It’s All Better on Her Turf

If it doesn’t always look like it, if Venus Williams frowns more than she smiles, if her forehand is wandering as if it needs a compass to find the white lines, if she is disdainfully tired of the same old questions, mostly the ones about her younger, more flamboyant sister Serena, Venus claims one thing that shouldn’t be doubted.

Her love of tennis.

Wimbledon begins Monday, and Venus gently reminds anyone who may have forgotten that she is the defending women’s champion. She is seeded sixth this year -- better than her WTA Tour ranking of 12 should have gotten her, but lower than usual for a defending champion.

Her three titles here and a lifetime singles record of 42-6 on the Wimbledon grass prompted the seeding committee to depart from following the computer rankings in its seedings. The fact she has played only 14 matches this season and only 16 since last year’s U.S. Open made it difficult to jump Williams to an even better spot in the draw.

But those seeded above her -- No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 2 Kim Clijsters, No. 3 Justine Henin-Hardenne, No. 4 Maria Sharapova and No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova -- have combined for one Wimbledon title, Sharapova’s in 2004.

“I have no control over the seeding,” Williams said Friday. “I’ve always played well historically here, and I’m very happy to be healthy and just happy to be playing.”

Wimbledon has been the singular bright spot for the 26-year-old Williams over the last three years. After becoming a dominant force in the game, winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001, she was eclipsed first by Serena and then by a series of back and shoulder injuries that segued into what seemed a lack of interest in the life of a tennis professional. She won only one tournament in 2003 and two in 2004.

She settled into giving barely formed sentences as answers to tennis questions and would brighten only when she spoke of life away from tennis, of her dream to become a designer -- of clothes, of homes, of anything creative.

So a year ago Venus came here as an afterthought, full of sore body parts and looking joyless. Yet as the two weeks progressed, she began to run better, move more lightly across the grass, rein in her errant forehand and release her smile.

At the end she was the victor in what instantly ranked as one of the best women’s championship matches of all time.

In three sets marked by a fighting spirit Williams hadn’t often displayed over the previous few seasons, she beat top-ranked fellow American Lindsay Davenport, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 9-7. Davenport had served for the match in the second set and held a match point in the third, but Williams, running down everything and grunting loudly with effort, prevailed in what she called “my most satisfying” victory.

It was a victory, she said, that came partly because of her belief in herself on this surface and partly because, “I looked at my box and everybody was so positive, I could see them telling me I could do it, and I was so reassured. Sometimes I need that.”

While Serena, who has been rehabbing a knee injury for the better part of two years, is now mentioned more often in gossip magazines than sports pages because she has been playing the party circuit, Venus has been playing tennis.

And now comes Wimbledon.

Williams spoke passionately about her desire to see this tournament join the other three major championships -- the Australian, French and U.S. Opens -- in offering women equal prize money with the men.

“It’s not about the compensation,” she said, “but it’s about setting an example for women around the world to see women being treated equally.”

Williams also said her loss a few weeks ago to 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova in the quarterfinals of the French Open wasn’t discouraging because her game of power over precision has never translated well to the clay courts and only once has she gone further than the quarters there.

That she remained healthy, that she is in London now, “feeling great and hungry,” Williams said, is a big confidence boost.

Her draw is favorable. She opens against 102nd-ranked American Bethanie Mattek, 21, who will be making her Wimbledon debut. Williams is in the same quarter as No. 9-seeded Anastasia Myskina, who only once reached the quarterfinals here, and in the same half of the draw as the top-seeded Mauresmo, who has never been past the semifinals at Wimbledon.

Nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova has said that winning here is different from winning anywhere else. Because the sport is played on grass for only three weeks a year, the slippery and unpredictable surface can quickly frustrate and confound athletes who want the ball to bounce true.

“It takes a while to believe in yourself on grass,” Navratilova said. “Some players never do.”

Venus Williams does.

“There’s no better place to show your best tennis than at Wimbledon,” she said.

Williams’ best weapon, a sizzling serve, can win her many easy points on grass.

“When my serve is going good at Wimbledon,” she said, “it’s awesome. It’s the big key for me. That’s why I’m able to survive so much better here. I’ve just been hitting a lot of serves and finding the rhythm. Once I find that rhythm, the rest comes pretty easy.”

Williams is the only American woman seeded in the top 32, the fewest in history. “It would be nice to have more champions on the horizon,” she said, referring to her compatriots. “But then, I wouldn’t mind being that champion on the horizon again either.”

Williams giggled. She is seeded No. 6. But she is the champion until she loses.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Ready to defend

Defending champion Venus Williams is the only woman from the U.S. seeded in the top 32 at Wimbledon (which begins Monday). She is ranked 12th but seeded sixth because of her success on grass:

* Age: 26.

* 2006 match record: 10-4.

* 2006 singles titles: 0.

* Career singles titles: 33.

* Major titles: Five

Wimbledon (2000, ‘01, ‘05),

U.S. Open (‘00, ‘01).

* Last five Wimbledons: 2005, won title; ‘04, second round; ‘03, runner-up; ‘02, runner-up;

‘01, won title.

* Record at Wimbledon

since 2000: 34-3.

* Back in action: Out more than three months because of elbow injury after first-round loss at Australian Open.

* Sister act: Serena, the 2002-03 champion, will sit out Wimbledon because of a chronic knee injury.

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Source: Associated Press