http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/sp...tennis.html?hp

French Open
Venus’s Exit Means Serena Williams Stands Alone

By JULIET MACUR
Published: June 2, 2007

PARIS, June 1 — During a changeover in the middle of her third-round match, Venus Williams whipped out a notebook and flipped through its pages, desperately looking at strategy and inspirational sayings she had compiled for times just like this.

"I felt a little bit slow," Venus Williams said after her loss to Jelena Jankovic. "I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them."
In her first Grand Slam event since last year’s Wimbledon, Williams was struggling. One glimpse at her opponent during that changeover showed how badly things were going.

Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic sat in her courtside chair, giggling. She stole glances at her player’s box, where a crowd of boisterous friends and family from Serbia cheered and sang. She needed to bury her face in a towel to repress her laughter.

To Williams’s dismay, Jankovic had plenty to be happy about. Jankovic beat Williams, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, to knock the five-time Grand Slam champion out of the tournament.

“I have really positive people in my player box, so it really helps me to play, and it releases the tension on the court,” said Jankovic, who referred to herself and her entourage as “clowns” because they were so giddy before the match.

“That’s just how we are,” she said, grinning wide to show her blindingly white teeth. “Why not, when it’s a good point, why not smile?”

Williams, with both wrists taped, remained stoic throughout the match, though she shrieked several times when her shots flew wide or long. Her stinging first serve, which reached a Grand Slam record of 128 mph a round before, could not rattle Jankovic. Neither could her powerful shots that landed in nearly every spot on the court.

With grace and ease, Jankovic knocked those shots back into Williams’s side of the court, often masterfully — and joyfully — hitting on the lines or into the corners. Without much resistance from Williams, Jankovic won the first set. Williams recovered, taking the second set to 3-0, before winning, 6-4.

The third set, though, flew by for Williams, who was worn down by the long rallies and Jankovic’s ability to stay peppy on the clay. She was broken three times. She double faulted twice. Her shots, particularly her forehands, often floated long. She hit a backhand into the net to end the match.

She had more winners than Jankovic, 26 to 16, but her 49 unforced errors had destroyed her.

“I’m disappointed that I lost, but I feel like I’m playing well,” Williams said. “I think I just got a little bit tired at the end, too. It’s tough on clay.”

Williams, 26, had played Jankovic before. Now it is 3-2, with Jankovic ahead after winning the past three matches between them.

In April, Jankovic, 22, beat Williams in the semifinal in Charleston. Last year, Jankovic also defeated Williams in the third round at Wimbledon, keeping Williams from defending her title there.

Williams said those previous losses to Jankovic did not affect the way she played Friday’s match. At Wimbledon, she said, she was having wrist problems that would eventually keep her sidelined for months. At Charleston, she played better, but was still rusty from her time off. Considering how much tennis she has missed in the last year or so, Williams said she was happy with how she played at Roland Garros.

Her father, Richard Williams, disagreed. He said his daughter looked intimidated.

“Venus played with fear because she lost to that girl a couple of times now,” he said. “I’ve never, ever seen her play like that before. She has never been that scared of hitting the ball.

“If I was her and I kept playing like that, I would just quit. I’d just retire.”

Zina Garrison, Venus Williams’s coach on the U.S. Fed Cup team, thought Williams looked good. Williams simply could not keep up with Jankovic, Garrison said, because Williams had lost a few pounds and looked drained of energy.

Garrison was impressed with every part of Jankovic’s game. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone who moves as easily as her,” she said.

It also has been a long time since there has been a player as bubbly as Jankovic, whose upbeat attitude seems irrepressible. Her mother, Snezana, takes credit for that.

Snezana Jankovic said she reminds Jelena to stay happy, even when she loses matches. That way, she will be able to handle the pressure of professional tennis.

“I tell her, ‘Don’t ever cry about tennis because I don’t want to see your tears. When you cry, it hurts me, too,’” she said. “’If you lose, just stay happy and forget it. If you are good enough, the results will come.’”

I've always preferred Oracene and seen her as a better role model for the sisters. And this is why!

It is absolutely disgraceful that Richard would say that about Venus. Hell! He shouldn't even be thinking it, let alone saying it to the world's media. Things like that should be kept in the Williams family. :angry: What a despicable man Richard his, dump him Vee and get a proper coach! :crazy1:

Ok, I've calmed down now after reading that, but I still don't think Richard should have said it, even though he was no doubt angry at Venus for losing and still upset when he said it....caught at a bad moment perhaps.

After what we usually get from Richard, I kind of like it. He's basically telling his daughter that she needs to either get serious about this or it's time to move on.

Refreshing from the usual "my girl wasn't beaten, she just was <fill in the blank> (sick, feeling bad, distracted by the unruly fans, etc...)" we always hear from him.

Personally, my feeling is that Venus' game has continued to become more hardcourt/grass than clay - overly powerful shots and no-rally winners ain't the thing for clay. It's why the US men lost and it's why Venus, IMO, didn't look good - she couldn't sustain a rally and kept looking for a quick winner.

Yeah I think he is trying to give her a kick up the arse that it looks like she really needs.

Perhaps those comments and SW19 will give her all the motivation she needs.

I was thinking about Venus's form this morning (as you do of course) and it is starting to resemble 2005 a little more than I thought. She may need a kick up the arse, but perhaps that will come from hitting a few balls on grass.

The only thing I would worry about is her ranking after this loss. What will she be? If she falls lower than 32 do you think they will bump her up in the seedings at SW19?

I hope she doesn't fall below 32 :angry: I hope more than anything that she doesn't end up in Serena's section of the draw though :pray:

There is going to be a lot of reshuffling in the rankings like there is after every Slam, but as it stands now the points boost this year helps Venus's cause--she slips to about No 32. I don't know if she's playing any of the warm-up tournies heading into Wimbledon but she seems okay to nab a seeding even without, especially with players occupying spots above her like Golovin, Hingis and Petrova still doubtful fitness-wise. Unfortunately she won't be shielded from another unkind third-round pairing against a top player like she got here, but at least she'll have gone from her worst surface to her best.

i don't think Richards comments can be helpful to Venus at all, the fact that Serena is having a great year must already put internal pressure on Venus-of course Venus would never admit to that. I think sibling rivalry nearly always exists just beneath the surface, however close they may be, and when it's played out in such a public way like it is for the Williams sisters it has to contribute to Venus' problems.
I don't think Venus needs a kick up the arse from her dad, i think she needs space to regain her momentum-it's virtually inconceivable Venus doesn't know what she needs to do, she simple has to work out how to do it.

Venus did not play badly and let's give credit to Jelena who has really improved recently.

Clearly Venus lacked stamina due to lack of pracice but the game is still there. If she can keep injury free, she can certainly get back in the top 5. I am sure Mauresmo will make space for her there.