grapplingstars.com, femcompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com fciwomenswrestling2.com articles, pexels.com-Artem-Beliaikin-photo-credit.
September 2, 2020,
Legends of lore leave stardust strewn along the extensive and glorious winding trail that their heroine pathway has illuminated over decades.
Tennis super star Venus Williams is such a legend.
Her longevity and accomplishments are astonishing.
Ms. Williams is generally regarded as one of the all-time greats of women’s tennis and, along with her younger sister Serena Williams, is credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women’s professional tennis tour.
Venus has been ranked world No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association on three occasions, for a total of 11 weeks.
She first reached the No. 1 ranking on February 25, 2002.
Her seven Grand Slam singles titles are tied for 12th on the all-time list, and 8th on the Open Era list, more than any other active female player except her sister.
She has reached 16 Grand Slam finals, most recently at Wimbledon in 2017. She has also won 14 Grand Slam Women’s doubles titles, all with Serena. The pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals.
Not content to dominate in singles and women’s doubles, Venus also has two Mixed Doubles titles.
Her five Wimbledon singles titles tie her with two other women for eighth place on the all-time list, but give her sole possession of No. 4 on the Open Era List, trailing only the nine titles of Martina Navratilova and the seven of Serena Williams and Steffi Graf.
From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Venus won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments in that time frame.
At the 2020 US Open, our legend extended her record as the all-time leader, male or female, in Grand Slams played, with 86.
With her run to the 2017 Wimbledon singles final, she broke the record for longest time between first and most recent grand slam singles finals appearances.
She was also twice the season prize money leader in 2001 and 2017.
There is still more.
Venus has won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in women’s doubles, along with a silver medal in mixed doubles, pulling even with Kathleen McKane Godfree for the most Olympic medals won by a male or female tennis player.
She is the only tennis player to have won a medal at four Olympic Games.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the American legend became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at one Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
With 49 singles titles, Venus trails only her sister Serena Williams among active players on the WTA Tour with most singles titles.
About that winning streak.
Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final is the longest since January 1, 2000.
Whew.
Double whew.
Now that ladies and gentlemen is the resume of legendary lore.
It is a story that will be spoken of for as long as civilizations exist.
Now there is a new story emerging, given birth on the same court that Venus graced at the 2020 US Open.
At only 20 years old Karolina Muchova is a new story in the making and tennis fans worldwide want to read the breaking news.
She met Venus in the opening round and all the tennis world was watching.
From home on television. Pandemic times are changing everything.
But they were still watching.
So what happened?
The team at usopen.org brings us courtside, “There have been no cakewalk draws for Karolina Muchova in Flushing Meadows. In 2018, she fell to Ashleigh Barty in the third round. In 2019, she was dismissed by Serena Williams, again in the third round. And on Tuesday night she found herself standing opposite two-time champion Venus Williams in the opening round of the 2020 US Open. But the 24-year-old Czech, ranked No. 26, looked anything but intimidated on this occasion, rolling past the former No. 1, 6-3, 7-5, under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium.”
Venus was determined but Karolina was on fire.
The news leaders at whtc.com add, “Muchova broke Williams to start the match and deployed a wide variety of shot making including a pinpoint serve, a slice backhand and some well-timed trips to the net to frustrate the former world number one.”
Bravo to the emerging Czech star who is penning a new story herself.
Karolína Muchová first rose to prominence at the 2018 US Open, defeating then world No. 12 and two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round.
The following year, Carolina would reach her first Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon after upsetting world No. 3 and tournament favorite Karolína Plíšková.
On October 28, 2019, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 21.
As her story unfolds here at the 2020 US Open, that 21st ranking is expected to improve.
As many top players have found out, Karolina is an aggressive all-court player, possessing an intelligent game with exceptional variety.
She has powerful groundstrokes from both wings, using both her forehand and backhand to hit winners from any position on the court.
Our budding Czech luminary has been praised for her ability to incorporate softer shots, such as drop shots, lobs, and sliced backhands, into her game, constantly breaking up the pace of baseline rallies, and being able to hit winners with these typically defensive shots.
Karolina has power too. She possesses a strong serve, with her first serve peaking at 110 mph.
We anticipate a bright future for this young rising star. We are not alone.
Throughout 2019, her breakout season, she was praised for her style of play by Mats Wilander, who stated that she could “achieve great things”. With her on-court demeanor, fluid style, grace, and variety, she has been compared by some commentators to Justine Henin and Roger Federer.
Looks like we are in great company.
We will always love our legends. They are what make women’s tennis so special.
Venus Williams is special in too many ways to detail here.
We also love the new stories that are unfolding. Like Karolina’s.
Who knows? At only twenty years old, she may be a legend in the making.
~ ~ ~
OPENING PHOTO grapplingstars.com, femcompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com fciwomenswrestling2.com articles, WTA photo credit
