Black Tennis Pros

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.

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


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hello again!

I played my first match tonight and it went well. I had a good time on the clay. It was my first match on clay in... a while. I'm getting the feel of it again.

This afternoon I relaxed. I watched a lot of programming. I didn't better myself at all. Some Smallville... I haven't started watching Grey's yet. As a rule, I watch programming when I'm in non-English speaking countries. I like Private Practice, and I really love Superman... the cartoon :) Yes, I watch cartoons. It's a bad habit I picked up from Serena. Avatar, Justice League... My favorite person in the Justice League is Superman but if they were real people, for sure it would be The Flash. I would definitely have a crush! Children watch cartoons but cartoons really aren't childish - my mom watches them, my sister watches them... there are some good episodes! I get so caught up in some of the stories.

For dinner we just hit the buffet. Quick and easy. Nothing too special... I did eat some barbecued goat though. I have to try everything once. I felt adventurous! It was good! On another note, as I started playing my matches today, I started carbs too... I downed lots of rice and pasta before the match. It drives me nuts. Brings my happiness level down.

I'll talk to you all again tomorrow... have a good night!

Venus

Who is with you in Acapulco? Mimie
Thanks for the question. Isha is here, my assistant Jessica is here, my hitting partner Dave is here... My mom and dad aren't home. Sometimes it's nice to be on the road without a coach. Quietness in your head with no one talking on the sidelines... My mom has been threatening to come this weekend. We'll see!

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Monday, February 22, 2010

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog!

This is kinda like déjà vu... Last year I won Dubai, came to Acapulco and blogged. This year was a little better than the last because I didn't have as long a layover in New York, only two hours. The luggage took a little longer to come, though - it finally came this morning. But it didn't bother me. Until now I've never had a problem with it and everyone else has so I figured it was my turn :)

No jet lag. I'm okay. It's not a lot of time to adjust to the court surface and time zone but I feel like a pro on all grounds - not just tennis - so I have the whole schedule down, the method. I'll be strong for my first match tomorrow.

I talked about the breakfast buffet last year and I'm going to this year too. I love it! I always pile so much on my plate, even though I barely eat any of it. I started eating a little scoop of ice cream at night, too, but I had to stop. I don't really like carbs. I like meat. But a tennis player cannot live on meat alone. I've been taking a break from carbs the last few days but tomorrow I'll have to start back up. I just like meat so much, though. Steak... I like chicken, fried chicken... but overall I'm not a big eater. I'm not into the whole eating thing.

Right now I'm just winding down, it's around 10pm. All day I made sure I didn't fall asleep so I would be able to sleep at a normal time. What do I do to wind down? I'm a tennis geek, so I watch a ton of tennis. Not doing anything is so luxurious. We all know that feeling. Lying around without a care in the world until the next match or practice... I enjoy getting it done and the day being over!

I love keeping in touch with you all with the blog. I usually have more to say... Anyway, visit me on Twitter, Facebook and my website too!

Have a good night!

Venus

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Saturday, October 6, 2007

Hey everyone,

Unfortunately, I lost to Razzano in the final today. She managed to play really well at all the right moments, so congratulations to her. I wasn't tired - I was feeling pretty fit. It's a very good win. She's having a great year. I was having a problem with my right hip - it started in the first set, and finally in the third set I had to take a medical timeout to get taped or something. I kept playing though, because I really wanted to win. I fought hard. She was just playing really well.

Anyway it's past midnight and I really need to get some sleep, because I fly out to Bangkok in the morning. But I'll try my best to talk to you all from there...

xxx

Venus

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Friday, October 5, 2007

Hey everybody,

I didn't have the greatest start to the day. First of all, I woke up to my mom pounding on the door like it was the police - I thought something bad happened or maybe I slept through something and it wasn't either of those! Although I'm never really on time for anything. I only wake up on the nick of time and rush to everything - to breakfast, to the courts - and I'm normally running late. I should have packed my bag last night, too, because when I got out to the courts in the morning I realized I'd forgotten half of my outfit in the hotel room. I'll usually bring two full outfits just in case something goes wrong but all I had today was one skirt. Fortunately, I had a white, sleeveless warm-up shirt with the EleVen logo on the back so I wore that, and nobody really noticed... Pretty smooth!

My match was challenging, what can I say? My opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, got a couple of breaks but I got them back, and she got a lot of balls back too. I had to conquer a really good opponent today. She fell and twisted her ankle at one point but she got back up and everything seemed to be fine after that. And she was still tough. What was working for me today was my will to win, to just hit the ball and play every point. As a professional I should be able to do that, right?

I was thinking of going to the Imperial Palace this afternoon, but my mom told me I should go back to the hotel and that was the end of it! So I ended up not going anywhere I wanted to. I guess I could have gone if I really wanted to, but I was tired so I saw it as an opportunity to get some of my work done. What am I working on... well, I finished my swimsuit drawings yesterday and today I have been finishing up quick sketches of my children's wear ideas. Now I'm thinking about my board concepts and have started on those. I'm really getting into it.

I started a new book today and someone has already died. But, it's much better than the other book because I'm sure not everyone dies. One person dying I can deal with! It's called "The Righteous Men" by Sam Bourne. I didn't pick it for any particular reason, I just pick 'em as I see 'em and just hope for the best. I was in the airport and saw this one and decided I would try to read it.

Tonight I'm just going to keep working on this - I've been doing work for four hours now which is an improvement from me, so I'm very excited. I'm just going to take it from here. I'm not caught up, though. I slacked off a lot this week and last week in Korea so I'm going to have to punish myself on the next plane ride by doing some more. Usually I like to sleep on the plane, but not this time...

I'm flying to Bangkok on Sunday for another week in a row of tennis. Usually I injure myself or can't play this many weeks in a row for some reason, and this is just awesome for me. I've been really careful lately to not get injured. At night tomorrow we may go out, maybe find some more karaoke... my favorite song from when we went last week was definitely "Call Me" by Blondie - it's totally in my key (I sing pretty high) - but we did everything from Guns N' Roses to 4 Non Blondes to Nirvana, Tears for Fears, Ciara, just everything. My mother LOVES Nickelback so when "This Is How You Remind Me" came on she was so happy. She's a great singer, actually. Isha likes R&B. The funny part was that last week my calves were hurting but I didn't care at the karaoke, I just got up and danced, even though I'd just had an ice bath... probably not the best decision from me. But oh well. I hope we don't have too much fun tomorrow, because ultimately, I have another tournament coming up. I have to be serious and keep my energy. It will hopefully be another five matches and another final - we'll see!

I also wanted to set something straight. People have been reading the blog and have been telling me I've said this, I've said that... and in one of the first ones I said I was like one of those girls who sits with the guys and can't get a boyfriend; I just want to say I actually do have a boyfriend now and we have great times, and I am one of those girls that has a chance to get one!! People asked about eating the cow tongue too - I'm really trying not to think about that one anymore! But it's nice to know you guys are reading my blog this week - it's nice to know you guys are really feeling it.

I'm hoping to just relax tonight here, just eating some grapes (purple), really just getting rested for tomorrow morning's final. I'm playing Virginie Razzano for the title. I think she's a very good player. She played so well against me in San Diego. It'll be important for me to play aggressively, and just take it to her - that will definitely be on the agenda.

I'll talk to you all again tomorrow night!

xxx

Venus
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Thursday, October 4, 2007

Well it was a tough match today against Alicia Molik but I was able to make it through. There were some times I played some great tennis and other times I made some mistakes I just couldn't comprehend - not that it's something I'll accept. That's just the way it was today. Alicia's been working hard to get back to where she was, and I think her level is getting there. I saw her match against Serena at Wimbledon and I really think that is a great surface for her. Anyway, it feels good to win today and keep on moving forward.

We actually started our match much later than I had expected because the men's match before us went the distance, probably about three hours. It was insane! I watched some of it towards the end, but I had been keeping an eye on the score throughout just to know when I should be warming up.

We went to this big electronics store downtown after the match, and it was fun, actually. I needed a new camera and I got one, which was nice. It's cute and I can put it in my purse. It's one of those small ones you can hold in your hand. It's not superoutrageous though. I heard the electronics stores had the latest and the greatest, but I couldn't find the latest and the greatest. Although we did see these 160 gigabyte iPods, which we thought was pretty awesome. I don't even need an iPod because I have two already, but I got it anyway - sold to the fool with the credit card! They were all asking me why I wasn't getting it, so I guess I caved. The iPod I am currently using is the one the French Open gave me last year and it has my name on it, which is nice. I got one for myself too, which says "Phoenix From the Flames, My Venus Rises" on it. I like that phrase, I think about it to help motivate me for my matches sometimes. So now I have a third iPod. We then came back to the hotel, as I'm first tomorrow and have to be ready to perform.

I did end up getting a hold of Serena - but I can't really say what she wanted to tell me. Well, basically someone said something pretty crazy to her and she just couldn't believe it. I was hoping she didn't say anything back and go crazy on them but she didn't, so that was good news. Although we're half the world away from each other, we still gossip and catch up. We always do. And even though I can't see her matches I do follow them, and I'll always give her advice on her next opponents. I tend to play a bigger variety of players for some reason.

Other than that we didn't do too much today. We're just at tennis all day, and by the time I finish press, soft tissue and stretching, we don't have time for anything else, really. I wasted a ton of time on the internet tonight; I don't even know what I was doing. I did get this group e-mail from my cousins though; they went to Serena's website and they were telling us to go to the Tour's site to see the picture of my mom and I, which was taken before my second match...

I finally started my swimsuit design tonight, too. I've done the front and I'm doing the back now. I'm struggling with these stupid computer line drawings... I'm just drawing the butt in now. It looks like a triangle right now. It looks pretty lazy. I'll just have to keep doing it over and over again. This is just the beginning of the work I've been meaning to do over the last few days, it's going to be tough to meet my deadline, I'll have to pull a lot of all-nighters. But hopefully I won't have to do that. I always find a way to meet a deadline.

I have to tell you this story about my mother. When you're on the road, if you ever want to send anything back home you can usually just give it to the hotel and they'll do it for you. Anyway, we got this stuff in Korea last week and so my mom wanted to send some of it back - a jewellery box, other stuff - and so she comes in with these empty Gatorade boxes to do it herself! We were teasing her so much, saying like she'll get boxes delivered to the room, or we'll put this old pair of tennis shoes in and send it back; we started singing "Gypsy Woman" by Crystal Waters, you know, "She's just like you and me, but she's homeless," stuff like that. We do tease her a lot. One time she was taking these passport photos and she tried to have the same serious expression in each one, but each one was slightly different - and we laughed so much that eventually she just threw the pictures out! Don't get me wrong, we love our mom... we're just teasing.

So tomorrow I'm playing Caroline Wozniacki, a really good young player who has been working very hard, just like everyone else. I played her in February this year in Memphis, and I just remember being very glad to have won that match. I try not to overanalyze what the next person is going to do, I'm just out there to play my game. I don't worry too hard. Hopefully I'll play my best tomorrow.

Until next time...

xxx

Venus

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Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Hello again!

Well I was able to beat Vania today but things got a bit difficult towards the end. I was feeling really good at the beginning and the first set went by fast, and at that point I was playing almost perfect. But in the second set she picked up her game. She began taking her chances, taking the ball early and moving it around, trying to hit winners - she was basically making the first play before I did. But I was able to get a break and close it out. I'm very happy I was able to pull through.

Afterwards, I went to get my nails done. They're purple. They have really cool nail designs here - like flowers and jewels - but that doesn't quite function when you're out there competing. My mom has tiny diamonds on her nails now, but she isn't running back and forth on the court or anything! Just now I also checked my e-mail and I got two from Serena telling me to call her so I did, and she's asleep. It was like 10am in Europe! Anyway so I went to her website, and she'd written something on her home page about playing games in relationships. There is this place to vote for whether it's okay or not and I said yes, but apparently it was the wrong decision because everyone else is saying no. I guess I really need to come clean! I don't go on her website too much, but I did today. Then I read the story that was sort of attached to the poll, and it was about these two people, Debrah and Miachel, but I have no idea who they are! But anyway, aside from my nails, which took a couple zillion years to get done, some stretching, e-mails and lunch, that's about it for today. I don't usually eat dinner; I'm not much of an eater, I can just have some fruit. As long as I feel I've eaten enough, I'm feeling good.

So I've been hearing that some people have been wondering about how the book ended... Well, it finished about as miserably as you could imagine. And, to make things worse, it implied that the whole tale was about to start all over again with their friends who were on the hill too. Basically, I read a book that catalogues the days before their death. It was so upsetting! I'm going to write to the author and petition against the ending. He has another book but I'm not sure I should read it. I can't go through all that drama again. I need a funny book.

Apart from reading, I also like to listen to music on the road. I have my iPod with me. I'm really into house music - I like Moby, Felix da Housecat, Massive Attack, Brazilian Girls, Fatboy Slim, Zero 7, Air... I'm always trying to listen to different things. I check out internet radio a lot. I like making music too; I play guitar but I don't travel with it. Lately, I've been writing songs on GarageBand - I've always wanted to learn how to use music software. In San Diego I wrote my first song and it was house. I want to be the DJ in the club with the sunglasses on! I'm a new writer. Aside from the music, I like to keep busy with my Game Boy and my school work. I haven't done any school work today, which is most depressing.

I'm not a big TV watcher. I watch tennis - if it's on I watch it, but otherwise TV doesn't really keep me amused. I was really into the Golden Girls. My favorite character was definitely Dorothy, although Rose is fantastic, too. I love Rose. I really can't think of an episode I haven't seen. I used to watch them over and over again. This year, I've finally let go. But I'm never opposed to a rerun...

When I'm home I'm also busy with my interior design company, V Starr Interiors. It's going really well! We're wrapping up a model home in Florida, just across the street from where I live. Now that the summer is ending, we're wrapping up old jobs and starting new ones because people are moving. If you'd like to check out the company website, go to www.vstarrinteriors.com.

Tomorrow I'm playing my quarterfinal against Alicia Molik. Apparently, we have a Saturday final here, so I'm playing every day right through from now on! She is a really good player. I haven't seen her around in a little while, although she played pretty intensely against Serena at Wimbledon. But I'll just have to keep playing like I'm playing. I just have to keep on moving.

I'm eager to hear back from Serena... I want to ask her why she won as hard as she did yesterday. Other than that nothing much tonight.

Until tomorrow!

xxx

Venus

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Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Hello again everyone,

Today I played my first match of the week against Jill Craybas, and I won. I felt pretty good about the match. I had a bit of a slow start and she was playing well, hitting deep. But I just didn't want to lose. We had a close first few games, and then I really started to find my rhythm. I'm very pleased. I think my forehand in particular was working really well towards the end. Whatever it takes, you know.

Tonight I went to the player party, which was fun. I may have let myself down a little bit, because I immediately rushed to the french fries. I just went right to them. I don't really eat much, so fries count as a carbohydrate! Boiled or fried, the only thing that matters is that I'm eating. I eat to live, not live to eat. And they were so nice and salty. Okay I did have other things like fish and whatever else I had on my plate - but those fries would have gotten cold if I didn't take them - and even as they got us to do this thing where we hit a barrel with saki in it, all I could think of was the fries getting cold. I know I made the right decision.

I actually ended up sitting with the American guys at the player party (this is a combined event). Zack Fleishman, Amer Delic and a few more. But then I looked and saw all the girls sitting across the room. I thought to myself, 'Does this mean I'm one of those girls that always sits with the guys and never gets a boyfriend?' I don't know how I ended up there but I tried not to think about it too much.

I'm playing the second match after 10am tomorrow, so I figured I'd head back to the hotel relatively early. I've been doing some online shopping unfortunately - it's addictive. I was thinking of finishing that book tonight. It's just gotten crazier. Some sick things are happening in the book that just made me ill. I have never allowed a book to get to me like this. There's just no hope in it. But I am planning to finish it tonight - it just has to be done. I only have like 50 pages left. I hope SOMEBODY survives. But it seems like it's just going to end in tragedy. Usually it takes me two or three days to get through a book - I can't read slowly, I just have to know what happens. I can't not know.

I'll probably do more work on my designs tonight, as well. I'm graduating from fashion school this fall and I haven't really done anything the last two days, and that's no good. Now I'm always trying to be ahead of the game. I used to stay up so late to finish things; I remember when I first started I'd be up all night almost. One day I had just come back from a tournament in Zürich and went straight to the school, then drove home and was up until 4am or something, then I went back there for 6, crazy stuff like that. Back then I'd stay up until I felt my heart beating and knew I had to sleep, but I'd still run to Kinko's to print stuff out. I can't do that anymore. So what I try to do now is go to the school before I'm leaving on a trip and ask about the curriculum. I try to get going a few weeks before the term starts. Sometimes I finish my designs a few weeks before the deadlines. It can be stressful, but I know my boys will be beautiful!

Speaking of designs, I'm really excited about EleVen. It's not out yet, but it'll be coming out in November. I've been in school and making my own stuff for a long time but it's just too much labor; but when someone else does all of the work off your designs, it's just great! I think the summer coming up will be the best part of the collection. I think my favorite design would be this warm-up suit that has an upside down V - it's so slimming and so flattering that I wear it all the time.

Something else exciting I'd like to comment on is Lindsay's return to the Tour. I think it's just amazing, more than I would ever dream of doing myself. I mean, if I were to become a mom I'd want to be the Posh Spice mom: in my sunglasses, extra fit, jet setting without a care in the world. I can't imagine becoming a mom then coming back and doing so well so quickly. I haven't had the chance to talk to her since her return, but I'm following it and it's awesome. And she wants to play in the Olympics next year, too, so that's obviously great for the United States.

This isn't the first time I've kept some sort of blog or diary online before - on my website I used to have one. I was also on MySpace for a minute but I was under an alias. I'd go on there to complain - it was a venting ground for me. Everybody was there to make friends and I was there to vent. At the time I was injured, and because I wasn't playing I had so much time to do so many other things such as going out and going on life adventures and I always had crazy stuff happening to me. If I made a fool out of myself I'd go on there to confess; if I had a falling out I'd go on there to talk about it. But in the end I just quit. Serena got an official MySpace and linked me as a friend, and people started going to my page and figuring out who it was even though I was under an alias. I'm probably still there. Well, the alias is probably still on there. But she's BAD. Last I heard, she got into a situation she couldn't get out of, so she passed away.

Speaking of Serena, we've been keeping in touch, of course, even though she's in Stuttgart this week. We always keep each other posted on gossip and drama. We laugh and laugh. She'll tell me about guy stuff then I'll say I know all about it, and we'll keep going. Right now I'm playing the part of the wise, older sister.

I'm playing another American, Vania King, in the second round on Wednesday. We've never played on the Tour before but we have played on the same team in Fed Cup. I think it'll be interesting playing my Fed Cup teammate. It's a bit early tomorrow but it doesn't matter - I just want to get right into the grind this week.

Talk to you all tomorrow,

xxx

Venus

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