Venus Williams has done almost everything on the tennis court, but, yesterday night, she did something for the first time. She paired with Martina Hingis of Switzerland in a doubles match of the ongoing World Team Tennis competition. Both these legends represented Washington Kastles and ended up winning.
This was the first time that Venus and Hingis were playing alongside each other at the professional level. They have been up against each other numerous times, but, not together before this. They used to share intense rivalry during the peak days of their careers.
So, it must have been an entirely new experience for both of them to play as a unit, but, it seems they thoroughly enjoyed it. The coordination between the two during that doubles match was impeccable.
Speaking afterwards, Venus said, “We have fond memories of those intense battles between us. We used to provide each other that extra bit of motivation.”
“Obviously, for me, the matches that I won were more enjoyable. You don’t tend to remember your defeats, do you?”
“That was an amazing time. Both of us were at our pomp and were playing as well as anyone. Recalling those days gives me a lot of pleasure.”
It was expected earlier that Venus might not be able to form a potent pair with Hingis in the doubles because her style of play is very different from the Swiss woman, but, that wasn’t the case to be. The two of them adapted to each other’s game pretty well.
When asked if it was tough playing alongside Venus, Hingis said, “Initially, it was, a little bit, but, I got used to after a few games. We two really had a great time out there.”
The total number of slams won by Venus and Hingis are 7 and 5 respectively.