Ok, let's get things out of the way so we can discuss this somewhat seriously. That "dress" is fug. It makes Venus look preggos, there is absolutely no rhyme or reason for any of it, and I am embarassed for whichever design school she claims to have graduated from. This has to be the result of a lost bet with Serena, right? I mean...THAT'S THE ONLY EXPLANATION! There cannot be any way Venus designed that, threw it on, and was like "That's hot." No fucking way.
Venus said afterwards it was an homage to Alice in Wonderland. First, I don't know if she's actually ever read Alice in Wonderland because that dress has nothing to do with it. Second, the only connection I can possibly think of is that she heard the rumor that Lewis Carrol was dropping acid when he wrote the book, which is totally untrue. But if that's the connection then she nailed it because I thought I was tripping balls when I clicked over and saw what was going on.
Ok. Now that that is out of my system...
That was some ridiculousness that you gutted out today. After dropping the first set to Zahlavova 75, Venus sustained a pretty horrible acute injury that she would later actually reveal (shocker) was some sort of strain to the psoas muscle, which, based on my quick Wikipediaing, is a major muscle group in the lower back, hip and thigh area. You guys, she was screaming in agony on court, limping, and she looked like she was going to cry. And we're talking about Marion Bartoli here. We're talking VENUS. Venus don't play 'dat.
Yet somehow, after leaving the court for an MTO, she gritted her teeth and somehow won the second set 6-0. It's not like Zahlavova was playing crap either. Even though the set went 6-0, Zahlavova had a lot of looks to make it tighter. From there, Venus would keep gritting and basically win this match on one leg. It was ridic.
We'll see how quickly she can recover, though. She's got Petko next.
And then there's Fran. That was her after her hard-fought match with Canuck Rebecca Marino, aka Robin Sparkles (I'd rather do Robin Sherbatsky but I know I'll mispell it all the time), who fought gamely and stayed with Fran throughout the match. I was super impressed. But in the end, Fran was able to finally get the break and serve it out. After the match she looked completely wiped and I'm not sure what was going on. She looked as though she was either going to pass out of puke. Dehydration? Whatever it is she's got a totally winnable one against Niculescu in the third round.
I have no idea how much either these two have left in their tanks. But their fight today was a marvel. That's how the big girls do it.
(Pics: Getty, AP)
