Venus Williams Tennis Super Star Into WTA Finals In Singapore

Venus Williams of the USA in action against Caroline Garcia of France during their singles semi-finals match of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals 2017 held at the Indoor Stadium in Singapore, 28 October 2017. EPA-EFE/WALLACE WOON

 

 

Venus Williams completes comeback against Caroline Garcia to reach Singapore final

 

It was another manifestation of the amazing legend of 37-year-old Venus Williams tonight in Singapore, coming back once again this tournament to stop the surge of France’s Caroline Garcia and reach another WTA Finals final after making her debut back in 1998, nearly 20 years on. In her second three-set battle of the tournament, the American seven-time major winner halted Garcia’s insane October form with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 win.

 

“You know, she played so well. You never know when the last point is going to end and going to go your way. To see that match over, you know, I was excited,” explained a jubilant Williams.

 

In the opening set nothing could separate Williams and Garcia, with only two breaks back to back early on leading to an opening set tiebreak. In the breaker it was Garcia’s ability to take care of her service points, winning two points on serve as every other point went to the returner to eventually fight past Williams and secure the first set 7-6.

 

As has been the theme throughout much of this tournament and the 2017 season, Venus refused to go away, breaking Garcia in her opening service game of the second set to go up 2-0. After fighting off a break point to get to 5-2, Williams dug in and amped up the pressure on her French opponent, breaking Garcia on her third chance to secure the second set 6-2 and once again force a decider in Singapore.

 

The third set was a very tight affair, as both Williams and Garcia possess excellent deciding set records, with the American former number one having fought through many key three-set matches and Garcia on a tear all month including back-to-back title wins in Wuhan and Beijing. Neither player would break until the eighth game when some tight errors from Garcia gifted the break away to Williams.

 

While the Frenchwoman has had an incredible run from 5-3 down in deciding sets the last month, this time it was not to be for Garcia as Williams’ 20 years of experience helped her save three break points while she served out the match and with it booked her spot in her third final of 2017 with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 win in Singapore.

 

Discussing the match, Williams said, “Yeah, I mean, I haven’t played her in a long time. It’s hard to gauge what to expect, you know, coming across the net. She’s improved her game so much. Of course I had a lot of respect for her. I think in the second and third I was able to figure it out a little more,” commented Williams.

 

Ironically, Venus came into the WTA Finals as the only player in the eight-person field without a title in 2017, yet the only one to have made two Grand Slam finals. Williams’ opponent in tomorrow’s title match will be another former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, who is in a tour-best eight final this season, but having gone 1-6 so far.

 

Asked about the matchup against the Dane, the seven-time major winner said, “At this level I think we’ve both improved our game. You have to to stay on tour. So I will see what she’s doing, see what’s working.”