Venus Williams expressed early on in her stay in Zhuhai that she felt comfortable and at home there, and she proved that to be true with an impressive win in the finals of the tournament. Williams played her best in the pivotal points of the match, edging Czech player Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 7-6 (6).
The match was hotly contested, with the pace set early on. Venus came out strong with a 4-1 lead, but Pliskova quickly tied it 4-4. Venus won the set, but couldn’t hold on to that momentum as Pliskova took a 4-2 lead in the second. The Czech nearly converted a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreak, but sent her forehand a bit wide. Williams then took advantage of the opportunity to convert two winning forehands of her own to claim victory.
This is the third WTA title for Venus this year, as she previously won in Auckland and in Wuhan a few weeks ago, and it’s the first time she’s won three WTA titles since 2008. Perhaps even more significant is her jump into the top ten (she will be number seven), a coveted spot in the rankings that she hasn’t reached in four and a half years.
At 35 years and 6 months old, Venus is the oldest player to make the top ten since 38-year-old Martina Navratilova did in December 1994. We are certainly thrilled to see Venus battle her way back to elite form, and are looking forward to what she will do on court this coming season! (photos: Jimmie48)
How did Venus win the tournament and not win the most points and money?
Thanx
So pleased for Venus! She is such and inspiring and courageous woman.
I wonder how many players in the WTA realize that they get equal pay to the ATP players in large part due to her work with Billie Jean King.
Robert Payton, Venus did win the most points and money.
Sabey, I think that other WTA players are aware of that.
Well done, Venus.. I hope that she can somehow regain her strength at Wimbledon next year and win it one last time. Methinks that is the only Grand Slam title she can win. And it was at Wimbledon where she was really instrumental in getting equal prize money.
BTW, nice blogs Tess. And Marija, is “Tess Oetter” a real person or just a new pen name? The style of her blogs seem very familiar.
Jim, Tess is a new contributor here. I didn’t break the news here, but I did mention it on Twitter. She joined Women’s Tennis Blog a little more than a month ago. Do you like her writing?
Yes, Marija, Tess’ blogs are well constructed and are a very good read. But of course you are still the best!
Jim, thank you! 🙂 I think Tess is very good and will be a master in several months. She’s been writing here for just over a month.