VENUS WILLIAMS LEADS THE UNITED STATES FED CUP TEAM TO VICTORY OVER POLAND IN HAWAII HOSTED BY THE U.S.T.A.

Written by: Staff on 7th February 2016

VENUS WILLIAMS LEADS THE UNITED STATES FED CUP TEAM TO VICTORY OVER POLAND IN HAWAII HOSTED BY THE U.S.T.A. |

Photo by Ron Angle

By Cheryl Shrum

Venus Williams defeated Magda Linette, 6-1, 6-2, Sunday at Holua Tennis Center in Kailua Kona, Hawaii to give the U.S. Fed Cup team a decisive 3-0 victory over Poland in the World Group II first-round tie.

Despite the blustery Kona trade winds, Williams was on her game the moment she walked on the court.

“During warm up at 8:15 in the morning, there was no wind. Then walk out on the court, it was just so windy,” said Williams. “I just had to be a little more patient, get ready for the ball to do anything. But I was happy to be able to still get through the court and be able to dictate, which is what I like to do.”

The Fed Cup veteran needed just over an hour to defeat 96th-ranked Linette, Poland’s No. 1 player in this weekend’s tie. The two players were meeting for the first time.

In the first set, Williams got a couple of quick breaks and was able to serve out the set at 6-1. In the first game of the second set, down love-30, Williams hit a big first serve that just about took Linette with it. She went on to hold and level the set at 1-1. In the next game, Williams got the break and held serve to go up 3-1 and cruise to a 6-2 victory.

As easy as it looked, Williams took nothing for granted.

Stoney Duren Photography

“I think I had a little bit of an advantage today because Sloane had a chance to play against Magda, so I had a nice scouting report,” said Williams. “I was able to really get started quickly. I think she did a little of the work beforehand for me. I kind of had the heads-up.”

The stands were noisy as the crowd let Williams know they were behind her all the way.

“This has been the most enthusiastic crowd I’ve ever played in front of, for Fed Cup, or even at home,” said Williams. “The enthusiasm, exciting. When they announced they were going to play the doubles, the crowd was so excited. You can hear them right now. It’s just been a pleasure to play for that.”

Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe gave the U.S. a 4-0 overall victory against Poland, with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Alicja Rosolska in the doubles match.

Despite it being the first time these two have teamed up for Fed Cup doubles, it certainly didn’t show in the first set as they jumped to a quick 6-l lead. But things got a little tenuous in the second for the US team when they found themselves down 3-5 with Poland serving for the set. Miraculously, the Americans were able to regroup and reel off the next four games to take the set 7-5 and clinch their first Fed Cup doubles match as a team.

“There’s ebbs and flows to every match. It’s how you weather the storm for their good play and also adjusting to your own play,” said Vandeweghe. “At times Bethanie and I were playing in sync, and at times we weren’t. This is the first time we ever played together. I think we have to take that into account as well. But I think we adjusted well right after the break, showing our dominance and presence again, basically dominating their serves right back.”

The final singles match between Sloane Stephens and Paula Kania was not played, as the tie was already decided.

With the 4-0 victory over Poland, Team USA advanced to the World Group Playoffs, April 16-17, to compete for a spot in the 2017 World Group and a chance at the 2017 Fed Cup title.

Topics: Fed Cup tennis, Poland, Sports, Tennis News, United States, Venus Williams

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Be88Thereal says:

February 8, 2016 at 1:05 pm

RT @ElenaFoundation: @Venuseswilliams leads the US @FedCup team to victory over Poland (news via @10sBalls_com ) https://t.co/qSbS0BQqD7 ht…