Tennis Capsules: Venus Williams excited to play again

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Recovery never comes fast enough for Venus Williams.

The latest has been especially slow for Williams, who plans to return this weekend in the Fed Cup matches against Belarus after a five-month layoff caused by Sjogren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain.

Williams practiced with the U.S. team Wednesday morning and said she's thrilled to be so close to competing again for the first time since the opening round of the U.S. Open.

"I think just being on a team and just having some adrenaline just gives me even more energy, to be honest," she said at a news conference Wednesday. "I need to be on a team every week and not at home."

Williams has had to learn the difference between recovering from an injury and an illness. That has meant pacing herself more in practice and minding doctors' orders not to push it while she tries to regain her form. The former world No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam singles winner, Williams isn't used to taking it easy.

"The difference is acceptance — trying to accept how you feel and limitations. Listening to your body and taking care of yourself," she said. "Instead of trying to run through a wall, just really kind of take a step back and be smart. I think that's kind of what I've learned."

Williams hasn't played a sanctioned match since the U.S. Open in August. She withdrew after the first round and was not ready to return last month for the Australian Open.

"There are some things you can't keep going through," she said. "I still have to be reminded to slow down, but hopefully there will be a day when I don't have to be reminded of that."

Williams played younger sister, Serena, in an exhibition in Colombia in November, but that has been her only public competition since Aug. 29 at the U.S. Open.

The recovery has been frustratingly slow at times, but she feels ready for this weekend when the U.S. begins its quest to return to the top tier in the Fed Cup. The Americans were bounced to Group II in a 5-0 loss to Germany last year, when Venus was with the team but couldn't play because of a hip injury.

"I was just kind of standing on the sidelines, which was tough because I wasn't able to help the team at all," she said. "This year, it's great to be in a position to help the team."

It's also great for U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez, who said the lineup for the matches Saturday and Sunday will depend on how well Venus plays in practice over the next few days.

Wednesday's results looked promising, Fernandez said.

"Just to have her around is such a big motivator for the rest of the team. There's a lot of excitement. I think Venus was thrilled and she was itching to get out there and hit that first ball," Fernandez said. "I think that goes such a long way. The ripple effect of everybody seeing it — just seeing the desire, the determination, the intensity — it rubs off. It was great to see Venus out there this morning hitting well and working hard."

Belarus features new world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who just won the Australian Open title on Saturday.

Fernandez said she has to submit her lineup on Friday, when the weekend draw will be determined. There are two singles matches Saturday and another two rounds of singles Sunday before the competition wraps up with doubles. The U.S. team also includes Liezel Huber, the world's No. 1 doubles player, Christina McHale and Sloane Stephens, daughter of the late New England Patriots running back John Stephens.

Serena Williams has been recovering from a left ankle injury, but could still be the American opponent to face Azarenka, who routed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in the Australian Open final.

"The good news is we can always change it up the second day, so I have good options," Fernandez said.

No matter how she plays this weekend, just getting on the court for a real match will be somewhat of a triumph for Venus Williams, who will be 32 in June.

Injuries have limited her to playing in only 11 matches since she reached the semifinals at the 2010 U.S. Open. The last few months of recovery have been more trying than what she has endured in the past because it has been so different.

"It's definitely difficult not being on the court, especially when there's not much to be done about it when it's completely out of my control," she said. "I think that's probably the hardest part."

Tournament Capsules

Gasquet beats Davydenko to reach Open Sud quarters

The second-seeded Simon had nine aces and saved four break points in his 6-3, 6-2 win against Flavio Cipolla of Italy, while the fourth-seeded Gasquet broke Nikolay Davydenko three times in a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Even though Davydenko is no longer ranked in the world's top 50, Gasquet was wary of the former top-five player.

"He's not the No. 3 he was a few years ago but he can still dazzle sometimes, and you can easily find yourself a break down against him," Gasquet said. "So it was important to hold my serve."

Davydenko led 40-15 on serve in the 10th game of the second set, but Gasquet took a forehand early to pass Davydenko, who next hit an unforced error and watched as Gasquet dispatched a volley to get to his first match point.

Davydenko saved that with his fifth ace. Gasquet wasted his next chance when a hurried backhand pass hit the net, then double-faulted on his third match point and watched as Davydenko saved another with a clipped forehand pass.

Gasquet, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, sealed victory on his fifth match point after a long baseline rally ended with the Russian slicing a forehand well wide.

"I'm glad he missed that as it was becoming harder to get my first serve in," said Gasquet, who has slipped from a ranking of seventh in 2007 to 16th. "I've recovered from Australia now and am starting to sleep properly, so everything's fine."

Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, seeded No. 7, dropped serve twice but served 10 aces to beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 6-4, 7-5.

Guillaume Rufin of France also advanced after a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over fifth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain.

Rufin hit 16 aces compared to 13 for Lopez, who lost his serve twice in the second set after the big servers swapped a break each in the first.

Melzer, Haase advance at Zagreb Indoors

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Michael Berrer of Germany upset top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of Zagreb Indoors.

Berrer, Last year's finalist, had little trouble as shown by him breaking back immediately in the second set after dropping serve for the only time in the match.

"I played badly," Ljubicic said. "It hurts much more losing at home, but the good thing with tennis is that you don't have to wait long for another chance."

Defending champion Ivan Dodig defeated Marsel Ilhan of Turkey by 7-6 (5), 7-5, and later said he wasn't concerned by the back injury which forced his retirement in the first round of the Australian Open.

"It was more important not to feel the injury during play," Dodig said.

Earlier, Jurgen Melzer of Austria upset fifth-seeded Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-3 for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Melzer was a late entry and had to play in qualifiers, but has lost just nine games in his first two matches. Melzer — a 2010 semifinalist — served nine aces against Seppi and converted four of his seven break points.

"I am very happy with the way I played so far," he said. "I needed some matches after an early exit in Melbourne, where I lost in the first round. ... And after many injury problems I had last year now I finally play pain free."

Seventh-seeded Robin Haase from the Netherlands also advanced after rallying to beat Matthias Bachinger from Germany 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3.

In the remaining first-round matches, Slovenian wild card Grega Zemlja beat Croat Antonio Veic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), Dudi Sela of Israel defeated Andreas Beck of Germany 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain ousted Daviel Evans of Britain 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Gil ousts Andujar 6-2, 6-1 at Vina Del Mar

VINA DEL MAR, Chile (AP) — Frederico Gil of Portugal upset fourth-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the Vina del Mar VTR Open on Wednesday.

Gil advanced to a quarterfinal match against France's Jeremy Chardy, who beat Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 7-5, 6-2 in the clay-court event.

Top seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina breezed past Igor Andreev of Russia 6-2, 6-1, setting up a a quarterfinal match against fifth-seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes, who beat qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil 7-5, 6-2.

No. 2 Juan Ignacio Chela will play his second-round match Thursday against fellow Argentine Horacio Zeballos. No. 3 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil will face Federico Delbonis of Argentina in the day's other top match.

Other Tennis News

Djokovic to miss Davis Cup match vs. Sweden

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Former top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki has fired coach Ricardo Sanchez of Spain after just two months. Wozniacki's father Piotr told Wednesday's edition of the Ekstra Bladet that his daughter didn't get "new impulses" from working with Sanchez.

The Spaniard was hired in early December, only to see Wozniacki fall to defending champion Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and lose her No. 1 ranking. Wozniacki remains without a Grand Slam title and is now ranked fourth.

Piotr Wozniacki will no go back to coaching his daughter on his own. Sanchez told the newspaper that he found it "impossible" to have a system with two coaches and that "Caroline only got confused.