MADE EMPIRE: TENNIS

The WTA is working on a new maxim: One Williams sister's loss is another Williams sister's gain. 
Serena Williams'
 magnificent year may have come to an abrupt, melancholy end a week ago,
 in a tearful admission of just how shattered she was by having missed 
out on the opportunity to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam at the US 
Open. 
"It's no secret I've played injured most of the year -- 
whether it was my elbow, my knee or, in the final moments after a 
certain match in Flushing, my heart," Williams wrote in announcing that 
she was done for the year. "This is a very difficult decision, but one 
ultimately made because of the love of the game." 
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<figure style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><source data-srcset="http://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2015%2F1002%2Fr13426_2_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=570, http://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2015%2F1002%2Fr13426_2_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=1140 2x" media="(min-width: 376px)"></source><source data-srcset="http://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2015%2F1002%2Fr13426_2_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=375, http://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2015%2F1002%2Fr13426_2_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=750 2x" media="(max-width: 375px)"></source><img class=" imageLoaded lazyloaded " data-image-container=".inline-photo" height="225" src="http://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2015%2F1002%2Fr13426_2_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=570" width="400" /><figcaption class="photoCaption">Venus Williams started off the fall season with one of the biggest titles she's had in years, at the Wuhan Open. <cite>Fred DuFour/AFP/Getty Images</cite></figcaption></figure> 
<aside class="inline inline-photo full"></aside>But
 just as Serena had declared the end to her season, Venus stepped up to 
keep the family name -- and its long-standing history in the 
booty-kicking trade -- alive, prominent and feared. Her effort came to a
 crescendo last Sunday, when she won a battle of the walking wounded at 
Wuhan. 
Venus' left thigh was sore, but Garbine Muguruza's left ankle was an even greater liability in that final, so much so that she eventually had to quit while down 6-3, 3-0. 
That
 unsatisfying end obscured the quality of Venus' achievement. This was 
her 47th title, but her first Premier-or-better trophy in five years -- 
and a win chock-full of resonances. The most striking of those was that 
in the semifinals Venus exacted revenge on behalf of her sister against 
the woman who crushed Serena's Grand Slam hopes in New York, Roberta Vinci. 
Venus accomplished that in the cruelest way possible. 
Vinci
 had match point late in the third set of their 2-hour, 43-minute epic 
but failed to convert her money shot -- a slice backhand -- on serve at 
match point. Venus went on to win, thereby denying Vinci her first 
appearance in a Premier level final to go along with that US Open final 
she played in September. 
For the winner, though, blood is thicker than water. 
"If I could, I'd give my win to Serena at the US Open," Venus said afterward. "Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way." 
Maybe not, but it sure makes for good theater. 
But
 the Williams family angle overshadowed an even more striking feature of
 Venus' performance: The stamina she showed in that match, and 
throughout the tournament. That's great news for a 35-year-old player 
who is managing competition and Sjogren's Syndrome, an immune system 
disorder with symptoms that include joint pain and susceptibility to 
fatigue -- not exactly irrelevant details for an athlete. 
In 2011,
 Venus revealed she was suffering from the condition, and in the 
intervening years, it sometimes appeared that her stamina was 
compromised. Not last week in Wuhan, though. She played six matches, 
four against top-20 players. A number of them were knock-down, 
drag-outs. In her quarterfinal and semifinal wins, Venus was on court 
for more than five hours. 
In the second round, Venus logged her 
700th tour win, joining an elite group of just eight Open era women. 
Perhaps surpassing that milestone makes a player, even one plagued with 
Sjogren's, feel like all the rest is a piece of cake as long as you are 
willing to stick it out. 
Five of Venus' opponents were at least eight years her junior, including her quarters foe Johanna Konta -- a qualifier who's been on a tear, having won 21 of her previous 22 matches. Konta had upset top-seeded Simona Halep just 24 hours earlier. She fought Venus tooth and nail for 2½ hours before Venus prevailed, 7-5 in the third. 
Just
 as impressive, considering the horrific rash of withdrawals and 
retirements plaguing the WTA these days, Venus dragged herself, bad 
thigh and all, off to Beijing almost immediately after she won Wuhan to 
prepare for the China Open. 
She's not just stepping up for the 
Williams family, she's stepping up for the tour -- just as she did when 
she emerged as one of the leading voices for equal prize money at Grand 
Slams. 
And, lest we forget, she's also stepping up for Venus Williams. 
On
 Monday, she was up to No. 14 in the WTA rankings, just 62 points shy of
 the No. 9 spot in the race to the tour finals in Singapore. (The player
 in that position will qualify for the eight-woman field this year 
because of Serena's absence.) 
But Venus had a tough draw at the 
China Open on Tuesday. She had a first-round bye, then was beaten in her
 first match by No. 8 seed Ana Ivanovic. 
Sometimes, even being a Williams isn't quite enough.

Venus filling void left by Serena

The WTA is working on a new maxim: One Williams sister's loss is another Williams sister's gain. Serena Williams' magnificent ...