NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Venus Williams clocked the
fastest women's serve of the U.S. Open on Tuesday before
predicting a return to the top 10 and admitting it took her
nearly a year to accept she had a serious medical condition.
Williams landed a first serve of 124 mph (199.5km/h) during
her 6-3 6-1 demolition of Bethanie Mattek-Sands to set up a
re-match with the woman who beat her in the third round of the
Olympics, Germany's sixth seed Angelique Kerber.
The former world number one has fallen to 46th on the
rankings but claimed she had the weaponry to return to the
elite.
"I'm looking forward to the top 10, all that great stuff,"
the 32-year-old Williams said. "I feel like I have it in me."
Williams revealed at the U.S. Open last year she had been
diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Sjogen's Syndrome after
withdrawing from her second-round match against Germany's Sabine
Lisicki.
She admitted on Tuesday she was in denial until recently
about the seriousness of the disease.
"Honestly, I didn't even understand what I was going
through," she said. "I feel like it's been just this summer I've
come to acceptance. Especially when you're an athlete you see
yourself as this healthy person and nothing can defeat you.
"So it takes a while before you can see yourself with flaws
and chinks in the armour. Now that I have come to accept it, it
helps me a lot in how I need to prepare for my matches.
"It's not as intimidating. I definitely was intimidated in a
lot of matches this year, coming back and learning to play with
this, so I've come a long way mentally, emotionally, physically
as well."
FULL CIRCLE
Williams admitted she naively expected the condition to
disappear overnight.
"It's something where you're thinking maybe tomorrow you'll
wake up and it's gone," she said. "You start having the same
symptoms over and over and over again.
"After a while you start to realise, 'OK, I'm not making
this up.' It's real. It becomes acceptance."
Williams agreed she had come full circle by storming into
the second round again at Flushing Meadows. She lost to Kerber
in two tiebreak sets at the London Games.
"To be back out here, winning matches, moving forward and
getting better, that's good for me," she said.
"Wimbledon was actually where I started playing well again.
For me it's about living life with no regrets. If I have any
small chance to hit the ball, I'm going to go for it."
The seven-times major champion produced a vintage serving
display against Mattek-Sands and said the importance placed on
her delivery occasionally came at the detriment of the rest of
her game.
Williams won 83 percent of the points on her first serve and
clubbed 22 winners in a powerhouse performance.
"My serve is huge - it's such a huge part of my game," she
said. "When there's a big point, I'm thinking my serve is going
to help me every time. I get so involved in my serve I forget to
play the rest of the point.
"When your serve is on, the rest of your game is beautiful."
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