FOr a minute there, it was just like old times – with the high bet and the capacity prharmwed and the Venus Williams on the field. After the game of Aryna Sabalenk ended in a walkover on Tuesday, Williams’s Doubles Quarterfinal was bumped into Primetime against the Louis Armstrong Stadium to fill the hole in the schedule. And when Williams courted with partner Leylah Fernandez in her black pleated dress and matching visor while the sun dived to the horizon, she searched for the whole world as a woman who was determined to return the time. Unfortunately for her, Fernandez and the crowd who gathered to encourage them, wanted to advocate their opponents.
Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend have not only brought the nostalgia trip briefly. Very emphatically they illustrated the difference between Williams and Fernandez, the doubles that are there for funs and themselves – the team that is really in it to win it. The best seeds hit Williams-Fernandez 6-2, 6-1 in just an hour. Siniakova and Townsend won all their service games, checked the net and broke Williams and Fernandez as desired – they put them so badly put them together that they almost apologized afterwards.
In the interview after the game, Siniakova called it a ‘privilege’ to play Williams, ‘a legend’ that she last played for the last time in 2017-one loss of the second round at the Canadian Open. “I remember that I loved her back-out Reebok dress,” Townsend added. “That was what pulled me to tennis. They were the cute outfits. Growing up to Venus and Serena, [they] Had always been an inspiration for me and my sister and we really wanted to be the way they grew up. “
There were no hard feelings on the other side. There are never with Williams, a pioneer who still radiates with class and grace, even in this intriguing late career stage. For hardcore fans who have been following the 21-time Grand Slam champion since the mid-1990s, the bonus time with Williams is something to enjoy because we don’t know how long it will take. Personally, I remember that I had treated this tournament 20 years ago, when Williams spoke about watching the fresh prince’s DVDs to break the monotony between practices and by again induced competition delays. “DVD?” She joked when I raised this on Tuesday evening. “I don’t know what he’s talking about. He is older than me.”
But she remembered. “My father only showed us that educational programs grow up, so I never really saw the fresh prince until I grew up. It was important for me as a 20-year-old to view that, but it never gets old.”
No one could have known that the same fresh Prince actor would ever play her father. “Will Smith is a legend,” she continued. “The fact that he has made such an honor to play my father, and he took it – you can’t understand how seriously he took it.
As for the casual fans born in this century? Most have disappeared all their lives without seeing William’s history writing in Wimbledon, grabbing the no. 1 ranking and dominating the sport until her younger sister Serena hurts the baton. That Venus was even here at the age of 45, while Serena has settled in a retired life as a mother of two and one Super Bowl Pop-Out is striking. Big sister would not be the one who turned off the lights.
Venus’s unconventional relationship with tennis always made it look like she could take or leave the sport at any time. She did not play juniors before she became 14 and played the ladies tour at her own pace instead of protecting her ranking. In the mid -years of injury, she had to keep struggling Sjögren’s Syndrome -A chronic autoimmu art disorder that is known for its energy-sapping qualities.
Nowadays the wild power and the court movement elasticity have decreased to the point that is struggling to survive the early rounds of tournaments. For this year’s US Open, she was lucky to receive a Yoker sign. (“I am so grateful to the USTA for supporting me and my efforts here,” she said after Tuesday’s game. “It would not have been possible without believing in me to be here.”) Ten, 15 years ago? She could easily have called time on her career with public support on her side. And if she had done that, you can imagine that the USTA is struggling to choose between honoring her or Althea Gibson at the US Open of this year.
Instead, Williams effectively kicked the festivities at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the midfield that has long been her Main stage. She played mixed doubles with fellow American Reilly Opelka and hung for two hours with the 11th placed Karolina Muchová for two hours until she lost singles match in three sets that first round. Despite her impressive CV, Williams has never been a natural double player. As long as her sister was on the field with her, she only had to cover the alleys, see Serena and have their great tandem power taken care of the rest.
In the run -up to the US Open was there, there was What Wishful Thinking That Serena might retire to help a sister. But in the end it was Fernandez, the US Open -Finalist from 2021, who came to the rescue after the Canadian Townsend beat in the DC Open Final of July – a victory that Williams says she felt “so inspired”. It went in both sides. “Seeing Venus playing on the field for joy just brought me back why I started playing,” said Fernandez. “It is probably the most important thing that I started playing tennis for the love of the game and for bringing joy on the field, not only for myself, but also for fans.”
Sometimes the contrast of Williams’ venerable eminence and Fernandez’s youthful exuberance caused Williams to look less like a pear to the 22-year-old than the rich aunt who preceded her for a try-out in high school. But in the end they turned out to be a formidable team only while they make their way through the first three rounds of the Dubbers without dropping a set.
However, against Siniakova and Townsend, they were overwhelmed by the off and down 0-4 in 16 minutes. A winner of 97 MPH from Williams stopped bleeding for a moment and brought back memories to days when she could make such shots at first. “I am very proud that I stayed myself,” she said. “I didn’t try to play another game. I didn’t try to play it safely. I went for it, and that’s who I am. I’m going for it.” But for the most part, the stiff hands of Williams and Fernandez were not a party for the sharp Volleys of Siniakova and Townsend.
Afterwards Williams and Fernandez would first admit that they were not in their element. “Leylah and I, we kept telling each other to be the best singles player we could be,” said Williams. “So our focus will always be singles. I’m not going to suddenly become a double player. I’ve never done that; I’ll never do it. It’s the singles for me.”
When Serena approached the end of her incredible run, it took her to say explicitly that the R-word-with pension-much less admitted that she was no longer on her peak. But in the case of Williams, the thought There doesn’t even be retirement that it came to her mind. If she has her Drosers, you think she will continue to appear in tournaments and cooperates with every top player who will have her – just like Martina Navratilova towards the end of her career – until suddenly she doesn’t.
The real satisfaction in looking at her now does not come to see if she can turn back the time, but in how long she can stretch it. “I was never in love with the game,” she said on Tuesday. “I never had to think if I loved the game. I was always playing, so it belongs to my DNA. But clear, like, to be here at the moment, there must be a little love, right?”
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