Venus soars to send Sharapova packing

Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 05 July 2007 / Leave a Comment

Three-time winner Venus Williams disposed of 2004 champion Maria Sharapova - then fired a Wimbledon warning by claiming she had more in reserve than her opponents.

The American turned in her most impressive performance of this year's tournament to eventually demolish second seed Sharapova 6-1 6-3 in less than an hour and set up a last-eight showdown with another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Her victory was aided by an error-strewn Sharapova but the manner in which Williams set about her opponent had SW19 onlookers enthralled.

Williams, who has endured a stop-start 2007 because of a wrist injury, is the 1.42 favourite in Betfair's Match Odds market to beat Kuznetsova (3.35) and is also next best (5) behind red-hot favourite Justine Henin in the outright winner's market to claim her fourth title.

The 27-year-old admitted she was happy with her form and felt she was coming close to top gear at just the right time.
"In my whole life I've been a big-match player," Williams said. "I always feel very confident.

"The only thing that can happen is if I make some errors, them my opponent can get in the match. Today those errors weren't there.

"I always believe in me. There's times when I'm not 100% and that makes it a lot tougher, especially for my preparation coming into a tournament.

"But I always believe in my game. I know I have a huge game. I know I have a lot of stuff that a lot of players don't have.

"I've had so much time off in my career, especially in the last few years I've just been MIA (missing in action).
"I definitely feel I have extra fuel in the tank than maybe other players who have played a lot more than I have."