Venus Williams will again be taking part in the ASB Classic Tennis tournament down under. She was there this year as well and she had a great time as she managed to get to the title round.
The veteran American could not lift the trophy though as she was beaten at the hands of the Serbia international Ana Ivanovic.
Earlier today, in a press conference, Mr. Karl Budge, the head of the organizing committee of the event, made the announcement of Venus signing up again.
Speaking there, Budge said, “We don’t generally have great players coming and participating in this tournament even for once and here we have one coming for the second consecutive time.”
“We are very grateful to Venus for this. She liked the tournament last year, the atmosphere, the facilities everything and that’s why she has decided to be back. It’s really exciting for us as well for the fans here in New Zealand.”
Venus has had a pretty good 2014. She has been in the finals a few times and she even beat her younger sister and the second ranked player in the world Serena Williams in Canada. She has got herself back into the top 20 in the world rankings.
She has silverware to her name as well in the season. She avenged that Auckland loss versus Ivanovic in the United Arab Emirates where she became the winner of Dubai Duty Free tennis Championships by defeating the Serb in the final to take her singles’ trophy count to 45.
The previous season, Venus had got herself going in the Auckland tournament only. In 2015 too, she would like to have a good run there and start things with a flourish. Her aim would definitely be to get close to top 10 by the end of next year.
Stanislas Wawrinka says that he is not overly disappointed with the fact that he couldn’t go all the way and win the Aegon Championships which took place at Queen’s Club, London.
Wawrinka had qualified for the semi final round in that tournament where he was up against Grigor Dimitrov, a player lower than him in the world rankings. He was supposed to be victorious in that match, but, it wasn’t to be. He suffered a loss and thus, lost the opportunity to go into the Wimbledon Championships with a title under his belt.
The Swiss, however, is pretty confident about his chances at Wimbledon. He is satisfied with his performance at the Queen’s club and he believes that he is in good enough form to be able to make a mark at the All England Club in a few days’ time.
In one of his interviews yesterday, Wawrinka said, “I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t be able to perform well there (at Wimbledon). I reckon I had a good preparation at the Queen’s club.”
Wawrinka has won two big tournaments this year. The first (Australian Open) was obviously very big because it was the first Grand Slam title of his career, while, the other one (Monte Carlo Masters) was fairly big as well.
When asked which of these two achievements he considers bigger, Wawrinka said, “Well, it’s hard to pick. The Australian Open was a slam title, but, in the Monte Carlo Masters, I defeated Roger to become the Champion and I did that on clay court. So, for me, both of them are up there. I can’t choose.”
Wawrinka is presently top ranked Swiss player in the world. He is ahead of the legend Roger Federer in the world rankings.
Li Na doesn’t agree to those people who believe that the players who are more than 30 years of age can’t keep winning top tournaments regularly. According to the former French Open Champion, age actually helps people become a better player. As older you get, that much more experience you gain and thus, you can control your potential much better.
Talking to a magazine a couple of days back, Li said, “A lot of people think that the performance of a player gets deteriorated as he/she crosses 30 years of age, but, that, according to me, is not true at all. If anything, increasing age actually helps you take your performance up to another level because with the age, you become more and more experienced.”
Li is presently 32 year old. She had turned professional way back in 1999. In the earlier years of her career, she couldn’t achieve that much success, but, after growing older and getting close to 30, she started lifting trophies on a regular basis. In the last 3 years, she has won a couple of slam singles title. So, in her case, the increment in the age has been beneficial and thus, there is a point in what she is saying.
And, it’s not only Li who has become better after getting older. Serena Williams’ case has been the same. She has also gone from strength to strength with each passing year and currently, at about 32, she is an absolute legend.
In this year’s French Open though, Li’s performance was very, very ordinary as she lost her very first match in the tournament. That was highly unexpected after her glory in Australia earlier in the year. She would be eager to make a grand comeback in Wimbledon.
December 9, 2014 2:30 pm | 