Venus Survives First Round in Miami

Sixty seconds into Venus Williams’ first round match against Dalila Jakupovic, and it looked as if this would be a match that the 25-year tour veteran wouldn’t even be finishing, never mind winning. Tossing in a 81 mph first serve to start things off, it was clear that Venus was incapacitated in some way, as she was completely unable to generate any power on her serve. But she never stopped fighting, and despite her debilitated serve and inability to get off the block to run down balls, Venus problem-solved her way to victory.

Her opponent, ranked at just 91 in the world, seemed unsettled by Venus’ injury right from the start. Despite this, Jakupovic was still able to get off to an early 4–2 lead, taking advantage of Venus’ immobility by hitting drop shots and strong service returns to the corners.

However, it was Venus who was able to rely on her decades of experience on the big stage to outlast Jakupovic, who was playing in her first main draw match at the WTA Premier Mandatory level. Venus would go on to win five of the next six games to take the first set 7–5, remaining aggressive off the first ball, but also recognizing that Jakupovic was error prone and playing consistent when necessary.

Clearly overwhelmed by the opportunity to get a win over a player of Venus’ caliber, Jakupovic simply imploded in the second set. Frustrated by not being able to win that first set against an injured Venus, the Slovenian came out in the second set spraying. Unable to get out of her own head, Jakupovic littered the stat sheet and quickly found herself down 5–1. To her credit, she eventually settled and began connecting a little more from the baseline, racking up a few winners. But as the elders say, it was too little, too late, as Venus was able to will her away across the finish line closing it out 7–5, 6–3.

While I’m impressed that Venus was able to get this win with her body at just 60% (being generous), it’s hard to imagine that she’ll be able to get much further playing at this level. Next up for her is 24th seeded Carla Suarez-Navarro, a player who has years of experience at the top level and has three career wins over Venus, her most recent coming four years ago in Miami.

The good news for Venus though is that Suarez-Navarro doesn’t have much power off the ground and her serve is pretty attackable, so theoretically Venus should be able to use the same game plan in this match that got her through the first round. Also, Venus just beat Suarez-Navarro pretty handily last week in Indian Wells.

But even if Venus is able to get past Carla, my question is, is it worth it? At this stage in her career, should Venus be pushing through injuries to play tour level events? With her body not at its best, I’m sure members of her camp have suggested that she sit out the rest of the hard court season, (and maybe even all of the clay court season) to give herself the best shot at making a run at Wimbledon. But that wouldn’t be Venus, now would it?

I hate to suggest it, but I have to ask…is this a sign that the legend is on the verge of retirement and choosing to power through to soak up every last moment?