Whenever Venus steps on the tennis court she brings with her an aura of grace and professionalism that is so rare among the new crop of female players. Even as a kid with the beaded braided hair, she had a special quality that separated her from the balance of the field. Whether she wins or loses her attitude never changes, and she never loses her composure on or off the court. Venus has won 37 titles, earned more than $20 million in prize money, hit the hardest service of any female player, past or present, and has become the Queen of Wimbledon. She has won 2 US Open titles and 4 Wimbledon titles, and you can bet she will be back to defend her title on the grass in 2009. Her sister found out how much winning Wimbledon means to Venus. Its almost as if Venus is saying to her kid sister, “It’s OK for you to win in New York, or Melbourne, but not in London!” Her determination to win on ‘her court’, as she considers Wimbledon to be, takes he game to a level that leaves Serena gasping for air. Venus never falters at Wimbledon as she does so often against her sister at other venues. It’s almost as if she takes pity on her and unconsciously lets her win. In New York she was winning 5-2 and 5-3, and proceeds to lose in two tie breakers 7-6, 7-6, while not converting on 10 break point opportunities. The odds are against this happening, if both players are focused. Obviously one player wasn’t.

Currently ranked number 8 in the world, Venus has reduced the number of tournaments that she enters, so even if she wins she doesn’t move up in the rankings because she doesn’t earn enough points. She says she could care less about the rankings and whether she is 8^th. or 12^th. She has not decided whether to compete in the 2009 Australian Open in January, my guess is that unless Serena can convince her to join her in the Doubles competition, Venus will not play in Melbourne.

Venus has become such an accomplished grass court player that she might opt to play just a few tournaments to keep her game in tune, and concentrate on playing at Wimbledon each summer. She could easily win the title another 4 times with no problem. Who’s going to beat her? Not her sister, she’s already shown her that, not Sharapova she’s too inconsistent and prone to injury, and none of the others are even close. So the Queen might reign for a quite a while if she stays healthy. Playing on grass is easy on the body, especially the feet and legs, and the regal atmosphere of Wimbledon transports Venus to a place so far removed from the place of her birth, that she feels inspired by its sereneness and traditions. She fits to a tee! Long live the Queen!