VENUS CELEBRATES 20 YEARS AT MEADOWS, AWAITS SERENA RETURN
New York, Aug. 29: Venus Williams celebrated her 20th anniversary at the US Open on Monday as the tournament celebrated 20 years of Arthur Ashe Stadium, where she claimed two of her seven Grand Slam titles.
Williams was a 17-yearold upstart with beads in her hair when she rallied to defeat Latvia’s Larisa Neiland 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 in the first round of the 1997 US Open in her Flushing Meadows debut on her way to her first Grand Slam final, which she lost to Martina Hingis.
“It has been 20 wonderful years,” Williams told the crowd after a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 first-round victory over Slovakian qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova.
“I’m not sure there are going to be 20 more.”
Since Williams became the first unseeded US Open women’s finalist since 1958, she has won the 2000 and 2001 US Opens and five Wimbledon crowns, including her most recent Slam title in 2008.
But this season, at age 37, Williams has turned back the clock, reaching the finals at Wimbledon and the Australia Open.
Asked what her career timetable might be, the oldest woman in the US Open said, “I don’t know. We’ll see. I have no plans. Zero.”
Well, she has one. With 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena giving birth in the next few weeks, Venus will become an aunt for the first time as an adult. It’s one of the few adventures the sisters haven’t been able to fully share in their careers. “It’s definitely a different experience, especially for she and I, because we spent our whole lives so focused on work,” Venus said.
“So when you have an experience that is not work, it’s pretty intense. It’s a completely different experience for both of us.”
Tour life without Serena has Venus spending more time down Memory Lane than just a landmark night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I definitely have adjusted at this point. It takes time,” Venus said. “There are moments where you have very distinct memories of togetherness.
“I’ve been able to remember those and be fond or have some longing or happy memories, all those feelings. But the plan is hopefully that it won’t be forever.”