Venus Williams vs. Diane Parry
This tennis thing is getting to be a habit with Venus. So far this year, the former No. 1 has played in Auckland, Hobart, Melbourne, Austin and now Indian Wells. That comes after a summer where she competed in three hard-court events in the States. In between she got married for the first time at 45.
As that last sentence may indicate, Venus has never danced to anyone else’s drummer. She says she’s still training as hard as ever, and seems as enthusiastic about her tennis future as ever.
“I’m getting so many things right, but, you know, there had been a lack of playing matches,” she said in Australia. “So I’m playing well. I’m setting myself up each point to win points and controlling the points.”
To play more matches, you need to win more matches, and Venus has yet to start doing that again. Since last summer, she’s 1-7. But she’s not wrong about her level and her ability to hang with her opponents. Three of her losses—including one to Karolina Muchova—have come in three sets.
Can she get over the hump against Parry in the big stadium on Thursday afternoon? It’s possible. The Frenchwoman, who is half Venus’s age, is ranked 111th. She has good hands and timing, a versatile one-handed backhand, and she has already won two matches to qualify. At 5’7″, though, she’ll give up a lot of height and power to the American.
These days, Venus’ level can swing wildly from set to set and match to match. I’ll say the Indian Wells crowd will help her keep that level high enough, for long enough, this time. Winner: Williams