of the match when she pulled even at 3-3 in the second set. She had Henin at 0-40 in the seventh game. That was the point when Henin really solidified her supremacy in the match -- she held on to her serve for a 4-3 lead, broke Venus for a 5-3 lead, and the rest was history. Not the kind of history that will get a lot of ink in the Williams' family archives, but history that will be a blast for the ages in Belgium.
A key negative should not outweigh the positives
That Venus is going to come away from her loss to Henin disappointed is just a natural reaction. But she must not stay disappointed for too long. When Venus has had some time to really think about the defeat to the Belgian, she’ll see the overall positive in her year. She went into Wimbledon barely being considered a factor and came out a champion -- doing so as the No. 23 seed, a feat never before accomplished. And since her win on the London lawns, Venus has -- for the most part -- been playing excellent tennis.
She’s 27, fit and healthy. She's in a strong position to play quality tennis not only for the remainder of this year, but also for years to come. If she's in top condition to start the 2008 season all things are possible for her as she'll possess a great deal of confidence and self belief .And I also have little doubt that when Venus brings herself to mentally step away from the loss to Henin, she'll recall how well she has played this year, and let it sink in that she has played some of the best tennis of her life.
Since Wimbledon Venus only played two Federation Cup matches in mid July, and four matches at a WTA Tour event in San Diego early this month. Even though Venus played little this summer, her coming off a title at Wimbledon worked in her favor at Flushing Meadows. Whenever a player wins a major there's a great boost of self confidence. Raising the championship trophy at a major has a carry-over effect.
Unlike at Wimbledon where Venus' first few matches saw her try to wind up her "A" game right from the first ball struck in each encounter only to instead appear at times susceptible to an upset due to her slow starts and sluggish play in the early going of those early England tests, at the U.S. Open she was sharp from the start and only getting sharper with each match. Her only problem: there was one sharper player in the draw, and by Venus' bad luck that player -- Henin -- was in her half of the draw.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
