For Venus, prostrating earlier, this is about memory

The narrow road was full of spectators when Venus Williams headed to the San Jose State Main Court on Tuesday night. People just want to get a closer look and feel an extraordinary presence that has always been the hallmark of the best tennis of all time.

When he walked towards the first round match at Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, most observers were surprised to find that it was not a matter of victory for Williams in recent times. At age 39, he can still do anything, but it is not realistic to expect Venus to be vintage after 25 years of touring.

You read it correctly. Venus took a step back with the Bay Area annual tournament. He remembers exchanging hits with world-class players at Oakland Coliseum in 1994.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 34, is one of the opponents of the circuit. He is not suitable for Williams. After winning the first set, he left with a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 defeat which, in terms of rankings, was the worst since his defeat to Kim Clijsters, who had not been won at the 2009 US Open.

Mattek-Sands enters this 674 event worldwide - even if you find it hard to believe after watching the match. Mattek-Sands has always been the best of doubles (he was number 1 in the world for spells just two years ago), and he excelled at better points in the game. Many have lost their way in this era of relentless power. : setback, shoot to the right goal, right volleyball.

However, for more than 19 years, Mattek-Sands has never won a track level title and this year is very annoying. He entered the Australian circuit and suffered three defeats in the first round, then underwent knee surgery in March. He started playing doubles again, the most important with Danielle Collins at Wimbledon (they reached the quarter-finals), but until Tuesday night, he hasn't played the game since January.

One thing that never changed at Mattek-Sands: his enthusiasm. Among the most passionate figures on the tour, he was often invited to provide television analysis, including several Grand Slam events for ESPN. And he is a warrior, balancing pure aggression and clear arrogance with crazy fashion tastes that often find him representing about half a dozen cultures at once. (For him, orange clothes on Tuesday night, orange shoe sets are relatively tame.)

Williams's fate was a severe blow to the San Jose tournament in terms of star power. Victoria Azarenka, sensation aged 17, Amanda Anisimova, world number 10 Aryna Sabalenka, number seven Elina Svitolina and Coco Vandeweghe, former US Open semifinalists whose next match, against Sabalenka, must be business. fierce and hard.

However, for the general public on Tuesday night, it felt like last year, when Serena Williams suffered a humiliating first-half defeat against Johanna Konta in the tournament, who had left Stanford for the first time in San Jose. Venus Williams had a career record of 4-0 against Mattek-Sands (strangely, everyone won the main title), but they haven't played between them since 2012, and Williams seems to have been spent a little in the end.

It's not that Williams, who rarely recognizes physical weakness, will admit something like that. When someone mentioned that his "energy level" seemed to have faded during the last two sets, he stopped a few seconds before answering, enough: "He played well."

Stadium Stadium is not crowded, but a committed crowd and "extraordinary atmosphere," Williams said. "People are right behind you, and it's very good to get this support, sad to not be able to do it for them today, I really tried, I found a tough opponent. One day when he didn't miss. Every time I stopped , the purpose of the game, he came with a winner. I think he has a magic racket that doesn't make many mistakes. "

Equally pleased with his performance, Mattek-Sands said, "I know Venus can still come back, he is not intimidated to lose a set, 4-0, whatever, I am just obsessed with my game. And I will not give up. I don't think I've ever have it before shaking his hand. "

Mattek-Sands occasionally hears cries of support for his name, "but enough people cheer for Venus," he said. "This is good, but at one point I turned to the crowd and said," You don't even want to see the third set? At least encouraged me in the second set and he was in the third set (laughs). But that doesn't matter. When people are attracted to and become very emotional, I play tennis better. "

If you believe in Williams, this is not the time to feel sad, if you follow his career passionately, but you are grateful. When Venus appeared, his father, Richard, firmly stated that he would retire from tennis at the age of 20, turning to a profitable career in the fields of business, technology, fashion, little material. According to the form, he had done all this, while remaining a mainstay of the tour longer than anyone could have imagined.

At the age of 33, far from his experience of the causes of fatigue known as Sjogren's syndrome, people "pulled" right and left. He had spent two years without a single degree, and his entire mission in tennis seemed hopeless. "People have been trying to attract me since I was 25 years old," he said at the time. "For some reasons tennis, we always do it for our players, this is strange, we don't encourage them to keep coming in. Apparently, getting out of here, so I'm not going to get out of here. I'm for what I did in court."

Remarkably, Williams reached the Grand Slam final at the Australian Open and Wimbledon two years ago. And it became clear that his legacy was far more than an extraordinary record in court.

"This is the social awareness of the tour," said Mary Carillo on the Tennis Channel. "He became a spokesman for women's rights, including under the same award at Wimbledon and France, while there was a big gap after the years of leadership of Chrissie (Evert) and Martina (Navratilova). Steffi (Graf) dropped the ball, Monica ( Seles) dropped the ball and Venus realized that the stick had been handed to him. "

He always wears it, he will definitely be recognized as a pioneer with a relentless vision. And the story pages will be good.

ORDER FROM PLAY WEDDING

(Stadium Square)

11 am, Maria Sakkari vs Mayo Hibi

Followed by: Elina Svitolina vs. Daria Kasatkina and Coco Vandeweghe against Aryna Sabalenka

Not before 7:00 p.m.: Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. Carla Suarez Navarro

Follow-up from (double) Erin Routliffe-Sabrina Santamaria vs. Ellen Perez-Heather Watson

Note: Amanda Anisimova will play her first match on Thursday against Madison Brengle, who beat Andrea Petkovic 6-0, 6-3 in the final on Tuesday night.

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