Mana Games

[Serena Williams Fan]

Congrats!!

[Serena Williams]

u should reach top 50 in 8-9 weeks xD

[PattySchnyder]

1996 Week 23-24 Jackson 25k(Cement)

Quite scandalous!! Venus has to play qualies do the directors not know she is a rising star?

Q1 def. Noelia Perez-Penate (ESP) 6-2, 6-1
Q2 def. Anna Zaporozhanova (UKR) 6-2 6-1
Q3 def. Julie Scott (USA) 6-1 6-2

Venus qualifies easily and rolls her eyes at the tournament director!

R1 def. (3) Sachie Umehara (JPN) 7-5, 6-3
R2 def. [Q] Katrin Kilsch (DEU) 6-0, 6-1
QF def. Hannah Collin (GBR) 6-3, 6-0
SF def. (2) Kristin Freye (DEU) 7-6(4), 6-0
F def. [Q] Maja Matevzic (SVN) 6-3, 6-1

Venus wins this title rather easily...hoping for her to get wildcards into some WTA events soon

Rank: 398 to 333

1996 Week 25-26 Boston 50k(Cement)

What kinda country is this?? Venus cant get a wildcard into her own country she has to play qualies AGAIN.

Q1 def. [WC] Beverly Bowes (USA) 6-1, 6-2
Q2 def. (6) Amanda Grahame (AUS) 6-2, 6-1
Q3 def. Olga Barabanschikova (BLR) 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3

Wow..Venus was on the brink of defeat and was down 3 MPs in the second set but came back to win..Olga is definately one to watch out for but into the main draw we go!

R1 def. Maya Palaversic (HRV) 6-3, 6-1
R2 def. (2) Kori Davidson (USA) 6-1, 6-3
QF def. Eva Dyrberg (DNK) 6-2, 6-0
SF def. Evie Dominikovic (AUS) 6-1, 6-1
F def. Syna Schmidle (DEU) 6-1, 6-1

Another easy challenger title and still no wildcards yet

Rank: 336 to 256

1996 Week 28 Dothan 75k(Cement)

Finally Venus got a wildcard into a tournament!!

R1 def. Sophie Georges (FRA) 6-0, 6-1
R2 def. (3) Christina Singer (USA) 6-1, 7-5
QF def. (5) Petra Gaspar (HUN) 6-2, 6-3
SF def. (1) Nana Miyagi (JPN) 6-4 6-1
F lt. Linda Harvey (USA) 6-7(3) 3-6

First loss in a while for Venus..probally suffering from fatigue..her winning streak ended here but still a good tournament. Our next tournament will be the US Open if Venus gets a wildcard

Rank: 258 to 186

[PattySchnyder]

1996 Week 35 US Open Grand Slam(Blue-Green Hard)



Venus gets a wildcard into the Main Draw!! Me and Venus are super exicted the atmosphere is amazing here I hope Vee wins a few matches

R1 vs. [Q] Eunice David

This girl was rather easy but Venus had nerves in the first set after they dissapeared Venus made this look routine. Next we play Gabriela Sabatini it should be a learning experience for Venus

W 6-3, 6-1

R2 vs. (8) Gabriela Sabatini (ARG)

Venus gets broken at 2-3 to go down 2-4 in the first set and ends up losing the first set 4-6. Venus is playing ok but Gabirela has more experience. Venus gets broken at the start of the second set and after a long duece game Venus gets broken again for Gabriela to go up 4-1. Gabriela serves for the match at 5-2 but Venus now decides to break back to 5-3. Venus holds but then Gabriela serves out the match 6-4

L 4-6, 4-6

Pretty good showing against a top player and we made it to the second round so nothing but positives here for Venus.

Rank: 189 to 131

[PattySchnyder]

1996 Week 52 - Week 1 Brisbane Tier III(Newline Synthetic)

Venus has decided to train these past 4 months instead of playing tournaments. We worked on a quite alot of things and Venus is ready for WTA level tournaments. Venus starts off the year in Brisbane Tier III in the qualifying draw



Q1 def. Federica Haumuller (ARG) 6-0 6-3
Q2 def. Daja Bedanova (CZE) 6-4 6-2
Q3 def. Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (ESP) 7-6(3) 7-5

Venus played some touch qualifying matches but qualifies for her first WTA event of 1997

R1 vs. Laura Lapi (ITA)

Wow Laura had amazing groundstrokes but they were just totally off today. Laura was spraying errors everywhere and Venus played a solid match.

W 6-3, 6-2

R2 vs. Stephanie Ville (BEL)

Another easy match..Venus's groundstokes were too powerful for the belgian first QF of a WTA Event!

W 6-2, 6-3

QF vs. (3) Chanda Rubin (USA)

Venus started off rather slow but got it together when she was down 3-5 in the first set. Venus broke back to make it 5-5 and first set ended up going to a tiebreak. Venus won the tiebreak 7-2. Chanda played a little better and took the second set 6-4. Venus started off the third set good and broke for 2-0 then went on a tear and won the final set 6-1

W 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-1

SF vs. (1) Irina Spirlea (ROU)

Venus starts of good today and breaks Irina at 5-4 to take the first set 6-4. Venus is up 5-3 in the second set before
Irina comes back and wins the second set 7-5. Venus is tired in the third set and pretty much gives up what a missed chance for Venus

L 6-4, 5-7, 3-6

Venus had such a opportunity to make the finals of a tour event

Rank: 129 to 81

Next Tournament: Australian Open

[Serena Williams Fan]

Playing like this I can see her making a long run at the Aussie Open

[PattySchnyder]

1997 Australian Open

Round 1
V. Williams (USA) def S. Wang (TWN) 6-0 6-0

Round 2
(13) A. Coetzer (ZAF) def V. Williams (USA) 6-4 4-6 7-5

Venus played good here but Amanda just has more experience then the youngster. Venus is one of the new talents coming up along with her sister Serena. Serena is younger then Venus and hasnt quite played tour events yet.

1997 AO Final: M.Hingis def J.Novonta 6-4 4-6 6-4

Martina wins her 3rd slam overall

Rank: 81 to 66

Next Tournament: Indian Wells

[PattySchnyder]

1997 Indian Wells

Round 1
V.Williams (USA) def D.Van Roost 6-7(2) 6-4 7-5

Round 2
V.Williams (USA) def (24) R. Dragomir (ROU) 6-4 6-4

Round 3
V.Williams (USA) def M. Maruska (AUT) 6-3 6-2

Round 4
(7) B. Paulus (AUT) def V.Williams (USA) 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(0)


Good results here for Venus. Venus makes it to the 4th round before losing to Barbara Palus the 7th seed. Venus had chances in her forth round to pull off the upset but got to nervous in crucial moments

Interview after the match

Venus: "Well yeah I had my chances but im still young and have time to improve. As soon as I get more money I can hire more coaches to help me. I want to do better next week in Miami. Me and my sister are training hard and she plans to debut on the tour soon"

Final: M.Hingis def J. Novotna 7-5 6-4

Hingis wins her first title since the Australian Open

Rank: 75 to 58

Next Tournament: Miami

[PattySchnyder]

1997 Miami

Round 1
V.Williams (USA) def K. Miller (USA) 6-3 6-1

Round 2
V.Williams (USA) def (30) Y. Basuki (IDN) 6-1 6-4

Round 3
(3) C. Martinez (ESP) def V.Williams (USA) 6-3 6-4

Another loss to a top player for Venus..when will she finally break through?

Winner: M.Pierce def A.Coetzer 5-7 6-4 6-4

Rank: 58 to 52

Next Tournament: Ponte Verda Beach

[Serena Williams Fan]

She'll break thru soon and get into the top 10 by Us Open

[PattySchnyder]

1997 Ponte Verda Beach

Round 1
V.Williams (USA) def J.Acs (HUN) 6-3 6-1

Round 2
V.Williams (USA) def T.Poutchek (BLR) 6-0 6-1

Quaterfinals
V.Williams (USA) def (2) S. Applelmans (BEL) 6-3 6-4

Semifinals
V.Williams (USA) def K.Brandi (PRI) 6-1 6-0

Finals
V.Williams (USA) def (1) M.Fernandez 4-6 7-6(3) 7-5

Venus wins her first WTA title and on clay! WTF?. Venus's worst surface is clay because she grew up on the hardcourts here in florida. Venus played a great final and deserved to win this title.

Venus: "Omg!! thank you for the congratulations I am so happy and proud of myself because I know clay wasnt my best surface. I'm really tired because I've played the past 3 weeks and I'm playing next week to in Charleston. It was great to win a title in my hometown and the crowd here is so nice to me I plan to play here again it's such a nice tournament"

Venus takes home a $32,000 prize money check!

Rank: 52 to 43 and enters the top 50 for the first time

Next Tournament: Charleston

[PattySchnyder]

1997 Charleston

Round 1
V.Williams (USA) def (PRY) L.Schaerer 6-3 6-2

Round 2
(1) M.Hingis (CHE) def V.Williams (USA) 7-5 6-3

Venus loses early here because shes tired and will take a long break before Roland Garros

Final: M.Pierce def I.Majoli 6-3 4-6 6-4

Rank: 43 to 42

Next Tournament: Roland Garros

[PattySchnyder]

1997 Roland Garros

Round 1
V.Williams (USA) def E.Kim (KOR) 6-2 6-1

Round 2
V.Williams (USA) def (17) L.Raymond (USA) 7-5 6-3

Round 3
V.Williams (USA) def N.Arendt 6-3 7-6(0)

Round 4
V.Williams (USA) def (1) S.Graf (DEU) 7-5 6-3

Quaterfinals
V.Williams (USA) def (10) B.Paulus 4-6 6-1 6-3

Semifinals
(6) A.Sanchez-Vicario (ESP) def V.Williams (USA) 6-2 6-3

Venus makes a good run deep here in a GS. Venus didnt expect to do well here since clay isnt one of her best surfaces. Venus took out number one and defending champion Steffi Graf in straight sets. No one expected Venus to beat her.

Venus: "This was a good tournament for me..when I'm playing well I can do good even if its not my best surface. I've had a good claycourt season and I hope to have a better grasscourt and hardcourt season"

Winner: C.Martinez def A.Sanchez-Vicario 6-3 1-6 6-4

Rank: 30 to 24

Next Tournament: Wimbledon

[Serena Williams]

i gotta feeling she will win wimbledon

[PattySchnyder]

1997 Wimbledon


Round 1
(23) V.Williams (USA) def [WC] H.Collin (GBR) 6-2 6-1

Round 2
(23) V.Williams (USA) def R.Sandu (ROU) 6-0 6-3

Round 3
(10) B.Palus (AUT) def (23) V.Williams (USA) 4-6 7-5 7-5

Thanks to Venus's fan she was jinxed and lost in the 3rd round of Wimbledon. Venus has decided to take a break until the Canadian Open which is 8 weeks away

Final: M.Hingis def A.Coetzer 6-4 7-6(5)

Hingis wins her 4th slam 8th title this year

Rank: 24 to 24