Venus sympathy over Ivanovic injury

Venus Williams Venus Williams was full of sympathy for Ana Ivanovic, after the latter was forced to retire from their fourth round match with a groin injury with the score at 6-1, 0-1. Speaking after the match, the defending champion said: “You know me. I only pay attention to what’s going on my side of the net – but today I felt really sad for her. “She was really upset. I think she was in a lot of pain. This is Wimbledon. It’s the last place you want to have an injury that you can’t overcome. So I’m wishing her a lot of luck in her recovery.” “It happened in that last game. She’s tough and tried not to show it. But professional players are always in a little bit of pain of some sort. So you get used to the pain level but I guess it was something she couldn’t work through.” Venus was cagey on the subject of her own left knee which has been heavily strapped since the end of last week, and was again today. “I’m doing everything I can for my knee. This is Wimbledon, so it doesn’t matter how much pain I’m in, I’m going to keep playing.” So how much pain exactly is she in? Venus grinned enigmatically. “I’m still smiling,” she said. “That’s the life of a tennis player or any athlete. Tape and ice and all.” So what of Wednesday’s quarter-final, where she will face the former junior Wimbledon champion Agnieszka Radwanska? Williams has played the Pole, seeded 11th here, twice this year and won both, although in Miami the match was not easy. Williams rolled her eyes at the memory. “In Miami I had a day where I couldn’t do anything right,” she remembered. “That was a tough day. If I hit the ball crosscourt, it went down the line. She’s obviously very talented. She plays a different style game to most of the players in the top 10, but is very effective at it. Obviously she’s playing well to be in the quarter-final. Apparently she likes this surface. But I’ll continue with my methods.” Time off is carefully managed at Wimbledon, with the emphasis on routine, and practice, and nothing too much out of the ordinary to upset the pattern of preparation. But Venus revealed that she is about to join her younger sister Serena posting on the micro-blogging site Twitter. “I tried to go to see her site the other day but you have to be a member,” said Venus, sounding as reassuringly confused as any newcomer to Twitter. “I just got a page apparently. So today you’ll be able to see how I feel about it because I’m going to go on today.”