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Sunday, July 30, 2000 Final - Venus Williams vs. Lindsay Davenport It felt like dejavu. It was a Lindsey Davenport and Venus Williams final for the 3rd straight year here at the Bank of the West Classics. You would think the fans here at Stanford are tired of seeing the same two players, but they can't get enough of the two tower of power going head to head against each other. This was not just an ordinary final. It was a rematch of the Wimbledon Final. Both players have been playing extremely well in their first appearance since the All England Club. Lindsey was eager to redeem her dominance while Venus was ready to continue her roll. It was a warm day, and both players came out hungry for the title, but it was Venus who took the first bite. She immediately broke Lindsay's serve at 2-1 to go up 3-1. Then she would consolidate her lead with a hold to lead it at 4-1. Lindsay was now playing extremely sluggish. She dropped her shoulders and had a look of frustration. Not surprisingly she went down another break and lost the set 1-6. The fans were pretty evenly distributed between the two players. Many rooted for Lindsay to comeback in the second set. There was no doubt that she could. Both of the previous two finals here at BOW were decided in 3 sets with Lindsay being the victor. So, it was up to her to do it again. The 2nd set began with a cliffhanger as Davenport was on the verge of being broken again in the first game. She was down couple of break points, but somehow managed to turn them into game points. From then on she made a run to comeback. She broke Venus' serve to lead the set 3-1. However, her efforts were balanced by Venus' immediate break back. The two stayed on serve till 4 all, and that was when Venus put the last draw to the race. She broke to go up 5-4 and held a tough game to win the match and the tournament was an impressive score of 6-1, 6-2 against the 2nd ranked player. In the 2nd set, Venus served a bomb of 122 mph. After winning match point, Williams stretched her arms out wide into the air for celebrations. She looked to her father as he gave his daughter a well-deserved thumbs up. It was time for the Trophy presentation and Venus was once again her humorous self. Being presented with a trophy and a Bank of the West bear, Venus joked that she always wanted the "stuffed bear animal." Both players were extremely gracious to each other. Lindsay like the great loser that she is, congratulated Venus on another victory and promised the crowd that there will a lot more of her to come. Doubles Final Rubin/Testud def. Black/Frazier 6-4, 6-4 |