Author: Liam

Venus Williams would certainly not like to remember her campaign in the French Open last season. She had a horrible time at Roland Garros in 2013 to say the least. Urszula Radwanska, an unknown player from Poland, had bamboozled her in the opening round and her campaign in the competition was over.

Twelve months have passed since then. Things have changed and so has the form of Venus. She has made her way to the French capital much more confident this time around having won quite a bit in the recent past and that too against some good players.

The 34 year old American won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships despite some of the world’s top players being there taking part in that competition.

In total, Venus has featured in 21 matches this year out of which she has managed to win 15. These are not bad numbers for a player whose best is probably behind her.

The recent victories have helped Venus climb up in the World rankings as well. She is the 30^th ranked player in the world at the moment.

Before taking the flight to France, Venus talked to an American sports magazine regarding her 2014 journey.

She said, “This year has simply been awesome for me, probably the best since I have recovered from my illness.”

“I suffered such a situation which no one suffered before me. To get out of that and bounce back, it was always going to be time taking, but, I am glad that finally things appear to be falling in place.”

Venus’ winning percentage in the singles matches that she has played throughout her career is more than 80. That suggests what kind of a player she was before suffering that peculiar illness. She has an Olympic gold medal under her belt as well.

Lleyton Hewitt has finally managed to become the winner of the Hall of Fame Championships. He clinched the title yesterday by getting better of Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. It took the Australian more than two hours to win that final match.

It was a contest between two wily, old players and it went down to the wire with the last two sets being decided in the tie breaker.

Hewitt crumbled a little bit in the second set, but, he kept his nerve when it mattered and sealed the tie breaker in the decider to finish off the match.

Hewitt had reached the title round of the Hall of Fame tournament in the last couple of seasons as well, but, on both occasions, he had suffered defeats. This time around though, the luck favoured him and he ended up adding another feather on his cap.

This is the second trophy that Hewitt has lifted in the ongoing season. Before this, he had won the Brisbane International Tennis Tournament as well right at the start of the season.

Speaking in the post match interview, Hewitt said, “It was so close yet so far for me in the last two attempts. I had played reasonably well the previous year, but, still, couldn’t go past the final hurdle. I didn’t want that to be repeated again.”

When asked if he tried to do things differently this year here at Newport, the 33-year Old said, “No, I didn’t. I was just keen to make sure that I didn’t falter on the basics. The deciding set was difficult and it was important that I didn’t get broken in that.”

“It’s really pleasing that I am through to the title. It feels really good.”

Hewitt is presently at the 41^st position in the world rankings.