Tennis: Venus: 'Must do a whole lot better'

ASB Classic tournament drawcard Venus Williams arrives in Auckland and, left, in action. Photos / Dean Purcell, Richard Robinson

Venus Williams, back for another crack at New Zealand's women's tennis prize, says she intends to do "a whole lot better" at next week's ASB Classic tournament.

The United States star, runner-up last year at the ASB Classic tournament, said at Auckland Airport yesterday: "I definitely feel the energy and I've been hitting well and I'm looking forward to getting started.

"Last year was so amazing and I got so close but ran into a better player. It was the first of four finals for me last year and I was actually reflecting on that as I came through security. I was like 'last year wasn't bad' so I'd love to make it a lot better."

Williams, along with eventual winner Ana Ivanovic, lit up the ASB Tennis Arena last year, in what was one of the best finals ever seen at international level.

Following her performance in Auckland, Williams reached the third round of Wimbledon, and was a finalist in Montreal where she defeated her sister Serena in the semifinal.

She also reached the finals in Quebec. Amazingly, her 45th career title came at the premier level event in Dubai where she got revenge on Ivanovic en route to the title.

However, her year ended prematurely when illness forced her withdrawal from the China Open ahead of the third round.

"I got sick in China and had to withdraw and suddenly it ended," Williams explained. "It was very anticlimactic and it took me a few weeks to get over it, I was like 'what happened?'

"But regardless it was a great season and I had a nice rest and am ready to go."

Currently 18th in the world singles rankings, the seven-time Grand Slam champion joked that her off-season was all too short but spoke glowingly about her past experiences in New Zealand.

"It happens every year. I'm like "push this thing back until February so I can get in an extra month of rest" but I don't think anyone is listening to me on that one.

"But it's always wonderful to come here at the end of the summer and try to make it happen. I've had a lot of great experiences here and I'm ready for some more."

The 34-year-old veteran spoke warmly about ASB Classic top seed Caroline Wozniacki. If they were to meet in the final, Williams said she hoped it would be a repeat of last year's semifinal encounter in Dubai, a match the American won 6-3, 6-2.

"She's playing so great and I'm so happy for her because she is a nice person so you like to see nice people do well," she said.

"I've always had a lot of respect for her game and who knows when we'll have a finals meeting, is the draw out? We'll see what happens. I have to get there and that would be fantastic to have a repeat final.

"It would be awesome for the tournament, awesome for both of us to start our year off well but there's going to be a lot of things in our way, namely a lot of really talented players so we'll see what happens."

When asked if her sister Serena, a close friend of Wozniacki, had inside knowledge on how to beat the Danish star, Williams laughed.

"Serena is the cool sister. I'm the sister that stays at home and reads books. I'm not as cool."