Thursday, November 12, 2015

The Bleeping Venus Williams

Bow down to Queenus | via instagram.com
"She thinks she's the fucking Venus Williams."

Oh, Irina Spirlea, you had no idea how prescient your statement would be. The Fucking Venus Ebony Starr Williams has catapulted back into the year-end Top 10 after winning the Zhuhai Elite Trophy, all the way up to No. 7 in the world.

Number seven. Wut.

If you have been following the life and times of Venus Williams the past few years, you know that this is a big deal for her. Since announcing she was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that affects her energy levels, Venus has been clawing her way back to where she left off in early 2011. In the early stages of this most recent rebirth, she's stated her desire to be alongside her sister as the two players to beat in the ladies' game once again, a place they've been numerous times in the past two decades. Most, myself included, did not think this was a feasible goal for her, but as Venus stated, she had the support of her team and family and mustered enough belief in herself to get back to where she thinks she belongs.

2015 was a season hijacked by Serena Williams. She's been the story, the one we all watched, the one who commands every bit of our attention. That's been the case for 13 years, often at the expense of Venus. Funnily enough, Venus took center stage this autumn when Serena ceded the spotlight after her demoralizing semifinal stumble at the U.S. Open. Venus herself was only ranked No. 24 after the final Slam of 2015, but she picked up quite a bit of momentum from that quarterfinal result. Venus went over to China and started her crusade at The Championships, Wuhan, winning her biggest title since Dubai in 2010. That run had the unfortunate side effect of a sluggish second-round loss in Beijing, a critical tournament for her Singapore dreams. Still, she was safely qualified for Zhuhai, the third place match to Singapore's trophy match. something that was not anything of a guarantee before the Asian swing.
Many players who qualified for the event decided it wasn't worth the trip. Not Venus. She saw her opportunity to get back into the Top 10, as well as significantly increase her chances at landing a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in Rio, and she would not leave this stone unturned. She runs through her path which included big hitting youngsters Madison Keys and Karolina Pliskova - two players who could be considered to be molded in the style of Venus Williams. Venus conquers them both anyway.

2015 saw the bulk of Venus's successes come mostly away from public view. I have to assume this is exactly how she'd like it. While her sister received all kinds of accolades from every corner, Venus stood back and went about her business. Serena has an (almost literal) army of diehard fans; Venus has the universal respect and admiration. Serena is dubbed the black feminist icon; Venus continues to silently boycott Indian Wells. As someone who took to Venus first, it irks me that Venus's accomplishments, especially off of the court, go unrecognized. But she probably doesn't mind. She doesn't need others to tell her that she's done a good job. She already knows what she achieved and what it took to get her the things she wants. All the recognition The Fucking Venus Williams will ever need comes from herself.

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