Black Tennis Pros

One week after defending her title at the Dubai Open, Venus Williams came from a set down to repeat her Mexican Open title, beating Polona Hercog, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, at Acapulco on Saturday night.

It was Williams' second consecutive title -- this one on clay and another a week ago on hard courts in Dubai -- and pushed her career total to 43 WTA titles, the most by an active player.

Hercog was appearing in her first WTA final.

Williams started slowly and got into trouble with an erratic serve and groundstrokes that were often long. Hercog was poised in winning the first set and seldom missed a shot.

The American gained her composure in the second set and began to wear down the 19-year-old Slovenian, hitting the corners more often and opening the court.

"I played such a good opponent," Williams said. "In the first set she did not miss one shot and I had to find a way to get into the match."

Read the rest of this post...........

Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010



Thursday, February 25, 2010


Tonight was a battle. And I played a very worthy opponent. I had never heard of her before, but it was intense. I was having a hard time adjusting to the clay from the hard, and the courts here are playing very particular too, and then there was her game... It was one of those matches I'll be talking about for a while.

The crowd was extremely supportive. I've never had that support - EVER. Not even at Fed Cup or the Olympics. It was insane. I couldn't believe it. It was so nice! I find wherever I play, people root for the underdog, hoping that player will come up with something special. Maybe this time I was the underdog? She was a true clay courter and I was forced to adjust. When you're one game away from losing you have to find something... I got a game, then another, and finally when it was 5-3, I felt I had momentum. I started playing more aggressively from there.

These kinds of matches are fun (especially when you win them!)

Earlier, I forced myself to go to sleep. I knew it would help me in the match. So I slept. No multitasking, no brochure editing... Although I did wake up first thing in the morning to finish editing some marketing materials. Who knows, tomorrow I may crack open a book... but no one can be sure ;) The Make A Wish event raised $10,000 - which is very exciting! There are three big galas we do in my area in the year and this was one of them. I wish I could have been there...

Well... it's Friday and my mom hasn't made it. I doubt she'll come. She won't rush to another final. Maybe she's just relaxing at home...

One last thing... I want to say a huge thank you to all of my Mexican fans for tonight. I've never, ever felt that before. It was wonderful. Hopefully I never find myself down 1-5 in the third set - but if I do, I hope it happens in Mexico :)

Venus

How do you feel about this tournament? Evelyn

I've had some good wins here. I don't know why I play so well here. Last year and this year... even when I'm not playing my best, I've found a way to win the match. I'm going to have to channel this determination at the French! Crazy... I guess I'll have to make this a regular stop. I should have played here before last year. Now I know. I'll have to keep coming back.

Friday, February 26, 2010


Hi everyone. How are you?

Tonight I played another tough player who was on her game. Very impressive. After I lost the second set, I knew I had to make a few more shots. Missing doesn't really help my cause! She played really well though, I have to give her credit. I feel like I'm improving with each match. It was very exciting not to be down 1-5 in the third. I'll always remember that, but hopefully won't repeat it!

Before matches I eat just enough so I won't get tired. There's a certain amount and I have a numbering system. Whenever I feel I've had as much as I need, I stop. But I don't eat pasta after the match anymore. I'm done this lifestyle.

I didn't work on anything during the day, I just rested. And watched Smallville. My older sister is a huge fan of it too. We could talk about it for years. I would always tease her before for watching it... but now look at me.

I just love things that can't happen in real life I guess. Amazing things happen in Smallville. I love that. It's too early to tell who my favorite character is on the show, though. It always changes for me, because some characters annoy me, and so on. I only just finished Season 1, too. I also didn't crack open any books... It's just not going to happen this week - I'll start when I go home...

There were these little girls outside my court today looking through the fence. Now I don't speak Spanish but I know a little, and one girl said 'My name is Venus too!' It was so sweet. I don't know if that was her name or not. Actually, I doubt it. But I guess she wanted to be a tennis player, it was so cute.

I'll talk to you all after the final. Have a good night!

Venus

What did you do with the sombrero you won last year? Raymond

I gave it to my dad! He loved it so much. He saw pictures of me with it on and told me he loved the hat, so I gave it to him, and I haven't seen it since. But I'm hoping to have a doubles partner for it soon ;)




Saturday, February 27, 2010



Well I played a very worthy opponent today. She really played so well. I made a few errors in the first set and there was no room for that, because she made none and was playing aggressively. I had to turn it around in the second. So I started working on getting the win, and I'm happy I was able to do it.

The thing about me... I never feel pressure to defend titles. I think that makes me better at defending titles, because whenever I return to a tournament, I usually do pretty well. I guess Dubai and Acapulco is one of my specials...

As for the sombrero... this one's mine :)

I've been informed that this title ties me for No.10 for all-time titles with Martina Hingis. That's great! I guess I'll be passing her soon... I have the advantage because I'm still playing :) I'll be working on getting further into the Top 10.

Next for me is the Billie Jean King Cup in Madison Square Garden. That's hopefully another two matches for me on Monday. Last year I had a great time playing and hopefully it'll be even better this year. Last year there was a blizzard there... and I hadn't been in snow before. Well, I had landed places with snow already on the ground and a few flurries, but never where it was REALLY snowing. I thought people didn't go out in that kind of weather. It was so funny, like something out of a movie - one day when I was leaving the hotel, the coldest rush of wind came and I ran back inside... I thought, 'Are you serious?' I'm not used to that in Florida. We chase the Sun...

I had fun doing the blog again! I look forward to doing it again soon. I'll see you all in New York at the Billie Jean King Cup... Stay tuned! And visit my Facebook and Twitter pages, and my website too...

Until next time!

Venus

You never seem angry on the court. How do you do it? Olivier

It kind of follows my attitude off the court. Nothing ever bothers me. It helps on the court to think clearly, without emotions. It's just harder with emotions. I have been emotional before... but for the most part I'm a cucmber.

Read the rest of this post...........

The doubles team of American Mashona Washington and Canadian Sharon Fichman were defeated in the quarterfinal round of the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL by the Czech Republic's team of Vladimira Uhlirova and Renata Voracova 7-5, 6-1.

Read the rest of this post...........

ACAPULCO, Mexico, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Venus Williams had to stage a major rally Thursday to down unheralded Spaniard Laura Pous Tio and post a quarterfinal win at the Mexican Open.

Williams, the defending Acapulco champion, was trailing 5-1 in the final set after losing the first frame to Pous Tio 4-6 and taking the second set 6-3. But she broke her opponent's serve three times before finally finishing the match on serve by holding at love and winning it 7-5.

With the win, Williams will go on to face Romanian Edina Gallovits in the semifinals. Gallovits gained the spot by dispatching Canadian Sharon Fichman 7-5, 6-2 on the clay courts.

Venus Blogging

Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

To ask Venus a question, visit the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour site here.



It's 1:15 in the morning. I tried laying down but I guess I don't like going to bed!

I had a pretty late match today. Afterwards I did press and then all my routines to get the body up and running again, and now I'm eating more. Today it was chicken and rice. No pasta... there's a limit of how much I can torture myself.

I was much more productive today - I didn't watch much TV. I was working on some marketing for V Starr Interiors (my interior design company). I have a charity event tomorrow for Make A Wish. I won't be there but I'm excited about that. I also need to be working on some designs... I've had a lot of problems: I'm taking a class but I've been extremely unsuccessful in opening my books this year. I really need to get rid of my TV programs! I always have to multitask because I get bored if I don't. Even when I'm watching Smallville, I have to be doing something at the same time. It makes me happy.

You may have seen my Facebook or Twitter pages by now. When I was younger, I wasn't very cool and didn't really have any friends. I always thought Facebook was where you could connect with people you used to know, and all I ever did was read a lot of books, so I figured it wasn't for me. I was a nerd. But recently I found out someone started a Facebook fan page for me and so I took it over. And I really like it, it's fun. Everyone likes Twitter and Facebook. I don't have any childhood friends on there though... it took me 25 years to get cooler.

Tomorrow I play an opponent I haven't played before, so I'm looking forward to that. Also, my mom is coming here hopefully, as I mentioned she has been threatening to come. I got her some earrings in Dubai but I like them so much I'm wearing them now! I can rationalize it. She always loses an earring. One always comes out of her ear, and she'll come around asking, 'Did you see my earring? It fell out!' She's always wearing just one.

Have a good night... talk to you tomorrow!

Venus

P.S. I've attached a picture of me and my sister, Isha :)

What is Harold up to? Jake
He's very happy. The little guy's growing up but he'll always be my little son. I miss him. Special little guy. I picked a really good one... I don't know how but I did! He has a habit of stealing my pillow. Every time I come back he has stolen it, so naturally I just move over and take another one. He's back in Florida right now. I can't wait to get back and see him stealing those pillows.

Read the rest of this post...........

ACAPULCO, México - Although it was tougher than the scoreline might suggest, Venus Williams was relatively untroubled in her opening match of the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, beating Mathilde Johansson, 62 63.

Williams, the No.1 seed and defending champion on the red clay of Acapulco, faced break points as she served in the first game of the match but held and wound up clinching the first set in 34 minutes. The first four games of the second set all went to deuce and it was Johansson who seemed more in form, breaking for 2-1 and holding a point for 3-1; but Williams rolled from there, winning five of the last six games to prevail in an hour and 25 minutes.

"I'm just trying to get my rhythm on the clay so it was good to win," Williams said. "I really had to work for this tournament last year. This time last year I played a really tough three set match before I won, so it's a little better today. But I still just want to take it round by round and hopefully win."

Read the rest of this post...........