WTA Championships Minus Venus

Venus at Wimbledon, ©Getty Images
Originally uploaded by guchuj05.

With a win today, Russian Elena Demetieva will knock Venus Williams out of the year end WTA Championships, and ticket sales will plunge in L.A. The Williams sisters have done for women's tennis, at least in terms of African-American interest in the sport, what Tiger Woods has done for golf. Tennis was, after all, perceived by many as a country club sport. (Still is by some.) We know that Venus and Serena grew up playing on public courts in Los Angeles and managed to rise to the top of tennis. This helped change the perception of the sport somewhat, and make the Williams sisters fan favorites.

Why do they rank so low that their places are not secured at the year end championships? It's true that they now have other interests outside of tennis, which is good. Better that than to have an obsession with something you cannot do for a very long period of time anyway. But both have expressed interest in returning the top of the rankings. So will they return to dominant form? One can only hope that they can balance their other interests (fashion, interior design) with tennis and still be at the top of their games.