Badass Motherfucker.
Ok, yes, the match royally sucked. After the first set, neither Nails or Venus could hold serve. To describe Venus' level of play as "shambolic" would be generous. But at the end of the day, you have to have the nerve and the guts to take these matches. Nails did that. In the final set, when she was serving for the match she went for the lines and didn't just sit back and wait for Venus to fuck up. All credit for that.
As for Venus, everyone's trying to figure out this horrible performance. How the hell do you get broken eight times when your name is Venus Williams? Serving double digit double faults doesn't help. But for all the headscratching going on all I have to say is this: Venus is getting older. Her age may not have determined this match, but it sure does explain her trend of choking in big matches that don't take place on grass. She's simply not the player she once was and she has difficulty with her consistency. And the thing about Venus, and the reason I like her more than her sister, is that she's self-aware and not insane. Normal people don't forget these losses and they do affect your confidence. And they creep up in the tight moments.
So we have two Chinese players in the semifinals. Pretty amazing.
