Venus Williams may as well have dropped off the face of the planet as far as we are all concerned, as her younger sister Serena has taken over the spotlight in American tennis in most recent times.
The taller, quieter Venus is showing us that there is no reason to forget about her, at least not just yet: in the third round of the US Open in New York, Venus’ straight-sets victory finally turned the spotlight back on her and away from Serena for the time being.
Venus beat Swiss Belinda Bencic 6-3 and 6-4 which pulled audiences in a trance of Serena Williams obsession back to reality and putting a sense of pride back within those who suffer from being both the washed-up older sister and struggle with health issues like fatigue and chronic autoimmune disease, two major factors in Venus’ past few years spent on the sidelines.
Williams’ win against Bencic is the placeholder for the third time this year, and since 2011, that Venus has advanced to the third round of a major grand slam tournament.
While the younger Williams’ has bragging rights to holding the winning title for women in the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon, Venus may be able to take center court again like she once did before Serena became the new fad in Women’s tennis internationally.
We may have even more to look up to when it comes to Venus as an idol figure, aside from her tennis talent and victory. Venus is a multi-faceted businesswoman and, this past summer, finished her last round of classes at Indiana University East to attain a degree in business administration. Take that, Serena!
So our next question is, will we see a faceoff between the two sisters at this year’s US Open now that Venus has gained more traction in the tournament?
It is expected that Venus will continue to advance, pushing her to face her little sister and 21 major title holder for the second time in both of their careers.
What is to happen at the end of the match is still in question for us, as it’s possible that Serena will take her crushing streak right onto her older sister and steamroll right to the finish line.
On the other hand, however, Venus’ recent triumph against Bencic proves that her age and disappearance from tennis for the past few years has nothing on her; Bencic is at the fragile age of 18 and ranked one of the top female tennis players in the world at the moment.
The 2001 open provided for a face-off between the two sisters, with Venus taking over as champion as one of her seven grand-slam titles.
We’ll all enjoy the sisterhood banter, nonetheless, especially those of us who have a similar affectionate rivalry with our own siblings. Yet, it will be extremely interesting and certainly telling to see who defeats who, as the prestigious American tournament wraps up next weekend.
One thing is for sure, the Williams women are gracious and will certainly be full of praise when the competition draws to an end.
