News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Venus Williams’ second trip to the BNP Paribas Open since 2001 is quickly bearing fruit as the Australian Open runner-up rolled past former World No.5 Lucie Safarova, 6-4, 6-2.

“I really, really, really, really want to do well here!” she exclaimed during her on-court interview. “I’m from California, and I love the hardcourts. This is an opportunity for me to shine at home, so I’m going for it.”

“I felt really pretty good off the ground,” she added in her post-match press conference. “This court is tricky as the ball stops, so a lot of the times you’re not hitting the ball where you think you’re going to hit it. So it definitely takes adjustments.

“I don’t know if there’s enough time to adjust, anyway. You just kind of like deal with it. So it’s an interesting court. You know, I felt like I was being able to string points together, which of course puts pressure on my opponents if I’m not making as many errors.”

The American was on the brink of defeat in her opening round match against fellow former No.1 Jelena Jankovic, having had to recover from match point down to defeat the Serb in three sets.

“I can hit the ball, and I can hit it well. If anything, I feel like I’m getting better. So as long as I’m improving, I want to be here. On the day that I’m not improving and this is a realization, then that’s when you know you have to walk away. So not there yet.”

But there were far fewer problems against Safarova, who’d knocked out Australian Open semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe in her previous match.

What was working for Venus today?

“Forehand, backhand, serve, return,” she joked. “I respect my opponent so much; it’s never easy to play a lefty because you feel the ball coming from all different directions. You feel unbalanced, but my focus was so laser that it felt good to compete in these conditions.”

In all, Venus struck 15 winners to just nine unforced errors, while Safarova hit 20 winners of her own and 27 unforced errors. More aggessive off the return, the five-time Wimbledon winner broke serve four times and one all eight points at net.

“It won’t be easy. It won’t be easy,” she repeated when asked about whether she could win the tournament. “But I would like to try. What else can I do except try? And it hasn’t really been the easiest draw, either. I’ve played some opponents who know how to play tennis. And just because your ranking says this, doesn’t mean that you do not know how to win a match.

“And I’ve had history against these opponents, so not the easiest draw so it was good to come through that.”

Up next will be resurgent qualifier Peng Shuai, who stunned No.6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-4.

“Every day is a grind. I’m just out there trying to make a difference on the court and in my life and others’ lives where I can.”

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