Venus Gaining Momentum as She Speeds Toward Top

They kept handing Venus Williams all sorts of things, showering her with presents after she won the Lipton Championships on Saturday afternoon.

Crystal. Prize money. Adulation.

Then there was the Warhol-esque rendition of Venus in Motion. Williams thanked the artist, peered at her blurred likeness and provided the most accurate metaphor of the day.

“I’m speeding,” she said, laughing.

Speeding toward the top of women’s tennis in seemingly less than her first 15 minutes of fame. The 17-year-old will join the top 10 on Monday when the new rankings are released, but the way Williams played in her 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Anna Kournikova, the No. 10 spot might be a brief rest stop.

Williams celebrated with a slightly modified version of the victory dance she displayed after Thursday’s upset of No. 1-ranked Martina Hingis in the semifinals.

“That’s my dance,” she said. “I’m doing it all the time, when I’m practicing or when Serena and I are together. I didn’t do the full thing. You guys will never see that.”

Saturday, Williams was the last teenager standing, let alone dancing. By the third set, the 16-year-old Kournikova was the one wilting under the pressure, coming undone with a steady succession of unforced errors. The numbers climbed: from nine in the first set, to 21 in the second to 23 in the third.

Few things seem to worry the perpetually tanned Kournikova. Not the blinding flashbulbs, the star-struck boys (and men) or the four top-10 players she defeated at Lipton to reach the final.

After all, a teen who says she has a boyfriend in every country, is bound to have some moxie. But Venus Williams on the other side of the net made Kournikova adjust her usual bring-it-on strategy.

“I didn’t try to look at the opponent, you know, who I was playing,” said Kournikova, who appeared in her first WTA final. “If I was thinking I was playing Venus Williams, I would probably be intimidated.”

Kournikova’s mental approach and on-court game plan--slicing her backhand and making Williams bend awkwardly--worked for a little more than a set. She won the opening set in 24 minutes and broke Williams in the third game of the second to take a 2-1 lead.

“I was concerned that if I didn’t change, things were going to go too quickly for me,” Williams said. “I was saying, ‘Wow, Venus, come on. How can I be doing this?’

“I couldn’t believe I was playing this way. It looked like the old Venus that used to bomb out.”

Williams started keeping the ball in the court, reining in her serve and groundstrokes, aiming for a greater degree of consistency. Kournikova, trying to end the points quickly, started misfiring and lost seven of the final eight games.

“It was a very long week for me,” Kournikova said. “I had a very tough job compared to Venus. I played Monica and everybody. [Lindsay] Davenport. I got a little bit tired physically.

“But it’s good. It shows me that she didn’t beat me. I lost. That means I’m better a little bit than her.”

Kournikova, who will move from No. 25 to No. 16, later amended that, saying:

“I didn’t say that [I’m better], I’m just saying it shows that I can play better than I did today.”

Then she spoke about the anonymous quality of Williams’ opposition at Lipton.

“Venus played first round, I don’t know, a qualifier,” Kournikova said. “Second round, somebody. Third round, somebody. Fourth round, somebody. Semifinals, you should get a tough player, it happened to be Hingis.”

Ah, youth. Here, Williams became the sage, the experienced teen who has won two of her last three tournaments.

“In the end, I think it’s insignificant because you just have to play in each round,” she said. “Sometimes people get on fire and you have to extinguish that, no matter who they are.”

And her plans for the winner’s check of $235,000?

“Buy my dogs a collar,” she said.

The closer Williams is to reaching the top, the less she is talking about becoming No. 1. Though the Lipton is considered the most important event after the four Grand Slam tournaments, Williams recognized the milestone but put it into a proper context when asked again if she has arrived.

“I’m coming,” she said, smiling. “Don’t rush me. I’m not there yet.”