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| Monday, February 11 Venus' dilemma: going for No. 1 or going to school Associated Press |
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PARIS -- Venus Williams claimed her second title of 2002 when Jelena Dokic withdrew from Sunday's final of the Gaz de France tournament with a strained right thigh.
Williams then hinted again that she might cut her season short to concentrate on academics.
"I'd like to take the fall off and go to school," she said.
The 22-year-old Williams, a student in fashion design at the Florida Art Institute, has said she feels torn between studies and sports.
She told French sports daily L'Equipe on Tuesday that she knew she needed to devote more time to tennis to reach No. 1, but added that she's not prepared to give up her other interests, including her studies at the Florida Art Institute.
"I am somebody who gets bored very easily and if I dedicated all my time to tennis, it would end up boring me," Williams said.
She won her 23rd career WTA Tour title without hitting a ball Sunday.
"It's not really like you've won. But I suppose you're the last one standing," Williams said.
The fourth-seeded Dokic said she was hurt during Saturday's 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 semifinal victory over Monica Seles and aggravated the injury in a doubles match later that day.
"I wasn't able to move this morning," Dokic said Sunday. "It seems to be a lot more serious than we originally thought."
Dokic, who called the injury a muscle tear, also pulled out of the doubles tournament at Proximus Diamond Games this week in Antwerp. She still hoped to play in the singles competition there.
Williams, who has won both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon each of the last two years, beat Justine Henin at the Gold Coast tournament in January for her first title in 2002. Williams reached the quarterfinals of the Australia Open, where she lost to Seles.
The top-seeded Williams advanced to the Gaz de France final by beating defending champion Amelie Mauresmo 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in the semifinals Saturday. That was Williams' only test this week; after a first-round bye, she had straight-set victories over fellow American Meilen Tu and Italy's Silvia Farina-Elia.
The tournament's doubles final also was canceled because Elena Dementieva, whose partner was Janette Husarova, withdrew because of bronchitis. That gave the title to Tu and Nathalie Dechy.
With both finals called off Sunday, spectators who didn't cash in their tickets were treated to an exhibition mixed doubles match with Williams and Mansour Bahrami against Mauresmo and retired French star Yannick Noah.
Midway through the match, the players switched teams to make it men vs. women.
"It was strange," Williams said, "but it was fun." |
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