Venus Williams won her 45th title today, defeating France’s Alize Cornet, 6-3, 6-0, in the Dubai Open. Williams, 33 years old, hadn’t won a title in 16 months. Her recent battles with illness, and her age, have put her career in question. However, the seven-time Grand Slam Champion and former world No. 1 put all of her skills on display today. The French woman, Cornet, who was the vanquisher of Venus’s sister yesterday, had little answer to the big serving American, who was having a very strong day.
Cornet scored the upset and was the surprise finalist over world No. 1 Serena Williams. As Venus said, “I was expecting to be playing Serena, but Alize played an amazing game in the semis, so congratulations on that.”
Venus staved off retirement questions for another tournament, and proved she still has more than a little game.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis