TENNIS US OPEN:VENUS WILLIAMS does not "play the game" with the media – or rather, does not play it the way the media would like. Asked how she might approach her US Open semi-final against Kim Clijsters tomorrow, she shrugged and retreated behind the sort of cliches that fill waste paper baskets.
Her tactics? “Win the point.” Nothing special then? “Execute my game.” Execute might have been the word that crossed the minds of several exasperated questioners but the American – her country’s last representative at this US Open outside the O’Brien brothers and a boy called Jack Sock in the juniors – draws strength from her stubbornness.
She does not want this match to be a personality contest and she knows well Clijsters is the darling of the circuit, a walking fairytale who came here as a wildcard last year just one month into her comeback after starting a family and won the title.
Although they have played each other 12 times in their garlanded careers – with six wins apiece – they are virtual strangers.
“I don’t really know her that well as a person,” Williams said. “I see her around, and she always seems pretty pleasant.”
The detachment is not as cold as it sounds. In a world where players are as likely to know the hotel porter as well as an opponent, there is not a lot of time for pleasantries.
So, there is no animosity, just mutual respect. And, after their respective quarter-finals, matches of contrasting quality, neither was giving away much about how they would play the other.
Everyone loves Clijsters. When she became the first mother to win the US Open since Evonne Goolagong in 1980, her legend was secured. This year, the story has not been quite so perfect. She has been struggling with her serve all tournament, suffering more than most with the gusting winds, and her 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over Sam Stosur was functional rather than memorable.
“I didn’t play a good match,” Clijsters admitted, “I said to my coach: ‘Wow, what just happened? How did I win?’ Next match, everything will have to be a lot better.”
She does not see a ring-rusty opponent in Williams, who had not played since Wimbledon before coming to New York – but a refreshed one. “The way she has been playing and the way she has looked mentally, it’s maybe been good for her to have been away for that long, because she looks hungrier than ever.”
Williams prepared for her semi-final with the best match of the women’s tournament, an engrossing contest against Francesca Schiavone, who has not beaten the American in seven attempts. “I like seeing my name against hers,” Williams said later, but she was relieved to get the 7-6, 6-4 win out of the way in just under two hours.
It was probably as good a tune-up for Clijsters as Williams could have wanted, as the French Open champion stretched her movement to all parts of the court.
For someone who came to the US Open after three months out nursing a damaged left knee, Williams is in pretty good shape. She is running more freely and has an intensity about her tennis that lesser opponents find intimidating. Schiavone was not intimidated, just outclassed. She kept it close in some brilliant rallies, only to let herself down with the occasional loose shot.
Clijsters, though, has a richer pedigree than Schiavone. Not only did she win here last year against this year’s slow-burning favourite Caroline Wozniacki, but the former world world number one looks as strong as ever.
Her hunger for the game is not diminished and the prospect of reaching the final again is all the incentive she needs.
Williams and Clijsters were joined in the semi-finals last night by Russia’s Vera Zvonareva after a hard-fought win over Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi. Zvonareva, the seventh seed, coped better with the blustery conditions at Flushing Meadows to win a scrappy contest 6-3 7-5 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It was very tough out there for both of us,” Zvonareva said. “Sometimes we had some ridiculous rallies but I was putting all the effort into trying to hang in there no matter what the conditions are, and I’m really happy.
“In these conditions the most important thing is to find the right balance between being aggressive and being patient, between keeping the ball in play and going for your shots. I think I was able to find that balance.”
Guardian Service
