SI

Venus Williams has a legitimate chance to win French Open title

Venus Williams advanced to the French Open third round on Wednesday, with her pregnant sister Serena looking on in the stands.

Jon Wertheim

Venus Williams has a legitimate chance to win French Open title
Venus Williams has a legitimate chance to win French Open title /

Correlation doesn’t equal causation but….On Wednesday afternoon, Venus Williams was tied 3-3 with her second round opponent, Japan’s Kurumi Nara, when the match was briefly interrupted by a pregnant woman taking her seat in the stands. It was Serena Williams, who made a quiet entrance.

From that point on, Venus won nine of the next 10 games and closed out an easy, breezy win. Nearly 37, Venus is going on a decade now since her last major singles title. But she’s striking the ball well. She benefits from the day off between matches. And with her sister sidelined, she has a legitimate chance to win five more matches.

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Jon Wertheim
JON WERTHEIM

Jon Wertheim is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and has been part of the full-time SI writing staff since 1997, largely focusing on the tennis beat , sports business and social issues, and enterprise journalism. In addition to his work at SI, he is a correspondent for "60 Minutes" and a commentator for The Tennis Channel. He has authored 11 books and has been honored with two Emmys, numerous writing and investigative journalism awards, and the Eugene Scott Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Wertheim is a longtime member of the New York Bar Association (retired), the International Tennis Writers Association and the Writers Guild of America. He has a bachelor's in history from Yale University and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in New York City with his wife, who is a divorce mediator and adjunct law professor. They have two children.

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