Thoughts of Venus and Wembanyama

The comparison is about time.  Also about talent and courage.  But isn't that always the situation in sport, where the world seems to turn at a speed that leaves us perplexed?

There she was, Venus Willams, all forehands and courage, reaching deep into her game and soul trying to preserve a career of greatness.

There he was, Victor Wembanyama, all smiles and potential, preparing to meet the media and expectations as he readied for a career in professional basketball where so many say he is destined for greatness.

Two athletes in two different sports and one thought. The future keeps challenging the past.

Venus just turned 43, an age when most tennis stars have left the courts and left us with memories of when they were young.

But part of what made Venus a champion, as with her younger sister Serena, is a relentless determination. Give her a racquet and let her slam her way to the Grand Slams.

She will be the one to decide when to retire, and why not?

It was an afternoon in Birmingham, England, where the Rothesay Classic, one of the many grass court preludes to Wimbledon was underway. The Tennis Channel was on the scene. And Venus was on a roll, ahead, 2-0 in the third set.

You're thinking, maybe it's the year 2000 once more. Maybe Venus' persistence — and our hopes — will be rewarded. But hopes are no match for youth. Williams suddenly seemed ancient, a relic.

Ostapenko, 26, a former French Open champion, won 10 straight points and eventually the match 6-3,5-7, 6-3. Inevitability, probably?  Dreams and drop shots die hard.

Still, Venus will not back off, and that is fine. She's earned her position and it shows. 

She can't hurt anyone except maybe her long-time fans, who are stung by the decline. Her competitors are more understanding.  

"She's a great champion, and that hasn't gone anywhere," Ostapenko said of Williams. "That's always going to be with her. She's an idol to a lot of people, so it was very special (to play her). That's why I got a little bit tight in the second set.”

Whether Wembanyama, the 7-foot-Frenchman who's had NBA executives in a frenzy, attains idol status is yet to be learned, but at 19 supposedly he's the man to dominate the NBA.

That the league draft came on television only a short time after the end of Venus Williams’ loss was ironic, the new kid taking his place shortly after the champion relegated hers.

Venus was only 14, her hair in white beads, when she made her professional debut at Oakland in October 1994.

Tennis was never the same.

We someday might say the same thing about the NBA because of Victor Wembanyama.