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Venus-Henin Clash for First Time Since 2003 PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Matthew Cronin   
Thursday, 06 September 2007
Venus WilliamsVenus Williams has won six Grand Slams titles. So has her semifinal foe, Justine Henin. But, amazingly, they haven't met since the 2003 Australian Open semifinals, when Venus took her down in straight sets before falling in the final to her sister, Serena.


More interestingly, top-seed Henin won all of her six majors after that meeting: the 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 Roland Garros crowns, plus the 2003 US Open and 2004 Australian Open.

Venus owns a 7-1 record against Henin, but the Belgian thinks she'll bring a lot more to the table than she did four and half years ago. Venus is pretty sure she knows what coming, as she's watched Henin face Serena time and time again.

"I think she's definitely improved," Venus said. "She's done what she can with her game. Just like you have to improve every year to stay on tour. You can't be stagnant. But I feel like I've seen her play quite a lot. I feel like I know what to expect."

Venus knows that she can't afford to let Henin bring the match to her, which is what the Belgian did to Serena in the quarterfinals. There, Henin stunned Serena by being super aggressive with her forehand and return of serves, rarely allowing Serena to get a clean strike on the early balls in their rallies.

But in her thrilling three-set win over Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals, Venus turned the table on the fleet Serb by charging into the net 55 times and taking Jankovic out of her rhythm. She might bring a similar strategy to her match against Henin, who can be rushed and hit through on hard courts.

“Serena and I, we play different, even though we're both very powerful," Venus said. “So I think she'll definitely obviously have to play well. Quite obviously, I'll have to play well, too. She does what it takes to win. She puts in the work to have good results. You have to respect that. [But] I'm in the semifinals of the US Open, baby. I'm ready. Doesn't get better than this, except, obviously, the final and then the win. So I'm gonna go for it. I feel like I've done it before, know what to do, so I've got to do it.”

Venus has been dominating with her serve since the second week of Wimbledon, where she won her sixth Slam title. She broke her own serve-speed mark with a 129-mph blast early at the US Open, has been owning the corners with her vicious slice serve, and she's been going for her kick second serves, rather than just pushing them in.

She says that her forehand is just as much of a weapon as her clean two-handed backhand is and she's competing incredibly well. She knows that everything is going to have to come together against Henin, who rarely chokes and when well rested, can play standout offense and defense.

The Belgian feels like she is up to the task, even though history is working against her: no woman has ever beaten both Williams sisters at a Grand Slam and gone on to win the title.

“It will be a good challenge for me to play both sisters in the same tournament,” Henin said. “But in Wimbledon, I would say that match against Serena took me a lot of energy. I was just looking too much after beating her on another surface than clay. And emotionally, I went far in my limits at that time. It's been really disappointing, the way I left the tournament. But I learned a lot of things. And here it's different. Every match is a final for me now. There are a lot of expectations, for sure. But I just go match after match, step by step. It's great to be again in the semis. It's great to be again with the other top players, and now the best will go to the end.”

Martina Hingis is the only player to have beaten both Williams sisters at a Slam -- at the 2001 Australian Open -- but once she got to the final, her legs were worn out, and Jennifer Capriati exhausted her.

Venus won't give a care what happens in the final should she lose, as her only concern is to beat down Henin, get to the final and win her third US Open crown and seventh major overall, which would put her one in front of Henin in the record books.

And she wouldn't mind getting a little revenge for her little sister, Serena, who cried for a long time after her loss to the nails-tough Belgian.

“I wasn't happy with the result at all, to say the very least,” Venus said. “I was sad that Serena lost because I didn't like to see her so upset. But I definitely have to try to win for Williams.”
 
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