Wimbledon feels like home turf to Venus Williams
Alastair Grant / Associated Press
WIMBLEDON, England -- Greetings from the 122nd Wimbledon, where we have Lindsay Davenport pushing a stroller through Wimbledon Village, 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo seeded 29th, Justine Henin bygone and Maria Sharapova intimating she'll wear shorts.
Everything's in mad flux except Venus Williams, once accused of having too much of a life to continue thriving at tennis but nowadays a paragon of tennis constancy.
"Always extremely excited," the best female grass-court player of the past 10 years said Sunday. "It's nice to have the memories from last year all kind of flowing into this year."
Back in her far-flung sanctuary, back with her rituals such as her restaurant schedule with her sister Serena -- Indian one night, Thai the next, so on -- she's the defending champion for the fourth time. Rather than the No. 23 seeding she rode from the hinterlands to the 2007 championship, she's No. 7 and a favorite co-favorite.
Asked for a favorite, No. 1 Ana Ivanovic said, "Probably them," referring to Williams and her sister Serena.
Asked for a favorite, No. 2 Maria Sharapova said, "Obviously the Williamses," and, "Venus, you know, is really tough on grass," as Sharapova knows from a 6-1, 6-3 mauling in last year's fourth round.
It's not the Australian Open, which Venus Williams hasn't quite won and where she lost a taut quarterfinal to Ivanovic. It's not the French Open, which she hasn't quite won and lost a weird third-round match in gathering darkness to Flavia Pennetta.
It's Venus' place, the place she took a recuperative title in 2005 while ranked No. 16, the place she took another recuperative title in 2007 while ranked No. 31, the balm for her nadirs, "the ultimate place to play your best tennis," she said.
So from her 1997 debut at 17 when she "didn't understand anything" (her words) to a 2000 first title at 20 when, well, "That girl was determined," Venus Williams arrives at just-turned-28 knowing all the rote questions.
"What is it going to take this year?" she said. "What will I have to do to adjust this year? . . . How is the grass playing? What challenges do I need to overcome?"
To those questions, she brings a defending champion's lack of neediness. "I think the advantage is that you won last year, and it will never be taken away from you," she said. "It will always be yours, and you can hug the plate at night if it gets cold."
