Venus Williams

On Friday night, Channel 2 news showed the highlights of the Venus Williams-Justine Henin match. Somehow, Foxy Brown got involved in the mix.

Justine Henin has been known as a great player with an unpredictable mind. If her nerves stayed in check she could beat anybody. But it's that 'if' that has prevented tennis pundits from calling her the unquestionable number one player in the world. If Serena or Venus are on their game, if Sharapova has her serve, then well ... Henin can't stand up to that.

Tonight, Justine Henin made those reservations seem a little silly. She won her seventh Grand Slam and second U.S. Open in the most dominating and convincing effort of her career.  read more »

After her stellar straight-sets semifinal victory, a reporter told Justine Henin that Venus Williams said she wasn't feeling 100 percent today.

"I'm surprised," interrupted Henin, in a deadpan voice.

This evening, Justine Henin become the first player since Martina Hingis at the 2001 Australian Open to beat both Williams sisters in one Grand Slam.  read more »

What's wrong with Venus Williams?

"I just was feeling dizzy, a little sick to the stomach," she said. "Was just having some energy problems. I'm not really sure what's wrong with me."

Neither does anyone else. After making 56 unforced errors in her agonizingly close quarterfinal match with Jelena Jankovic, Venus made 35 this afternoon—compared to 26 winners—in a straight-sets loss to Justine Henin.

Williams said she's been feeling strange—dizzy, tired, depleted—since she got two days off after the fourth round. That's when she told her mom, Oracene Williams, that something was wrong.

Oracene spoke to a group of reporters afterwards and revealed that Venus was feeling was sick after Wimbledon and was diagnosed with anemia.

"She was happy when she found out she had anemia and she thought that was it," said Oracene. "Now there's something else wrong. We need to get this checked out."

Venus told Oracene she was feeling sick after her match against Ana Ivanovic. It was a match where Richard Williams told me that something seemed a little off. Oracene recalled Venus telling her that when she hits a ball it feels like the ground beneath her is moving (sort of like vertigo). Oracene spent the last two days racing to Whole Foods buying up oranges for Venus, finding anything that could boost her energy.

Venus' boyfriend, Hank Kuehne, told me last week that he spends her matches paying close attention to her body language. While packing up the Williams family Lexus this evening he told me: "She looked zapped. I won't know what's wrong until I get in in the car with her tonight."

Venus was asked if she told her sister Serena about the apparent illness. "Serena was my opponent in the draw, too. I didn't tell her how I was feeling," she said laughing.

Maybe it's just fatigue after playing a three-set match the other night, or maybe it's something serious. The only thing that we do know: Venus didn't have the energy to keep up with Justine Henin today.

I tried it once, and nothing terrible happened.

So here, for our second attempt at live-blogging the Open, I'll be presenting a running account of the women's semifinal between Venus Williams and Justine Henin at Arthur Ashe.

If you feel like taking part in the coverage, chime in in the comments section or get me on AIM at ‘Jets20012.’

4:14: If Venus and Justine have a rally that lasts more than 10 seconds this sellout crowd might freakout. They were dead silent in the first match

4:15: Three early errors from Venus and an early break. Might she be nervous?

4:20: Janet Jackson is sitting in the Williams' family box, again. She was here earlier in the tournament.

Click 'Read More' for more live action!  read more »

As Jelena Jankovic was picking up some final things at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday after her loss to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, I asked her if Venus needed to pick up her level of play to beat Justine Henin later today, especially since she made 56 unforced errors in their match.  read more »

If Venus Williams goes on to win tomorrow night and then in the final, it will give the Williams sisters three of this year’s four Grand Slams -- an enormous comeback for them.

Yet, if we return to Mary Carillo’s point from two weeks ago -- that the Williams sisters haven’t lived to their potential -- here’s something that underscores it.

Serena Williams has finished only one year at number one; Venus Williams never has.  read more »

It wasn't a work of art from Venus in her match against Jelena Jankovic. She hit 56 unforced errors and had 8 double-faults. But when it came to a deciding third-set tiebreaker, she played her best tennis of the night.

"I felt really strong in the tiebreak, I felt fairly fresh," she said, "and I stopped missing, so that helped."

By contrast, Jankovic made errors at the key point and said she was so nervous that when she spoke to the crowd afterwards her voice was shaking.   read more »

Jelena Jankovic took advantage of a sluggish Venus Williams early in the first set and propelled herself to a 6-4 first set win. Venus Willimas was spraying balls and hitting sloppy errors. Venus found energy by the end of the set, but the wayward shots were still there. In the first set, Williams had 18 unforced errors and 3 double faults.

We've got a match.

UPDATE: The sleeping giant is up. Venus Williams just took the second set in less than 30 minutes, 6-1.

UPDATE 2: Venus prevails in tiebreak, 7-6 (4) in the third set.  

Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams just finished hitting some last-minute balls on the practice courts before their quarterfinal match tonight.

Jankovic was walking back into Arthur Ashe Stadium when she told me how she could win tonight. “I’m gonna have to lift my game from where it’s been over the last few matches,” she said.

Jankovic has played in two consecutive three-set matches, while Venus Williams has cruised to the quarters without dropping a set.  read more »

While everyone buzzes about the Venus Williams-Jelena Jankovic match later tonight, the semifinal on the bottom half is now set. It's the battle of Russians, if not exactly notable (or pronouncable) names. 2004 U.S. Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova will take on Anna Chakvetadze.

Both won easily today: Chakvetadze beat Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-1; Kuznetsova beat Agnes Szavay 6-1, 6-4.

One good thing for the USTA to make up for the lack of star power: They're both playing their best tennis.

No doubt freaked out that Svetlana Kuznetsova or Anna Chakvetadze would be the marquee players for a quarterfinals match on primetime on Wednesday night, the USTA just announced it has bumped the Venus Williams-Jelena Jankovic match from Tuesday to Wednesday.  read more »

There's probably only one person in the world who wasn't impressed with Venus Williams thoroughly swift dispatch of Ana Ivanovic. Her dad.

“I don’t think she played that great today,” said Richard Williams. “The second serve wasn’t doing anything. Venus wasn’t turning. She wasn’t meeting the serve return. She hit too many serves out.”

But Mr. Williams, she won 6-4, 6-2 against the no. 4 player in the world.

“Sometimes tennis scores doesn’t reflect how a person plays. In my opinion, Venus played bad.”  read more »

It’s the match of the tournament: the streaking Venus Williams versus the future star Ana Ivanovic.

The Serbian has never beaten Venus—or Serena for that matter.

“They both play very powerful,” she told me two weeks ago. “It’s still something I have to practice hard on because they don’t give me much time to play my game. They dominate—they are the ones dictating.”  read more »

Venus Williams' boyfriend, the injured PGA pro Hank Kuehne, has always preferred women's tennis.

"It's shorter and you have some better rallies," he said yesterday from the player's lounge. "I liked watching Michael Chang back in the day. Obviously Agassi. That's it as far as the men are concerned. I mainly watch women."

After enduring the anxiety of watching his girlfriend play this afternoon, tonight he'll also watch his friend Roger Clemens pitch
against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. They met through mutual friends in 2001 when Kuehne injured his shoulder in what he described as a "baseball injury."

"He's done a lot for me by helping me rehab my shoulder and getting me back into business," he said.

"I get really into it and I don't want to miss anything. I watch their body language a lot, and with Roger I'm watching his release point,
different things, just to know even if he struggles a little bit or somebody gets on base, I know he'll be fine if I see certain things."

Between watching Clemens and his girlfriend Williams, who he has been dating for eight months, it's taken a toll.

"It's fun to watch, but I'm getting old -- all the grays," he said, rubbing his salt-and-pepper goatee.

Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Marat Safin have all cruised to straight-set victories.

Venus looked a little shaky -- she had six double faults -- and Ivanovic was broken early before both settled down and steamrolled their opponents.

The most impressive performance of the afternoon goes to American Robby Ginepri, now ranked 64th, who won a blowout match 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.

Ginepri was a semifinalist in 2005 (he lost to Agassi) and was inside the Top 15 before turning in a 9-16 performance this year and falling to pieces.

According to this very good profile in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Ginepri a month ago named as his coach Jose Higueras, the guru who once guided Pete Sampras, Michael Chang and Jim Courier.

After a slow day yesterday, we're back to a really strong lineup of matches today.

Rafael Nadal debuts at the Open at Arthur Ashe, right after Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams finish up against their unknown opponents.

Streaky Marat Safin plays at 11 this morning on Louis Armstrong, followed by Justine Henin. Next door, at the very loud Grandstand there will be a delightful lineup full of Americans: Meghann Shaughnessy, Robby Ginepri, Mardy Fish and upstart Ahsha Rolle.

On Court 11, Elena Dementieva plays the second match, followed by former French Open Champion Carlos Moya. Over at Court 13 there are back-to-back matches featuring Spaniard Tommy Robredo and the lovable Marion Bartoli.

Match of the Day: giant American John Isner takes on South African Rik De Voest (10 inches shorter!) in the battle of 100-something seeds at night time in Louis Armstrong. The winner gets a crack at Roger Federer. Expect electricity.

Are the Williams sisters still a major mental block for the number one player in the world?

During a press briefing on Saturday, Justine Henin explained her shocking semifinal loss at Wimbledon to the delightfully out-of-shape Marian Bartoli by saying that she may have focused too much on Serena and Venus Williams.  read more »

TV analyst and ex-pro player Mary Carillo told reporters last week she thought five years ago that the Williams sisters would dominate and forever change women's tennis.

"I was dead wrong at that," she said.

It's not a new sentiment for Carillo, who told me last year in an interview that the Williams sisters "created a Tiger-like buzz" when they started winning, but never made a Tiger Woods-like imprint on the game because "they play so seldom."

   read more »

Welcome to the New York Observer's U.S. Open blog.

For the next 14 days, Spencer Morgan and I will be in and around the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing gathering stories, game analysis and observations from the tournament.

Stay with us, and please keep in touch (as often as you like) about what we’re doing and what else you’d like to see. We’ll do our best to oblige.  read more »