After Venus Williams won Friday, she got reporters wondering. She somehow seemed freer than ever. Gone was much of her guarded, protective approach. She seemed less aloof and far more relaxed. It almost seemed like fun.
Maybe it was because amidst all the non-stop hype about her little sister, big sis, who is an ancient 35, once again proved that she can dominate. She won her third straight US Open match convincingly over young Belinda Bencic, who was born in 1997, the year Venus splashed onto the tour. Here are some of the takeaways from the best press conference “V” has done in eons.
On whether there was something sweet about beating teen Belinda Bencic [who beat Serena in Toronto]:
“Whoever is across the net, I want to win.”
On herself as a young player:
“I didn’t really have a plan…So now I’m fighting with a plan.”
On studying accounting at the University of Indiana:
“I almost went blind.”
On the impact she and Serena have had over the years:
“[We] brought a lot of notoriety for women’s tennis around the world. It’s not something I think about every day. Wake up, brush my teeth, look in the mirror, like, ‘What has my impact been?’ You try and live in the moment and do your best. It’s sometimes hard to step out of yourself and see a bigger picture. But clearly, yes, it’s thrilling and it’s an honor to be part of something bigger than your own self.”
On the difference between playing now and playing when she was young:
“I used to always win in the early days.”
