So who was that woman who played brilliantly for 4 days in a row to win the championship? You go figure!

How can somebody look so lousy the rest of the year and all of a sudden show up to play at Wimbledon and win? It is just beyond me. In the first and second rounds she slams forehands against the net and then at the end start hitting mostly winners.

The NBC commentators were saying that she doesn't prepare well for tournaments. She shows up to play and, if she is lucky enough to make it through the first couple of rounds, then she starts playing well. It seems as though she uses the first few rounds as practice.

In the past, though, she looked scratchy all the way to the finals. When she was number one, it became customary that she would go down a break or two and when it seemed that all was lost, she would start hitting freely and destroying her opponents.

I do not believe I have ever seen Venus play this well. Few unforced errors, lots of winners, and a steady stream of great shots have not been characteristic of her game. Instead, she used to make a bunch of unforced errors and then overpower her opponents with the brutal force of her serve and ground strokes.

Venus' game looked polished this week. I ignore why and how she did it, but she did play great this week. We can only hope that her ongoing injuries will stay under control, so she can continue to delight us with her great plays.

If she did practice properly for Wimbledon, even though it didn't show in the first few rounds, I hope that she will keep it up. It would be a shame that with such great talent, she would end her career with less than 10 grand slams, which I think she perfectly capable of winning.