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| | Monday, September 6 | |||||
Associated Press | ||||||
| NEW YORK -- Venus Williams is ready to win the U.S. Open.
That was two years ago, when she made her U.S. Open debut and landed spectacularly in the final -- only to fall victim to the pressure and the near perfect play of top-ranked Martina Hingis. "I guess it wasn't the right time," Williams said. The right time might be now. Williams cast herself as the favorite with a straight-sets thrashing Saturday of reigning U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport in the final of a tuneup tournament in New Haven, Conn. "In the past, Lindsay overpowered me," Williams, 19, said. "But I've gotten older and stronger, and I have better technique." That was evident in Williams' blistering groundstrokes, huge serves and quicker court coverage, all too much for the 23-year-old Davenport to handle."Venus is going to be tough to beat," Davenport said of Williams' chances at the Open. "She's athletic and extremely fast. Those are some great assets to have." Williams, who has won five titles this year, will enter the Open at a career-best No. 3 ranking. Though there will be four former U.S. Open champions -- Hingis, Davenport, Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario -- in the field when play starts Monday, Williams now knows she has the game and disposition to beat them all. Just as important, her rivals know it, too. Williams, who routed Seles before taking on Davenport in New Haven, has overcome her tendency to rush on the court and succumb to a flurry of errors. She doesn't let the pressure of big matches get to her as much anymore. She has broadened her arsenal to the point where she can win with long rallies as confidently as she win with her serve.The men's draw has all the usual suspects as potential champions -- No. 1 Pete Sampras going for his fifth U.S. Open title and a record 13th Grand Slam championship; No. 2 Andre Agassi seeking to build on his French Open victory and runner-up finish at Wimbledon; and Patrick Rafter looking for a third straight U.S. Open win. But newcomers could topple any of them, and none are more dangerous than the tall young Russian, Marat Safin, who faces Sampras in the first round. Mark Philippoussis, who played in his first Grand Slam final at last year's U.S. Open, withdrew from this year's tournament Saturday because of a knee injury.Felix Mantilla will be moved into the 11th-seeded Philippoussis' place in the draw and will be seeded 17th. Philippoussis injured the cartilage in his left knee in June during his quarterfinal match at Wimbledon with Sampras. After resting for about six weeks, he returned at Indianapolis two weeks ago and lost his first match. He withdrew from the Hamlet Cup last week. Last year, in the first all-Australian men's final at the U.S.
Open since 1970, Philippoussis lost to Rafter in four sets. |  | |||||
