Venus Williams has rejected accusations from her Russian conqueror Elena Dementieva that she played up the effects of a foot injury in their Nasdaq-100 Open quarter-final in Florida yesterday.
"After the medical break I was thinking she was a good actress because she was moving so much better than before," said
Dementieva, who eventually won 6-3, 5-7, 7-6.
Williams replied: "Maybe I should talk to her. I clearly twisted my ankle and I had issues there. But if that's the way she feels, that's fine.
"These days, to be a champ and to be a winner, you have to play under all circumstances and I think that's what I did. I just tried to ignore it."
Dementieva criticised Williams' conduct when the American seemed to injure her right foot late in the second set.
Williams visibly grimaced when she landed awkwardly after hitting a forehand on her opponent's service game at 5-6 and 30-30.
She had the problem evaluated by WTA trainer Lisa Heller and then took a statutory three-minute injury time-out while her foot and ankle was strapped.
"On her face it looked like she had something very painful, but then she started to move very well," the Russian said.
The medical time-out appeared to upset Dementieva's rhythm.
