Black Tennis Pros

EASTBOURNE, England - The last time Venus Williams played on the WTA it was in January at the Aussie Open, where she had to retire after one game of her third round match due to a hip injury - since then she has been out with that hip injury as well as an abdominal injury. She returns this week at Eastbourne and met the press on the weekend - here's a taste of what she said...

On her injury lay-off finally coming to an end...

"I'm very excited - I can't believe I've finally made it. This time I listened to the doctor's advice and accepted limits... it's hard as an athlete to accept limits, but it was all about that. I never could have foreseen the amount of time I had to take off and there were frustrating moments, but I never let it get me down."


On how she spent the last four and a half months...

"After I got injured in January I made the best use of my time when I was off. I entered school, took some classes and worked on my businesses. I also went to the gym and tried to do my rehab. Initially my goal was to play in Miami but that wasn't even close... It took me a good two and a half months to build up to get here now. Sometimes I wouldn't improve for three weeks, sometimes I'd improve in a week - I feel pretty fit now. I've never given myself a 10 out of 10, but I'm back as soon as I could be. I've taken extra weeks to be really sure."

On missing tennis...

"I've missed tennis. It has been so kind to me. I love my sport and I love my job. I really appreciate being here; it's an honor for me to be here."

On playing in Eastbourne for the first time in 13 years...

"I haven't played here in forever. I can't tell you how excited I am to be here and playing any first round match."

On she and Serena coming back at the same tournament...

"Serena hasn't played in a year and I've only played three or four tournaments in the last 12 months. It's crucial for us to play these matches at this point. We normally take this period to go home, rest and train, but for us right now the best preparation is to be here. We're going to do our best to take home two titles on this road - that's what we aim for every time we hit the court."

On the current No.1 player in the world, Caroline Wozniacki...

"Caroline is a great player doing positive things - she's really on the right road. She doesn't need much advice. Off the court she's a very nice person and super helpful; on the court she's an unbelievable competitor. She has played more consistently than anyone and is leaps and bounds ahead in the points."


On her goal this week...

"Whoever is across the net is my focus at that point. You can't predict who is going to do what... My sole concern is to make sure I'm in the next round."

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Venus Williams might have come up short in her bid for a third Bank of the West Classic singles title. However, she still managed to walk away with one championship trophy. One hour after falling shy in a three-set loss to Marion Bartoli in the tournament’s singles title match, Venus Williams and teammate Serena Williams cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 victory in the doubles final over the team of Yung-Jan Chan and Monica Niculescu.

The title was the third this year for the Williams sisters, as the duo also captured the crowns at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. It is the 15th championship overall for the Williams sisters and the first non-Grand Slam doubles title since 1999.

Serena Williams and Venus Williams enjoyed a dominating run through the tournament, never allowing more than four games to an opponent.

Playing together for the first time, Chan and Niculescu were also impressive during the week. Unseeded in the draw, Chan and Niculescu’s signature moment came during the quarterfinals in the form of a 7-5, 6-3 victory over the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

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Talk about a painful match to watch!

Both American Serena Williams and the Czech Republic's Klara Zakopalova agonized throughout their match on the Suzanne Lenglen Court at the French Open today, with Serena taking the bigger brunt of the pain even though she went on to win the three-set match 6-3, 6⁵-7⁷, 6-4.

"I was just desperate for a win," the second-seeded Williams said, "and I think it pretty much showed in my game."

Serena described today's performance as "horrendous." She then added, "I just played junior tennis — or even worse."

Throughout the error laden match Serena looked to gain more pain with each error.

After the 2^1/2 hour match was finally won, she joined sister Venus for a round of doubles. That match is currently suspended because of darkness until Wednesday.

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Teamed with another American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Mashona Washington has reached the doubles quarterfinal round of the BNP Paribas Open. Washington and Mattek-Sands took out the very formidable team of Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova and Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo.

Washington and Mattek-Sands are scheduled to play Spaniards Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears were defeated by Iveta Benesova and Barbara Zahlavova of the Czech Republic 1-6, 5-7.

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