Rain on the new Open roof — and noise underneath

By Art Spander

NEW YORK — People seem to be fascinated by what’s over their heads. Didn’t the Drifters have a hit song in the 1960s, “Up on the Roof"? And every time there’s a new stadium that’s under cover, such as the Astrodome, bless its history, or an old stadium that’s under new cover, such as Wimbledon Centre Court, we’re enthralled.

When the Astrodome opened in 1965 with an exhibition game between the Astros (neé the Colt .45s) and the Yankees, there was a home run by Mickey Mantle and complaints that no one could see the ball through the then-translucent roof. Still, so enamored were we by the structure that it was proclaimed the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Such naiveté.

Now there are domed stadia, ballparks and arenas, some of the coverings permanent, some retractable, from Seattle (Safeco Field, retractable) to New Orleans (the Superdome, permanent). And still we can’t get enough, especially the officials who have a new toy.

Centre Court at Wimbledon needed a roof practically since Victoria was queen of England. The 2000 men’s final, won by Pete Sampras, was halted so many times by rain it lasted seven hours. Naturally, when at last the $120 million retractable covering was ready, for the 2009 tournament, the weather was beautiful until early in the second week a few drops dripped. Elation. Close the roof. Thank you, Mother Nature.

So it was here at Flushing Meadows for the U.S. Open tennis championships. Five years running, 2010-14, the men’s final had to be delayed or postponed by everything from hurricanes to drizzles. Call in the architects. The new roof over the main court, at 23,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, was finished a few weeks ago. U.S. Tennis Association officials even had media previews of the closing and opening.

Hey, if you can’t interview Roger Federer, that’s the next best thing.

All day Monday and Tuesday, like people watching for an invading force, Open execs searched the skies for even a cloud. Nothing. Finally, Wednesday, it turned. A bit of rain Wednesday evening. A great deal of joy for the USTA, if not for Rafael Nadal and Andreas Seppi, who competed in the first indoor match ever for the Open. If not the last.

Thursday was wet, and play was chased from the outdoor courts for a long while. But not from Ashe, where the stars performed. Andy Murray, the No. 2 seed, beat Marcel Granollers in straight sets. Then Venus Williams won over Julia Georges. It was different, but it was tennis.

No roars from jets ascending from LaGuardia but a constant din, like 5,000 crickets chirping or neighbors talking gossip across the back fence. As at all roofed stadiums, whatever the sport, the noise was unavoidable, although not particularly irritating.

“I don’t think it was too different to the other night when I played,” said Murray, referring to Tuesday, when he played the late match with the roof open at the Open. “But when the rain came, it was certainly loud.”

Murray the Brit (he’s Scottish not English) not surprisingly was selected on that night in June 2009 to be part of first full match under the Wimbledon roof. There were gasps and then cheers when the mechanism was deployed.

Murray was not totally overjoyed by what he heard at Arthur Ashe Stadium, or more specifically what he didn’t hear. It’s as if the tennis is being played in a hangar.

“You can’t hear anything, really,” said Murray. “I mean you could hear the line calls but not so much when the opponents — you know, when he was hitting the ball or you were hitting the ball.

“We’re not used to it. That’s what make it so challenging. Because we use our ears when we play. It’s not just the eyes. It helps us pick up the speed of the ball, the spin that’s on the ball, how hard someone’s hitting it.”

Venus Williams, in her 18^th U.S. Open, was unperturbed by what others considered by the noise or anything else.

“You know,” she said about the pre-roofed Ashe Stadium, “there was a lot of noise last year. Over time you start to forget about the noise. So I think as a player, the higher the stakes the less you year. I do enjoy the quiet.”

To which one must add, “Shhhh.”

Venus Williams remains ageless and remarkable

By Art Spander

NEW YORK — The years go on and, for Venus Williams, so do the games. She is long past the point of no return — and interpret that any way you choose. The serves no longer are ferocious, but they are effective. More importantly, her tennis is timeless.

No one asks her when she’ll retire. Or even if she’ll retire. And why should she?

Venus can live with the game she plays at 36, which unsurprisingly isn’t the one she had at 26. If there are no more Grand Slam championships, there at least is a sense of accomplishment.

It’s her younger sister, Serena, who has been atop the women’s tennis stairway, the way 15 years ago Venus was in that enviable position. On Monday, Venus, in her opening match of the 2016 U.S. Open, was in the final slot of the afternoon program at Arthur Ashe Court, a winner, if not easily, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, in 2 hours and 42 minutes over Kateryna Kozlova of the Ukraine.

Then, when Venus was being debriefed in the main interview room below the stadium, Serena, the No. 1 seed, was on court, defeating Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, 6-3, 6-3.

“I always admired her game,” Venus said in sisterly admiration of Serena, who will be 35 in September. “Just so fearless.”

Of Venus, we could say, just so amazing. Tennis is a sport that wrenches wrists and ruins ankles and knees. No less, it wears out psyches. There comes a moment when a player, having hit balls since she or he was a child, says, “That’s it, enough.” But Venus never gets enough.

Maybe because she has a fashion house — the New York Times ran a full spread on the designing and planning of dresses and tops — which gets her far enough away from tennis that it’s almost an escape to get back. Not the other way around.

Venus has appeared in the four Grand Slam events a total of 72 times, more than anyone else. When told, she replied, “That’s crazy.” More accurately, that’s persistence.

“I’m grateful and I’m blessed,” she said about a career that began in a tournament at what then was the Oakland Coliseum Arena in 1994. “All I’m hoping for is just health that I can keep the record going.

“I don’t know when I’m going to stop playing. I don’t have any plans now. I’m playing too well to be thinking about stopping. I appear to be getting better and better each and every month.”

An exaggeration, but an allowable one. When in 2011 she disclosed she had been stricken with an autoimmune disorder, Sjogren’s syndrome, the suspicion was Williams was finished as a competitive player. And for a few tournaments she appeared to lack energy, although not intent.

Then these past few months, Williams for the first time in seven years made it to the Wimbledon semifinals, the finals of the Bank of the West Classic and, with Rajeev Ram, the finals of the Olympics mixed doubles, indicating that she still was a factor.

“As an athlete,” she said, “you’re always aiming for perfection. You want more and more. It’s never enough.”

That thought would be echoed by the American public, which in a sport built upon personalities and recognition, there are virtually no substitutes at the time for Venus or Serena, the one-two punch for every tournament in the U.S.

Asked what she loves the most about tennis, Venus had an emotional response. “I love that I love it,” she said. “So when you love something you put the work in.

“I love the challenge. Definitely I like the pressure. I like high stakes. All of that makes it just perfect for my personality.”

And makes Venus perfect for tennis. She’s ageless and remarkable, a legend who refuses to stop acting and playing like one. The game has been fortunate to have her.

Newsday (N.Y.): Serena Williams reaches Wimbledon final, but sister Venus ousted in semis

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — Serena Williams never lost her serve. Sister Venus had trouble even holding hers. And so one last all-Williams final at Wimbledon, where they’ve made so much history — and, in Serena’s case, still making it — is not to be.

Serena needed only 48 minutes to crush Russia’s bewildered Elena Vesnina, 6-2, 6-0, on Thursday in the first women’s semifinal on Centre Court, dropping only three of a possible 31 points on her serve. “Serve is very important for me,” Serena affirmed.

Read the full story here. 

Copyright © 2016 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Federer, Venus keep beating time Father Time — and opponents

By Art Spander

WIMBLEDON, England — It’s the old guy who’s taking the beating. Not Roger Federer. Not, on the ladies side, Venus Williams. It’s Father Time — Mother Time, if you will — getting smacked around like one of those official Slazenger balls they use at Wimbledon.

We keep hearing about the next generation, about the youth movement, about the future of tennis. So far this Wimbledon, future is very much of the past, of two players who, as Federer’s former coach Paul Annacone said about his onetime pupil, “wrestled Father Time to a stalemate.”

Federer did better than that against Marin Cilic, Thumped him but good. Came from two sets down in their quarter-final Wednesday, came from a situation where we were hoping Federer, a month from his 35th birthday, wouldn’t be embarrassed by Marin Cilic.

But it was Cilic who was not so much embarrassed as stunned. Federer saved three match points, beat Cilic 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, and now will face the Canadian Milos Raonic in one of Friday’s semis.

Venus, of course, advanced Tuesday. Her semi is Thursday against Angelique Kerber, and because Kerber — the Australian Open champion who beat Venus’ sister Serena in the final in January — is eight years younger than 36-year-old Venus, you’d think Kerber would win.

But we also thought Cilic, after winning the first two sets, would win. Especially because we thought Federer was too old. On the contrary, he’s too good. Maybe he doesn’t win an eighth Wimbledon. Maybe he doesn’t win an 18th Grand Slam. What he’s done is enough. Now and forever.

Federer saved seven breakpoints out of eight. Three of those were match points. Against Cilic, who won the U.S. Open in 2014, against a man with a huge serve and a big forehand. Against a player who had Federer off balance and out of sorts.

“Yeah, I mean I remember just being in trouble the whole time,” agreed Federer.

What others will remember is that Roger Federer somehow won a match even he was unsure he could win. “It’s not like, ‘Oh my God,’ all of a sudden there’s match point, all of a sudden there’s a breakpoint to save," he said. "It just was continuous, for an hour or two. After I lost the second set, anything you touch and do is crucial.

“You always know at that point, as well, he’s going to have his chances.”

Chances mean little unless they can be used to one’s advantage. “Huge disappointment for me losing this way,” said Cilic. How many times do you think that thought has appeared after matches against Federer? You have him beat. Then you don’t. All the magic without a rabbit or a hat.

“I managed to hit pretty good shots,” said Cilic, “but he ended up hitting great passes. Nothing that I could do there.”

In another semi, Raonic made Sam Querrey feel much the same. Querrey, who was born in San Francisco and grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, was the first American male to get to the Wimbledon quarters since Mardy Fish in 2011. Querrey had upset top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the third round. Against Raonic, he was always trailing — other than the third set.

“I felt like I had some momentum there,” said Querrey. “Had a breakpoint the first game of the fourth set. If I can somehow get that point, it might change the match around, move it more to 50-50. He threw in a good kick serve as a first serve, which he hadn’t done. Then I was back on my heels a little bit, kind of always playing catch up.”

Then Raonic was headed for a 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 victory and a battle against Federer. “I’m happy to have another shot at him,” said Raonic. So, of course, was Cilic.

“He plays at a great level most of the time,” said Cilic of Federer. “His physique allows him to play an aggressive game. From the back court, players can’t hurt him.

“He’s not superhuman. But I don’t believe he’s slowing down. He possesses great speed. That’s something you’re born with.”

Whether he was born with a fighting spirit doesn’t matter. He has it. So does Venus Williams. They keep beating the old guy.

S.F. Examiner: No Slam talk: Serena shuts it down after beating Venus

By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

WIMBLEDON, England — Time had stopped, more accurately gone backward. The Williams sisters were at it once more, powering serves, ripping forehands, making us feel young again, making us feel part of an era when women’s tennis was distilled down to two names, Venus and Serena.

“Come on Williams!” a voice shouted during the first set of their Wimbledon fourth-rounder, and laughter rippled around Centre Court. Yeah, come on Williams, because out there in the sunshine and history, reprising an act that never gets boring, a Williams would succeed.

Read the full story here.

©2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: No black bras, green headbands at 21st-century Wimbledon

By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

WIMBLEDON, England — The authorities are making underwear checks at Wimbledon. But only for the women, of course. “It’s creepy,” said Caroline Wozniacki, one of the top female players and social media targets. The ladies get equal pay at The Championships, but very unequal scrutiny.

It’s still the 19th Century around here. Eugenie Bouchard, the Canadian, reportedly was fined the other day for wearing a black bra under the obligatory white blouse, causing Claire Cohen of the Telegraph to write, “It’s 2015 and we’re still discussing female tennis players’ lingerie over their performance on court.”

Read the full story here.

©2015 The San Francisco Examiner

Venus: ‘I can look back with no regrets’

By Art Spander

WIMBLEDON, England — She won a match Wednesday, beat a woman, Kurumi Nara, even lower in the rankings than she is. Venus Williams kept herself in Wimbledon and kept the doubters at a distance, neither of which is a small task.

Williams was 34 a few days ago. That’s ancient in tennis. Her 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory in a match that began just after 11:30 a.m. put her into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2013 Australian Open, a span of six events.

She still can bring it, but probably against women who never brought it.

These are strange times for Venus, who sits at No. 31 in the WTA standings — sister Serena is first — and is beset by an autoimmune disorder, Sjogren’s syndrome, that causes fatigue.

She keeps playing competitively, which is both admirable and perplexing. Watching her get bumped out of the Australian Open in the first round or the French Open in the second becomes unsettling.

We remember the way it was and cringe at the way it is.

Not that Venus or any other athlete is required to please us, if she can please herself.

Chris Evert, as the years grew and her placement in the rankings declined, asked rhetorically what was wrong with just reaching the semifinals or the quarters. All Evert knew was tennis. All Venus knows is tennis.

A week ago, the concern in sports was Lucy Li. Some insisted the 11-year-old from Northern California was too young to play in the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship. Now we worry about Venus Williams being too old to play tennis.

Venus called her victory “a step in the right direction,” although her game, a victim of time and Sjogren’s, has been going in the wrong direction.

Twenty years she’s been at it, reaching the summit, winning the titles. A long time, a far distance, reasons to remember the past more than to consider the future.

It was a cool evening in Oakland, almost 20 years ago, Halloween night 1994, when a 14-year-old from Compton with beads in her hair faced pros from the WTA in her debut. Venus beat Shaun Stafford, who predicted, “She’s going to be great for women’s tennis.” That Williams lost the next match to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario didn’t matter a bit.

So many possibilities. So much excitement. Now, so many questions, most dismissed by Venus, who at times acts and talks as if nothing has changed from the golden era of victories at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.

Asked if she even considered the match against Nara could be her last singles ever at Wimbledon, Williams was perturbed. “No,” she said, “I definitely don’t think that way. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”

An odd phrase, in a way, when she will not agree to a summing up of her career.

Derek Jeter can take his victory lap. Venus Williams is taking her time, lingering as long as possible in the only world she has known since a teenager.

It’s basically one Williams in the spotlight, Serena, who is 32 but the tournament’s No. 1 seed. Venus is out there on the fringe, being questioned on what it’s like when she and Serena both are in the second week of major championship, as once they were.

“I think we motivate each other,” said Venus. “We want to see each other win. I guess I haven’t held up my end of the bargain. I tried. I just haven’t had the luck I wanted.”

Without the Sjogren’s, for which she was diagnosed in 2011, she’s a better player. However, tennis is a sport of the young, and healthy or not, a 34-year-old is at a disadvantage. The kid across the net has the reflexes you used to have. Perception is no substitute for reaction.

“Wisdom has served me well,” countered Venus when reminded of her age. “I’ve worn my sunscreen, so I haven’t aged terribly. My knees are very tight, not saggy. And the crow’s feet have been kept at bay. So I’ll give myself an A-plus.”

She looks fine. It’s her tennis that’s saggy, not the knees. Still, she’s not prepared to surrender to any opponent, including Father Time.  

“I don’t like watching it on TV,” she said when asked what keeps her going. “I want to be out there. I’m not about the easy thing. Life is a challenge. For me, when I leave tennis, I want it to be on my own terms.

“I want to look back with no regrets. So far in my career I can do that. Everyone messes up. Everyone chokes. Everyone gets tight. Everyone loses matches they should have won. But as long as you walked out there and gave it your all, you can look back with no regrets.”

Yes, wisdom has served her well. Very well.

RealClearSports: 'Tough-as-Nails' Venus Out in 1st Round

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England — The response was a fusion of philosophy and defiance. A champion never concedes, which is why she is a champion. For a decade, Venus Williams, a queen here in a land of royalty, unquestionably was a champion of grace and grandeur.

Now, in one of those awful twists of fate, Venus has been stricken by an autoimmune disease named Sjogren's Syndrome, which has sapped her strength and stolen her brilliance.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2012

SF Examiner: In the aftermath of the tragedy of 9/11, we've grown stronger

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

It was supposed to be the men’s singles final today, but fate and the weather have upset the schedule. On this painful anniversary, on a court in a complex only a few miles from ground zero, it will be the ladies who take the stage at the U.S. Open.

Aside the Long Island Expressway from Manhattan to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, a route contestants, officials and media travel, there is a billboard with only three words: “Honor. Remember. Unite.”



Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Disease Puts Venus' Career in Jeopardy

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NEW YORK — There is always skepticism about the Williams sisters, some of it unjustified, some of it very logical.



The questionable injuries, such as when Venus pulled out four minutes before a scheduled semifinal against Serena at Indian Wells because of tendinitis.

The often expressed belief, especially among other players ...

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

SF Examiner: Sun appears to be setting on Giants' season, Venus Williams’ career

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

It was here in the Big Apple 60 years ago that Chuck Dressen, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, declared in a statement that some English teachers defended on the grounds a team is a collective noun, “The Giants is dead.”

The New York Giants weren’t — coming back from a 13½-game August deficit to force a playoff with the Dodgers, which resulted in the “Shot Heard ’Round the World,” by Bobby Thomson.



Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

Newsday (N.Y.): Venus, Serena, Wozniacki out at Wimbledon

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — They were talking of what could be. But on the warm Monday when Serena and Venus Williams, within two hours of each other, were ousted from Wimbledon, the issue should be of what was.

They had been the prima donnas, in the positive context of the term, of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships. One or the other won the previous four years — Serena in 2010, 2009, Venus in 2008, 2007 — and nine of the last 11.

The domination came to a halt as the second week of the 145th Wimbledon began, Marion Bartoli of France stopping an erratically hitting Serena, 6-3, 7-6 (6), in one fourth-round match and Tsvetana Pironkova defeating Venus, 6-2, 6-3, in another. That was the same score Pironkova, of Bulgaria, beat Venus last year in a quarterfinal.

Were they upsets? Perhaps, although with the Williamses coming off long absences because of health problems, perhaps not. Were they surprises? Absolutely, as was 24th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova's 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over the top seed, Caroline Wozniacki, who despite her place on top of the WTA rankings never has won a Grand Slam event.

A minor surprise on the men's side was the 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 triumph by Mardy Fish overTomas Berdych, one of last year's finalists. Fish, unexpectedly, guaranteed the United States would not go without someone in either men's or women's quarterfinals for the first time since 2006 and only the second time since 1911.

Venus, 31, hadn't played for five months because of a strained hip flexor until coming back two weeks ago. Serena was out nearly a year. She severely cut her right foot stepping on glass a week after winning Wimbledon, then was diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary thrombosis, and finally developed a hematoma that required surgery.

"Considering my condition," said Serena, "I think I really did well. I never came here thinking I would lose. I was able to hang in there, and I can only get better. And that potentially can be really scary, because I can only go up from here, and I can do so much more."

Venus described her play against the 5-10 Pironkova, who has defeated her three times in a row, as "inexplicable." Venus missed overheads, swinging volleys, "shots I never miss."

But Venus reminded that both Williams sisters "hit the ground running," because they didn't want to miss another Grand Slam tournament.

"At least I wasn't making errors trying to keep the ball in," Venus said. "I made errors that normally would go as winners. So those balls will land pretty soon . . . I got ready for this tournament so fast. You wouldn't believe how quick it happened. With more time I can definitely play better.''

Serena, who will be 30 in September, tried to be philosophical. "Even if today I lost," she said, "I was able to kind of hang in there and play tough . . . I would have been sad being at home and watching it on TV, like I'm going to be soon."

The thought of some in tennis is it would have been sad for women's tennis if, with so little preparation, either Serena or Venus won. Could she appreciate that? "Yeah," Serena said sarcastically, "I'm super happy I lost. Go women's tennis."

- - - - - -

http://www.newsday.com/sports/tennis/venus-serena-wozniacki-out-at-wimbledon-1.2988416
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Yahoo! Sports: End of an era? Williams sisters both lose

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange

WIMBLEDON, England — For a decade, it had been their tournament. You almost could have renamed it the All Williams Lawn Court Tennis Championships. Now Wimbledon will belong to someone else, maybe just this year, maybe forever.

Either Venus or Serena Williams had been the women's singles winner the last four years—Venus in 2007 and 2008, Serena in 2009 and 2010—and nine of the last 11 years.

Sisters in command. But no longer.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.

SF Examiner: Never count out this Williams sister

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The career began on an autumn evening 17 years ago in a tournament at the old Oakland Arena. Venus Williams doesn’t even want to think about it ending, although for a while Wednesday others did consider the possibility.

This is what happens in women’s tennis when ...

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

CBSSports.com: Error-prone Venus comes up short in winning yet another Slam

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- Too many errors. Venus Williams made that concession, but isn't that always the way it is for the loser, whatever the sport?

Too many errors and something she wouldn't concede -- too many years.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: Venus: Last Hope in Non-U.S. Open

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NEW YORK -- The title of her new book is a terse summation of the woman. "Come to Win'' is Venus Williams' approach to life and tennis. And through a career remarkably long, she has won. But not lately.

So much is linked to Venus in the "How come they call it the U.S. Open when nobody in the U.S. can play anymore?'' Other than Serena Williams, who's out with an injury. And other than older sister Venus, who's battling the years along with her opponents.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

CBSSports.com: This U.S. Open coming up short on Americans

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- One singular sensation. A song lyric from A Chorus Line. A fact of tennis from the not-so-U.S. Open. The last two Americans went back-to-back Tuesday on a court named for a historic American, Arthur Ashe, and only one managed to survive.

Out went Sam Querrey, if stubbornly, and after he disappeared from view, from the draw, on came Venus Williams, who wasn't going anywhere, except to the semifinals.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Venus had Peer's back in Dubai, and Peer never forgot

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- One is an African-American. The other is an Israeli. They've faced each other across a net more than once, including Sunday in the U.S. Open, but more than rivals they are friends, linked by the discrimination they've faced.

Venus Williams you know. She's a Grand Slam champion, and she took a step toward another Slam by beating Shahar Peer, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, in the third round of the U.S. Open.

Then again, maybe this is the Venus Williams you don't know.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: Sweat and Panic Fill Big Apple Summer

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NEW YORK -- Hot, baby. Maybe not enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, but plenty hot. Literally -- on-court temperature Tuesday afternoon during the U.S. Open was something like 110 degrees -- symbolically, as the headlines indicate.

This is always the best time of the year in, to modify that Snapple commercial a bit, the best sporting place on earth. There's sweat. And panic, the two staples of a New York sporting summer. There's variety.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

CBSSports.com: Venus lone woman to carry Stripes at U.S. Open

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- Not so very long ago, Venus Williams was a tennis ingenue, the kid with beads in her hair and fire in her serve. Now, as U.S. women's tennis sinks to levels once unimagined, she has become the savior.

It's hard to believe that with her younger sister Serena, the world's top player, missing because of an injury, Venus is the only American among the 32 seeded women in the U.S. Open.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.