Suarez-Navarro downs Venus!

George Kingsley 22.01.09

... In an absolute cracker! I probably wouldn't have bothered watching this if I hadn't have been waiting for Andy Murray. I naively thought to myself, 'the outcome is inevitable'. I also had the displeasure of watching Dellacqua versus Hantuchova a couple of days ago and it was probably the worst match I have ever seen (this is not an exaggeration), followed by Samantha Stosur who was only fractionally better.

This was a much better advert for womens tennis. A big powerful and experienced champion against a small and rather unassuming Spainiard. A no brainer surely? After losing the first set, the young Suarez-Navarro came storming out and took an early break. From there on she was absolutely exceptional, matching and bettering everything Venus could throw at her. Almost every point was closed out with a winner, it was a joy to watch.

Equally pleasing on the eye is her delightful one handed back-hand which was used to great effect, dragging Venus left right and centre and forcing her into numerous errors.

Big things beckon for this goofy and rather lovable little Spaniard. She is only 20. If she carries on like this then she will be playing the Venuses of this world a whole lot more often.