Since winning Wimbledon in 2005, of the 11 matches Venus has lost, 7 have looked like this:

Myskina def. Williams 5-7 7-6 6-2
Clijsters def. Williams 4-6 7-5 6-2
Pironkova def. Williams 2-6 6-0 9-7
Hingis def. Williams 0-6 6-3 6-3
Vaidisova def. Williams 6-7 6-1 6-3
Sharapova def. Williams 2-6 6-2 7-5
Jankovic def. Williams 3-6 6-3 7-6

Am I sensing a pattern here? :rolleyes: Also in a lot of these matches Venus has been up by a break in the 2nd or third sets. Plus there was the match at Wimbledon last year which she lost to Jankovic where she was up a double break up in the third I think and went on to lose.

I know Venus hasn't exactly been at 100% healthy or fully match fit but it's almost as if she has forgotten how to be a good front runner, part of what made her a great champion :(

I dont read much into that. Winning easy first-sets is never a guarantee you'll steamroll the match. Venus knows that, as does the rest of the tour.

I think Venus is still pretty effective given half the chance, though it hasnt been entirely evident this year. She knows how to win. At her best she's a top 2 player, i firmly believe this. Its only a matter of time, be it next week or a couple of months. Venus will make it happen........

I'm happy with Venus's game atm, its moving in the right direction and i cant be too nit-picky about her lsing to kuzy who has such a superlative record here, beating clijsters in 05 and pushing Justine to the wire the same year.

Venus has about 2 weeks off now. fresh, rejuvenated is hopefully what venus will be then and ready for Istanbul and rG.

Go venus :hug:

That's an interesting stat and kind of goes with something I heard Martina N. say during the match.
She was comparing Venus' 3-set matches to Jankovic's and noted that although Venus had played 170 more matches, she'd only played 1 more 3-set match. She had been use to dominating her opponents throughout her career.

Since she's not longer in that conditioning, both physically and mentally, is the fact she can no longer dominate all, or most, of them in 2 sets causing her problems? She's not use to having to fight it out time-after-time over 3 sets and now she seems to be having to do so.

Interesting stats and good point above form Tim - he may be right.

What is more important is that Venus has not won a big match since the Wimby 2005 final, and that is really concerning and I expect is her main concern right now. She's looking good in early round but then going out to the first real challenge as soon as it arises. With her not being a top seed, this will continue to happen if something doesn't change. I'm nto so sure it's all fitness related, but more down to lack of match practice. I don't think her confidence and mental strenght are there. I know that she was in this situation a few years back and then shocked the world with her Wimby 2005 win, and great win it was too. And she is capable of causing an upset like this at any time if she gets in the zone. However, I really think she needs to get more matches in before slams, she needs matches with big players. I don't think she can afford to sit back and hope that she plays herself into the zone anymore because the competition is changing all the time and until she starts beatign some big names she can't feel confident. I'm nto saying she won't do well at Wimby, she might well win, but I think she needs to take the situation more seriously and give herself the best chace she can . :)

Navratilova's right, and that's exactly what I was thinking, 2000-2003 Venus won nearly all her matches against her main rivals in straight sets, she's not used to being tested even. But saying that, Venus' three set record on clay has never been very good, it's not her strongest surface. But as SB alluded to, if she plays plenty more and gets lots of match practice in over the summer, I really don't see why she couldn't get back to her dominating ways on the fast US Hardcourts :)

Those stats are interesting, and looking at Venus playing recently her movement etc has looked as good as ever-she appeared fit, it has to be some sort of mental thing i guess.

Well Venus' game looked so low-percentage that maybe opponents, having been given a fright in a first set, maybe strove to keep error counts down?