Publication Date: Friday Jul 28, 2000

Dominating!

It wasn't that long ago you'd be hearing the phrase "Be like Mike" just about anywhere children gathered to play. That isn't the case anymore. Nowadays the refrain "Tiger's the Man" can be heard. Just ask Venus Williams, who dispatched Tatiana Panova, 6-2, 6-2, Wednesday at the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium. For Williams, it was her match since winning at Wimbledon.

Williams said she just started paying attention to how Stanford alum Tiger Woods has been dominating the world of golf lately and called her sister Serena, who was originally scheduled to appear at the Bank of the West but withdrew due to scheduling conflicts.

Said Venus to her younger sibling: "Apparently this Tiger Woods is 'The Man.' We have to be more like him. We definitely have to take a page from his book, stop winning here and there and start dominating."

The second-seeded Williams can say things like that after winning a major tournament like Wimbledon, and don't forget Serena has a Slam event title to her name, as well, as the defending U.S. Open champion.

Venus Williams will be playing tonight in the quarterfinals against the winner of the Amy Frazier-Kristina Brandi match that was played Thursday night. Frazier, the 10th seed in the tournament, was favored to advance.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Monica Seles, who beat Meghann Shaughnessy, 7-5, 6-3, on Wednesday, will play either sixth-seeded Amanda Coetzer or Cara Black in the quarterfinals today or tonight.

Eighth-seeded Chandra Rubin probably will be playing top-seeded Lindsay Davenport, who was a heavy favorite to defeat Nicole Pratt on Thursday night. In fact, the two-time defending champion Davenport is likely headed for the finals and a match against Williams.

Sandrine Testud, seeded fifth, plays Anna Kournikova today/tonight following Kournikova's 6-1, 6-0 romp over Jana Nejedly on Thursday.

"I didn't know much about Tiger Woods," said Williams. "I knew he was a great player. Then I took some time to read the articles about him. He just dominates. I read that the other players were in awe of him. I'd like to definitely take a chapter from his book. It's all in the mind."

There's no doubt Williams has the talent to dominate women's tennis. She's shown an ability to simply overwhelm opponents, like Woods. What she has to do is start winning tournaments like Bank of the West.

This is the same event in which Williams began her professional career way back in 1994. This is her sixth trip to the Classic and she has yet to win here.

"I was just thinking about it," said Williams. "This is my sixth time here. It's my turn to win."

There are a couple of players standing in her way, not the least of which is Davenport, who lost to Williams in the finals at Wimbledon.

Williams' semifinal opponent could be Testud if the seeds hold, or it could be Kournikova, which would make one heck of a contest.

As for being like Tiger, Williams does notice she gets a lot more attention these days.

"When I go to the mall I go at 10 in the morning, not at the busiest times," she said. "I'm a little more popular."

What may help Williams is that she says she's playing even better now than when she won at Wimbledon.

"I'm hitting the ball harder than normal," said Williams. "I would like to improve my consistency and improve the placement on my serve."

Davenport's run to the championship match probably will run through Rubin and Seles.

Seles, who has won two Bank of the West titles, won despite a blister on her left hand.

"It alters my grip," she said. "If I play like I did, I don't have much of a chance to win."

Meanwhile, former Stanford All-Americans Marissa Irvin and Lilia Osterloh each dropped first-round matches this week.

Irvin lost to Pratt, 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, while Osterloh lost to Frazier, 6-3, 6-3.

For Osterloh, the 1997 NCAA singles champion, is was her first time back at Taube Family Tennis Stadium since turning pro.

"I'm glad to be back, but I'm disappointed in the result" said Osterloh. "It's a great feeling to hear the band playing. I had a lot of friends and family here."

Irvin was hampered by an ankle injury in her loss, which forced her and Osterloh to withdraw from the doubles competition.

That's the bad news. The good news is that they were replaced by lucky losers Gabriela Lastra and Keiko Toduka, Stanford players who are competing as amateurs. 

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