Venus filling void left by Serena

The WTA is working on a new maxim: One Williams sister's loss is another Williams sister's gain. Serena Williams' magnificent y...

The WTA is working on a new maxim: One Williams sister's loss is another Williams sister's gain.
Serena Williams' magnificent year may have come to an abrupt, melancholy end a week ago, in a tearful admission of just how shattered she was by having missed out on the opportunity to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam at the US Open.
"It's no secret I've played injured most of the year -- whether it was my elbow, my knee or, in the final moments after a certain match in Flushing, my heart," Williams wrote in announcing that she was done for the year. "This is a very difficult decision, but one ultimately made because of the love of the game."

Venus Williams started off the fall season with one of the biggest titles she's had in years, at the Wuhan Open. Fred DuFour/AFP/Getty Images

But just as Serena had declared the end to her season, Venus stepped up to keep the family name -- and its long-standing history in the booty-kicking trade -- alive, prominent and feared. Her effort came to a crescendo last Sunday, when she won a battle of the walking wounded at Wuhan.
Venus' left thigh was sore, but Garbine Muguruza's left ankle was an even greater liability in that final, so much so that she eventually had to quit while down 6-3, 3-0.
That unsatisfying end obscured the quality of Venus' achievement. This was her 47th title, but her first Premier-or-better trophy in five years -- and a win chock-full of resonances. The most striking of those was that in the semifinals Venus exacted revenge on behalf of her sister against the woman who crushed Serena's Grand Slam hopes in New York, Roberta Vinci.
Venus accomplished that in the cruelest way possible.
Vinci had match point late in the third set of their 2-hour, 43-minute epic but failed to convert her money shot -- a slice backhand -- on serve at match point. Venus went on to win, thereby denying Vinci her first appearance in a Premier level final to go along with that US Open final she played in September.
For the winner, though, blood is thicker than water.
"If I could, I'd give my win to Serena at the US Open," Venus said afterward. "Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way."
Maybe not, but it sure makes for good theater.
But the Williams family angle overshadowed an even more striking feature of Venus' performance: The stamina she showed in that match, and throughout the tournament. That's great news for a 35-year-old player who is managing competition and Sjogren's Syndrome, an immune system disorder with symptoms that include joint pain and susceptibility to fatigue -- not exactly irrelevant details for an athlete.
In 2011, Venus revealed she was suffering from the condition, and in the intervening years, it sometimes appeared that her stamina was compromised. Not last week in Wuhan, though. She played six matches, four against top-20 players. A number of them were knock-down, drag-outs. In her quarterfinal and semifinal wins, Venus was on court for more than five hours.
In the second round, Venus logged her 700th tour win, joining an elite group of just eight Open era women. Perhaps surpassing that milestone makes a player, even one plagued with Sjogren's, feel like all the rest is a piece of cake as long as you are willing to stick it out.
Five of Venus' opponents were at least eight years her junior, including her quarters foe Johanna Konta -- a qualifier who's been on a tear, having won 21 of her previous 22 matches. Konta had upset top-seeded Simona Halep just 24 hours earlier. She fought Venus tooth and nail for 2½ hours before Venus prevailed, 7-5 in the third.
Just as impressive, considering the horrific rash of withdrawals and retirements plaguing the WTA these days, Venus dragged herself, bad thigh and all, off to Beijing almost immediately after she won Wuhan to prepare for the China Open.
She's not just stepping up for the Williams family, she's stepping up for the tour -- just as she did when she emerged as one of the leading voices for equal prize money at Grand Slams.
And, lest we forget, she's also stepping up for Venus Williams.
On Monday, she was up to No. 14 in the WTA rankings, just 62 points shy of the No. 9 spot in the race to the tour finals in Singapore. (The player in that position will qualify for the eight-woman field this year because of Serena's absence.)
But Venus had a tough draw at the China Open on Tuesday. She had a first-round bye, then was beaten in her first match by No. 8 seed Ana Ivanovic.
Sometimes, even being a Williams isn't quite enough.