Back in 1997 Venus Williams would remain standing during changeovers; a far cry from the fragile wristed Venus of today. No matter; three Wimbledon, two US Open and one Olympic singles title later, Venus Williams still rules the women's tennis tour in terms of power and mystery. I can't think of any other player who could go from not playing tennis at all to winning Wimbledon easily versus the top seeds as Venus did last year in 2005. In recent years injuries have slowed Williams' results on the court, but there was a time not long ago when Venus Williams looked almost unbeatable.

The first time I saw Venus Williams play a tennis match was in 1997 on television from Indian Wells, California. This was Venus' first tournament of 1997 and only the last few games of Venus versus 1997 French Open champion Iva Majoli of Croatia were televisied as I recall. But it was more than enough to see Venus who seemed to be hitting twice as many errors as winners would still be tough to beat. Playing power tennis from the baseline, Williams, a qualifier would upset fifth seeded Majoli in the third round on a hot sunny day in the desert 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 and afterwards break out into a dance/hop towards the net. It could have been a sweet revenge for Venus as her fellow WTA Tour players were saying in the media she did not know how to play points. Someone had even taken it upon herself to leave dirty underwear on Venus' lockerroom door. It could have been a sweet revenege, but Venus would soon reveal in a pressroom she was "not really a revenge person." Back then Venus was hitting all her serves at more than 110 miles per hour and it was really fun to watch the serve speed gun and the ace count.

Fast forward to the quarterfinals where Venus would face the present day soon to be retired and fellow American and fourth seeded Lindsay Davenport in a night match. This time the whole match was televised live. We wondered if the 16 year old "ghetto cinderella" Venus Williams would be more nervous or powerful or if any of the hype surrounding her and her even younger sister Serena Williams was true. Then Venus came out fighting and matched Davenport, the current hardest hitter on the WTA Tour shot for shot. In between points Venus smiled and waved to the TV camera. We'd never seen someone so tall cover so much court with so much power. Williams moved around the tennis court like a deer, hitting ace after ace down the tee as if on key.

Amazingly I did not see Venus sit down once during the changeovers, but she looked fresh like she could go on still even late in the third set. Davenport's experience paid off at the end of the match however at she outlasted Venus 6-4 5-7 7-6(7-1). This was almost ten years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday due to the drama and excitement surrounding the match and Venus in general. After the match in the oncourt interview, Venus stayed positive as would soon become one of her hallmarks, revealing she was excited she would soon be "ranked in the 90s."