TOKYO, Japan - A fourth Wimbledon crown and a return to the world's Top 10 are just a few of the achievements that have made this a true year of resurgence for Venus Williams, and this week - fresh off her third title of the year in Seoul - the American tries to keep the winning streak alive at the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships. Come along for the ride with one of the all-time greats in the latest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Blog.
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Monday, October 8, 2007
Hello from Bangkok!
Let me continue where I left off... First of all, of course I was disappointed I lost in the Tokyo final, but you can always learn from your losses and fight for your next win. That's pretty much my attitude and so I'm just focused on playing my best here in Bangkok, and hopefully winning another title. That's the goal.
After the final, we all just went out and enjoyed Tokyo. Obviously we went to karaoke, and obviously I did "Call Me" by Blondie - I'm a huge Blondie fan. I didn't last too long that night because I was so tired from the final. I had a few songs and that was it for me. I guess we're making going to karaoke a tradition when we're in Asia... and there's some in this hotel, which could be dangerous! I have some pictures from the other night, and I've attached one of us in front of the Tokyo Tower; it looks pretty cool. We were typical tourists that night!
Sorry for leaving you guys hanging yesterday. We were travelling pretty much all day and I was sleeping quite a while. I even got mad at Isha because she woke me up asking if I wanted to eat. Everybody who knows me knows that I'd choose sleep over eating. Everybody's banging on my door, trying to get into my room. I think I'll be doing some of that back to them soon so they can see how it feels! I just don't answer the door. People can text or e-mail me, and if I'm not there I am not getting up. Even at home I don't answer my door. I like my sleep!
Oh, I do have to tell you all I switched books. It's called Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones. It's a little fairy tale - it's great, it's happy and a lot of fun things are happening. It's helping me recover from that Ruins book! I left that one in Tokyo - and the worst part is that when I left the hotel, they tried to bring it back to me! I just couldn't get away from it... but I ended up getting away... Anyway, the new one is great. Isha spotted it in the Tokyo airport. I've switched genres. And it's right up my alley. Oh and you may have noticed from the picture that I've switched hairdos - I just got tired of my old one. I've had the afro a few times this year in Fed Cup, and some people have been asking if I'd be doing it again. So for the moment, I'm in the '70s. And it's RIGHTEOUS.
I've been informed my blog was the most-read blog ever on the Tour website - and of course I'm really excited about that. I'm excited everybody was reading along, seeing what I was up to and hoping I was going to make it through or not. I fell short but I really appreciate the support from all of you. I'd love to do a blog again next year; hopefully I can come back and break my own record!
I've also been told Vania King is blogging from Bangkok this week, which will be great. I don't know her too well but we see each other in the locker room and we talk about different things. I do know she's really, really nice. She's got lots of things to say and she's very well-spoken, so it'll be a great blog, I'm sure of it.
I want to say thanks again for all of the support; playing the Tour can be tough and I appreciate it all. Right now I'm feeling great, though. I'm hoping to live it up here in Thailand and hopefully bring home another title.
I'll talk to you all again soon!!
xxx
Venus
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Saturday, October 6, 2007
Hey everyone,
Unfortunately, I lost to Razzano in the final today. She managed to play really well at all the right moments, so congratulations to her. I wasn't tired - I was feeling pretty fit. It's a very good win. She's having a great year. I was having a problem with my right hip - it started in the first set, and finally in the third set I had to take a medical timeout to get taped or something. I kept playing though, because I really wanted to win. I fought hard. She was just playing really well.
Anyway it's past midnight and I really need to get some sleep, because I fly out to Bangkok in the morning. But I'll try my best to talk to you all from there...
xxx
Venus
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Friday, October 5, 2007
Hey everybody,
I didn't have the greatest start to the day. First of all, I woke up to my mom pounding on the door like it was the police - I thought something bad happened or maybe I slept through something and it wasn't either of those! Although I'm never really on time for anything. I only wake up on the nick of time and rush to everything - to breakfast, to the courts - and I'm normally running late. I should have packed my bag last night, too, because when I got out to the courts in the morning I realized I'd forgotten half of my outfit in the hotel room. I'll usually bring two full outfits just in case something goes wrong but all I had today was one skirt. Fortunately, I had a white, sleeveless warm-up shirt with the EleVen logo on the back so I wore that, and nobody really noticed... Pretty smooth!
My match was challenging, what can I say? My opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, got a couple of breaks but I got them back, and she got a lot of balls back too. I had to conquer a really good opponent today. She fell and twisted her ankle at one point but she got back up and everything seemed to be fine after that. And she was still tough. What was working for me today was my will to win, to just hit the ball and play every point. As a professional I should be able to do that, right?
I was thinking of going to the Imperial Palace this afternoon, but my mom told me I should go back to the hotel and that was the end of it! So I ended up not going anywhere I wanted to. I guess I could have gone if I really wanted to, but I was tired so I saw it as an opportunity to get some of my work done. What am I working on... well, I finished my swimsuit drawings yesterday and today I have been finishing up quick sketches of my children's wear ideas. Now I'm thinking about my board concepts and have started on those. I'm really getting into it.
I started a new book today and someone has already died. But, it's much better than the other book because I'm sure not everyone dies. One person dying I can deal with! It's called "The Righteous Men" by Sam Bourne. I didn't pick it for any particular reason, I just pick 'em as I see 'em and just hope for the best. I was in the airport and saw this one and decided I would try to read it.
Tonight I'm just going to keep working on this - I've been doing work for four hours now which is an improvement from me, so I'm very excited. I'm just going to take it from here. I'm not caught up, though. I slacked off a lot this week and last week in Korea so I'm going to have to punish myself on the next plane ride by doing some more. Usually I like to sleep on the plane, but not this time...
