Posted on Sat, Jul. 21, 2007
Venus basks in spotlight
By JOSEPH SANTOLIQUITO
For the Daily News

Royalty visited Radnor last night. Tennis royalty. Everywhere four-time
Wimbledon champion Venus Williams walked, a trail of camera flashes, beaming
smiles and legends, such as Billie Jean King, followed. Cabrini College was
abuzz over World TeamTennis - and Williams, who plays for the Philadelphia
Freedoms when she can.

Williams, who arrived in a black limo, did a little of everything, playing
singles, doubles and mixed doubles. She signed autographs, answered a few
innocuous questions from the media, spoke about her interior design company,
and spent 30 minutes talking and taking pictures with children, whose faces
were aglow in the presence of the Wimbledon champ.

During play, she seemed almost on cruise control, but the Wimbledon Williams
appeared in flashes.

This is Williams' second year with the Freedoms. It is the healthiest she's
been in at least 2 years.

Winning the Wimbledon title for a fourth time placed Williams, 27, in a rare
realm, joining King, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as women who have
won four or more Wimbledon ladies singles titles in the Open era.

The left wrist injury that nagged her in 2006 seems healed. Her confidence
appears restored, after becoming the lowest-seeded woman ever to win a
Wimbledon title, claiming the crown as the No. 23 seed with her straight-set
6-4, 6-1 victory over Marion Bartoli.

The fourth championship eclipsed her previous mark, when Williams won her
third title as a No. 14 seed in 2005.

This Wimbledon was especially gratifying. It happened 2 weeks ago, and
Williams looked as if she was still flying.

"I think [Wimbledon] was amazing, because people started talking about it
once I got past the fourth round," said Williams, as flashbulbs popped with
each word she spoke. "For me, it didn't matter what my numbers said, I had to
believe in my ability. I went ranked 31st in the world. Plus, my sister
[Serena] had been ranked 81 in the world and won a Grand Slam, so I thought
if she could do it, I could do it."

Williams claimed $700,000 in prize money, which for the first time in
Wimbledon history equaled the men's winning share.

"That's definitely ironic, because I did a lot of work on trying to get equal
prize money for the women, so it was ironic that I won the first year we had
equal prize money," Williams said.

King, a women's tennis pioneer who fought hard for equal prize money, was
more than appreciative that Williams was able to make an appearance.

"Both Serena and Venus transcend tennis and sports," she said. "What I've
always fought for is when men do something in tennis, they're given credit
for helping the entire game. When women do something, it's something that
helps 'women's tennis.' I think what Venus is doing is helping tennis, for
both young boys and girls who want to learn the game."

Williams likes the WTT circuit for its apparent effect at the grass-roots
level. Many of the patrons who filled the outdoor courts at Cabrini get to
see players of Williams' caliber only on TV.

That was different last night. The tennis superstar was tangible, which is
what the WTT is trying to advocate.

"That's the goal of WTT, spreading tennis on the grass-roots level, about
getting kids involved with tennis and making tennis exciting," Williams said.
"You hear music between points, people can get up whenever they want. It's
like its own unique platform and its own league. If [WTT] was on the [pro]
tour, all of that would go." *

Send e-mail to [e-mail].