Venus shining Down Under
Williams will meet No. 1 seed Davenport in quarterfinals
Posted: Sunday January 24, 1999 09:55 AM
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Venus Williams (right) shakes hands with Chanda Rubin after defeating her 7-6, 6-4 AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- In one audacious rally, Venus Williams lunged for two volleys and leaped for three overheads, catching up to every drop shot and lob and line drive Chanda Rubin sent her way.
It was Williams at her acrobatic best Sunday at the Australian Open, putting on a dazzling show of inventive shots, winning the point at last with a backhand Rubin couldn't touch.
Williams trailed 3-4 in the second set at the time, but that rally started a run of three games that gave the No. 5 Williams a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory and put her into the Australian quarterfinals once more in her second visit Down Under.
"Usually I'm able to put those overheads away," Williams said. "But she kept getting them back."
Williams is likely to meet No. 1 Lindsay Davenport next, and the way the beaded 18-year-old played against Rubin, and the way she has improved with each match so far in the tournament, she is capable of beating anyone.
"Lindsay knows when she comes out to play me, she's got to play her best tennis," said Williams, who has lost six of their seven matches, though all but one has been very close. Four have gone to three sets.
"I think Venus moves a bit better, but Lindsay is more solid. It's always an interesting matchup," Rubin said.
Rubin, ranked No. 30, may not be the steady threat she was a few years ago, but she's on her way back. She reached the Australian semifinals in 1996, but three months later fractured a bone in her right hand. Rest didn't help, so she underwent surgery in August that year, and missed most of the rest of the season.
The road back was slow, but the 22-year-old Rubin showed signs in her matches here this year that indicated she might be ready to challenge the top players again. She played with power and poise and creativity against Williams, but was up against a foe who might have beaten anyone on this day.
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