BIGGEST VICTORY YET

Shaughnessy takes down Venus

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

After she stunned Wimbledon champ Venus Williams 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) in the
Bank of the West quarters, Meghann Shaughnessy told tennisreporters.net that
she never doubted for a moment that she belonged on the same court as the three-time Slam champ.

"It never crossed my mind that I couldn't win this match," Shaughnessy said. "I was nervous, but I didn't panic. I've learned in my career to keep fighting and good things will happen. I know that I can play on this level."

In knocking off the tournament's defending champion, the No. 5 seeded Shaughnessy used a heady all-court attack to trip up the No. 2 ranked Williams, who struggled with her serve and forehand for much of the contest.
Shaughnessy's strategy of mixing up speeds to Williams' devastating backhand and jumping on her relatively weaker forehand paid off, as Williams was unable to control of the center of the court and often looked confused as to which way her opponent was going with her flat groundstrokes.

Unlike her three prior losses to Williams, Shaughnessy didn't back off.
"I wanted to play very aggressively because when she uncoils the ball there's
no way you are going to get it back," she said. "I wanted to control of the
match, make sure I was attacking her second serves and make sure I served
very well."

The No. 15 ranked Shaughnessy is enjoying her best season to date on the WTA
Tour, reaching both the fourth rounds of '01 Roland Garros and '01 Wimbledon.
But although she has knocked off two top-10 players before, she has never
taken a down a player the status of Williams. "It was definitely the best win
of my career," said the 22-year-old Shaughnessy, who has also defeated the
likes of Monica Seles and Conchita Martinez this year.

The hotheaded Shaughnessy spent much of the match loudly disputing line
calls, at one time angrily slamming her racket into the net just a few feet
from the chair umpire and another time kicking her racket from the baseline
into the net. It was amazing that she didn't receive a warning for either
incident, but the chair umpires at this event are the most indecisive bunch
that tennisreporters.net has seen in the last decade. We have also never seen so many different players continually dispute calls.

Shaughnessy then went out a big limb when she said that she received numerous
bad calls because the linespeople "were afraid to make a call against Venus
Williams. It's really unfair because at this level it's so close that a point
here and a point there can really turn a whole match around. It really
annoyed me that it was going against me so many times. I know that's the
case. It happens all over the world. Today was worse."

The Arizonan added that all the star players relieve such royal treatment. Tennisreporters.net guesses that she's never talked to Hingis about the treatment she receives at Roland Garros.

Shaughnessy could move into the top 10 for the first time if she captures the
title. Even if she loses to Kim Clijsters in the semis, being able to upend
Venus will give her an extra boost of confidence the next time she faces an
elite player at a Slam.

VENUS WON'T REPEAT STREAK
Speaking of V, her ambition to match her 35-match win streak of last summer
can now be safely stowed in the gigantic Williams' walk-in closet where she
and Serena store all those losses that they "don't remember."
But no worries. Venus has learned how to put things in perspective.
"It's not the end of the world," she said. "I realize I can't be my best
every day. I just have to make sure that this doesn't happen in a Grand Slam
final."

As good natured as Venus was a week ago, she did grow a bit dismayed on Friday
when asked by a reporter who had just spoken with her documentary-making
father, Richard, as to whether she was planning on doing some big youth
promotion in L.A. in the coming weeks. As is almost always the case, Venus
had no idea what Richard was planning for her and said, "I've been so busy
that I don't have time for anything and I wish that everyone would leave me
alone. I would be really happy all by myself with nothing to do." It could
be a long summer. Do you think that Richard might consider turning his video
camera off? Nahhh.