MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 Venus Williams watched the forehand sail into the net, the final shot of her loss to Francesca Jones of Britain at the Miami Open on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Nobody seemed to know what to do next.<\/p>\n
Jones, who wasn\u2019t even alive when Williams won her first two Grand Slam titles, raised her arms into the air to celebrate, then put them down after a few seconds. And on the way to the net, Jones saw Williams coming her way and did something not often seen after a match.<\/p>\n
She bowed.<\/p>\n
Such is the level of adoration that Jones \u2014 and surely plenty of others \u2014 have for Williams, who has been one of the biggest names in tennis for about three decades now. Williams broke into a big smile when Jones bowed, then offered a handshake, then a hug and even a quick word of encouragement. And Jones, oddly, was almost apologetic when her 7-5, 7-5 win was over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a really rough year so far,\u201d Jones said in the on-court interview following the match. \u201cA lot of injuries and I\u2019m still sick. I was coughing all the time. I was worried I was going to make a legend sick as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
She truly does think of Venus \u2014 and her sister Serena Williams \u2014 as legends.<\/p>\n
Jones still has posters in her childhood bedroom of the sisters, wishing them good night before she goes off to sleep when she\u2019s there. She still remembers being taken by her father to Centre Court at Wimbledon as a 5-year-old so she could watch her heroes play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for those two women, I\u2019m not sure I would have made the step to do it. … They\u2019re the reason that I\u2019m here today,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
When the match ended, fans slowly rose to their feet, first applauding Jones, then breaking into a full-on ovation as Williams \u2014 who was playing the Miami tournament for the 23rd time, while Jones is in it for the first time \u2014 gathered her things and walked off the grandstand court with a wave.<\/p>\n
And, as is probably the case on some level every time Williams gets eliminated from the singles draw of a tournament these days, the question will hover in the tennis world: \u201cHow many more times will we see her play?\u201d<\/p>\n
Time will tell. There will be at least one more match in Miami Gardens; Williams is playing doubles in this tournament with Leylah Fernandez. The duo made a run to the U.S. Open quarterfinals last summer.<\/p>\n
Carlos Alcaraz, the world\u2019s top-ranked men\u2019s player, said he hopes the Venus show keeps going for at least a little while longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest for us, the tennis world, someone like such an iconic player, such an iconic athlete, a legend from all the sport still playing, I think it\u2019s great,\u201d Alcaraz said, speaking while the Williams-Jones match was getting underway. \u201cThanks to her, I think she brought a lot of people to watch tennis, which is great. And I have a huge admiration for her. She\u2019s still playing, still delivering great tennis, performing well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams, who got a wild-card spot into this field, has been part of the tournament at two different sites and with it having at least a half-dozen different names. She\u2019s reached the Miami final in three different decades, winning titles in 1998, 1999 and 2001 and being the runner-up in 2010.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a home tournament for Williams, which is surely part of the appeal. Her hometown is Palm Beach Gardens, about a 90-minute drive north of Hard Rock Stadium. And she\u2019s still among the partners within the ownership group of the Miami Dolphins, who call the facility home.<\/p>\n
For perspective:<\/p>\n
\u2014 As Williams took the court, Mo\u00efse Kouam\u00e9 of France was finishing off a three-set win over Zachary Svajda of the U.S. in a men\u2019s first-round match. Kouam\u00e9, who became the youngest winner of a Masters 1000 match since Rafael Nadal did so in 2003, turned 17 earlier this month \u2014 meaning he\u2019s nearly 29 years younger than Williams, who turns 46 in June.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Only nine other women in the Miami field were born before Williams played her first pro match; her debut was as a 14-year-old in 1994.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how (much) longer we are going to watch Venus. Hopefully a couple more years, but we don\u2019t know,\u201d Alcaraz said. \u201cAll we have to do is just enjoy her matches as much as we could and let\u2019s see. But I think it\u2019s great for the sport, for tennis to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
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