If Maria
Sharapova collides with Venus Williams in the third round of the Australian
Open this week, they might both be so short of court time that the Russian and
the American could be on closer terms than anyone would have imagined a week
ago.
Sharapova,
last year's beaten finalist, flexed her 25-year-old muscles ever so briefly on
day one, while Venus, 32 but apparently fit again, reminded us in a similarly
impressive blitz that she might yet have something to add to her glittering CV
– just as her sister, Serena, proclaimed before the start of the tournament.
All of a sudden the women's draw is bubbling up with unexpected promise.
The Russian,
seeded No2, will probably need more than the 58 minutes she took to
double-bagel her compatriot Olga Puchkova when she faces Japan's Misaki Doi in
the second round; she might even wish it were so, because she learned little
from her opening workout other than most facets of her game are in good working
order.
Williams,
meanwhile, took only two minutes longer to overwhelm Galina Voskoboeva, and
will be bursting with confidence against Alizé Cornet of France, who had to
fight all the way against the New Zealander Marina Erakovic.
It is good
to see a smile on Williams's face after all she has been through over the past
couple of years, and she was relaxed enough to talk with a lighter heart about
her ongoing recovery from the auto-immune disease that still has the insidious
power to leave her devastated. Asked about her switch to a vegan diet, the
food-loving Williams revealed she is not exactly addicted to the regime,
describing herself as a "cheagan".
She said:
"If it's on your plate I might get to cheat. If you're sitting next to me,
good luck. You turn your head once and your food might be gone. I'm not
perfect, but I try."
She is
philosophical about entering her 18th year as a Tour professional, owner of
seven grand slam titles yet somehow regarded now as marginal in the run for big
titles.
"My
goals in '95, I didn't even know what I was doing," she admitted. "I
just thought I had a dream and thought I could do it. Now I have done a lot of
things and I don't really have anything to prove except for I have my desire to
play and to play well. That really is what it's about at this point. I think
what I have learned more than anything is to focus on the things I can
accomplish and not to think about the things that I can't do [because of the
disease]."
A fit and
relaxed Venus Williams in that mood is probably as dangerous an opponent as
Sharapova could face in the first week of a slam.
Heather
Watson, who followed Cornet on to Court 13, did not look in quite such good
shape, however, during a three-set struggle to overcome Romania's Alexandra
Cadantu.
Her next
task on the side of the draw that contains the delightful skills of fourth seed
Agnieszka Radwanska is against Ksenia Pervak, who finished a tough three-setter
against 32nd seed Mona Barthel in the fading twilight on day one. A win there,
and Watson gets Radwanska, but she has some work to do.
She revealed
after dragging herself off court that her energy levels dropped alarmingly the
very minute she hit up, and said she would seek medical advice after cramping
up later in the match. "At the beginning I definitely wasn't there,"
she said. "I wasn't playing well."
Nonetheless,
she has retained the buzz that came from winning her first WTA Tour event late
last year and is unafraid to talk about her prospects now more in expectation
than hope.
"I feel
a lot more confident," she said. "I believe in myself. Like this
match, I always felt I should have won, and if I didn't I would have been
extremely disappointed. I'm using this confidence to push myself more in my
training, make sure I'm working hard every day and not having a slack
day."
Did she
think she could beat anyone on the Tour now? A smile, a pause and a quiet but
firm answer followed: "Yeah, I do." That is not something she would
have dared utter a year ago.
A major part
of maturing as a growing threat has been attention to detail in her training
and diet. "The way I go about things, I just want to be more
professional," she said, "like what I'm eating, things in my diet,
making sure I get enough sleep, doing the right things before and after a
match. Just small things, but they make a big difference."
She has had
to cut back on the sort of devilish treats that do not sit well in such a
strict regime, although not totally.
"It's
really tough. Three days ago I had one of these Oreo cakes in the cafeteria.
Oh, it was so good. But I'm not going to have another one … well, until next
month."
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