Venus wins, Sharapova Defeated

Venus Wins In Hong Kong

Venus Williams beat Peng Shuai of China 6-1, 6-2 Thursday in her first match of 2008 at the JB Group Classic exhibition (non WTA Tour) tournament, a warmup for the Australian Open. Venus next plays Elena Dementieva of Russia, who upset top seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in Thursday's other quarterfinal. The other semifinal pits Russians Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze. Williams, a six-time Grand Slam winner, said she and her sister Serena can dominate women's tennis again if they avoid injuries, noting they won two of the four Grand Slams last year. The Williams sisters have fallen out of the world's top five, with Serena ranked seventh and Venus ranked eighth. "If we can just stay healthy and keep practicing and get the work done off the court before we come to the tournaments, it makes a world of a difference," Williams said. 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in Thursday's other quarterfinal. The other semifinal pits Russians Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze. Williams, a six-time Grand Slam winner, said she and her sister Serena can dominate women's tennis again if they avoid injuries, noting they won two of the four Grand Slams last year. The Williams sisters have fallen out of the world's top five, with Serena ranked seventh and Venus ranked eighth. "If we can just stay healthy and keep practicing and get the work done off the court before we come to the tournaments, it makes a world of a difference," Williams said.'Maria lost the final in Hong Kong to #4 seed Venus Williams of the United States by the score of 4-6 3-6 in 80 minutes in sweltering heat at Victoria Park.


Maria is Defeated , Yet feels good going into Australia

Maria talking about the match: "When your opponent is serving big and serving consistently well you really have to take your chances on opportunities you have on second serves which I think I did a poor job on. When I did get those opportunities on second serve I made errors or gave her an easy ball. Other than that I thought that I did a good job on my serve when she was trying to attack, I thought I did a good job at handling that.

The tournament and preparations for the Australian Open: "I have been happy with what I have done while I have been here. It is always good to get a few matches and I have had four matches in the last week. This is probably one of the greatest preparations you can get and now with a good week of training in Australia I definitely think that I can be ready."

Maria will now take 1 week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open which begins on January 14th.