前幾天我看到的一篇很棒的文章
作者是NBC Sports的名球評Bud Collins
說的蠻有道理的.大威第三輪出局的原因(失誤)也被他料中了
Star has talent to win French Open, but does she have the drive?
Venus Williams has started off well at the French Open and could win her
first major since 2001 if she keeps her game and her focus sharp, says
Bud Collins of NBCSports.com.
COMMENTARY
By Bud Collins, NBC Sports
Updated: 1:34 p.m. ET May 25, 2005PARIS - Are you wondering how much of a
threat Venus Williams could be here at the French Open? Well, I believe Venus
can be as much of a threat as she wants to be on the red clay at Roland Garros.
A title for the taking
Without a doubt, it would be a great story if Venus could win the title here.
It would be her fifth major trophy -- she won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open
in 2000 and 2001 -- but it’s been nearly four years since she’s been
successful at a major.
I firmly believe that Venus is the best athlete in the tournament. She’s got
speed, reach and experience. And I know that she has the potential to win
Roland Garros. She came real close to doing so in 2002 when she made the final,
losing to little sister, Serena 7-5, 6-3.
But the situation with Venus is how much does she want it? How focused is she
on tennis these days as opposed to her interior design company in Florida?
Those are questions that only Venus can answer and I’m expecting she will do
so as we watch her work her way through the draw here.
Early returns
So far it’s been good for our Venus de Milo of tennis. She moved into the
third round with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia. And on
the opening day of this Paris spectacular, Venus took care of Marta Marrero
of Spain, 6-3, 6-2.
But it must be said that in her first two matches Venus did not exactly look
invincible on the court. She certainly must have been playing better when she
faced Marrero last week in Istanbul, Turkey, in the first round and delivered
a stinging 6-0, 6-0 blow to the Spaniard.
And that was only the beginning of a week well done -– Venus went on to win
her first title in over a year -– a pretty good way to arrive here in Paris.
And as for her showing against Zuluaga, she certainly didn’t look like she
wanted to show her supremacy when she allowed the Colombian to win three
games in the final set after leading 4-0.
She was very dicey, very erratic, although she played well when she had to in
order to record the win. But there has to be concern when Venus racks up 45
unforced errors in a match like she did against Zuluaga.
The spotlight shifts
This year in Paris Venus has the sole responsibility for flying the Williams'
family flag since Serena is home still looking after an ankle injury she
suffered back in April.
In recent years Venus has been in the background as it’s been all Serena --
since 2002 the baby of the family has won her “Serena Slam,” capturing the
2002 French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open, followed by the 2003 Australian Open
to win all four majors in a row.
And Serena didn’t stop there also trotting home the Wimbledon trophy in 2003
and the Australian Open trinket this year.
But for this fortnight the focus is on Venus. I think that she had a big
turnaround in terms of feeling good about her game this past March at the
Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami. That’s where she beat Serena for the first time
since the 2001 U.S. Open.
It had been a long time -– six matches with five being finals in majors --
since Venus had scored a victory over Serena. I believe that 6-1, 7-6 victory
in Miami chipped away at the psychological block Venus had about beating her
younger sister, although I don’t know if she has hurdled it quite yet.
Projecting ahead
Venus knows how to play here on the red clay, but she has to remember to
control her errors, most especially on the forehand side which too often lets
her down.
She just sprays that forehand all over the place. I think she’s going to go
through the tournament rather hit and miss -– that basically meaning, hit the
ball and see what happens.
Her quarter of the draw certainly opened up on the opening day when defending
champion Anastasia Myskina, dealing with the emotional turmoil of her mother
being seriously ill back in Moscow, was upset 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 by Maria Sanchez
Lorenzo of Spain.
If Venus gets to the semifinals she could see world No. 1 and fellow American
Lindsay Davenport, although I would suspect she might be playing
Elena Dementieva or Kim Clijsters.
Of course with Clijsters, who played rather solidly in her first match here,
there is a lingering knee injury that could take its toll during the next
couple of weeks.
If the Belgian plays up to what I think is her potential -– which I feel is to
get in there and attack -- that would certainly do wonders against the anemic
serve of Dementieva.
For some reason nobody does that with Dementieva and they ought to --
Venus needs to be mindful of that, especially since there are days she tells us
she wants to play the net more.
On the other hand, it’s hard not to also admit that Venus could turn out to
be a flop here at Roland Garros. She’s so in and out, but she must have been
encouraged to win her first tournament in a year at Istanbul -– she’s now
won six matches in a row and it’s been quite a while since she’s performed
that feat.
Personally, I’m hoping that Venus keeps the excitement going and stays alive
here in Paris. I think she is capable of great things here if she keeps her
head on her shoulders as she plays in this great clay-court playground.
--
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