February 6, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
American Venus Williams served in her first match in five months alongside Liezel Huber in the United States Fed Cup match against Belarus. Williams was off to a good start that improved as the match went on with the duo defeating Anastasiya Yakimova & Liezel Huber in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. "It was perfect conditions," said Williams.
Venus along with teammates including Serena Williams was able to sweep through all four rounds of singles showing no signs of the autoimmune disease that forced her to withdraw from the opening rounds of the 2011 U.S. Open.
She received applause when entering the court for her first return where fans saw no signs of the fatigue and joint pain that is typical of Sjogren’s Syndrome. She said she had felt great and that she hopes to ride her comeback from that instance all the way through the Olympics.
“I’m not sure what my plans are,” she said. “For me it’s kind of week-by-week and just see what happens. I try not to put pressure on myself.”
The Americans now head into a playoff in April where if they win they could possibly get back into the top tier of the Fed Cup, which they dropped out of last year. "You don’t want to be in this group any extra time," said U.S. Captain Mary Joe Fernandez. "It was big to win this one and now we have another task in front of us."
Christina McHale quickly advanced 6-0, 6-1 in her match leaving some pressure on Venus to keep on track for a 5-0 shutout. Even after the match was secured, most fans stuck around to see Venus’s return to tennis and sure enough it was a great return. She garnered great applause and foot-stomping when the doubles duo returned on court after warm-ups.
