Alicia Molik nonetheless completely remembers upsetting Venus Williams on the 2005 Australian Open as the previous Australian tennis star says she felt “invincible” going into the matchup and was assured that the American can be in for one thing completely different this time.
Between 1999 and 2004, Molik and Williams performed 3 times and the now seven-time Grand Slam champion gained all of these conferences routinely in straight units.
However when the 2 have been about to face one another within the 2005 Australian Open round-of-16, Molik – now 43 years previous – was taking part in the tennis of her life and being on an eight-match profitable streak initially of the 12 months. Additionally, the Australian was coming off a giant second a part of the 2004 season that noticed her win three titles and win a bronze medal on the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Nonetheless, regardless that Molik was in excellent type, Williams was nonetheless broadly considered the most effective gamers within the sport and he or she was a four-time Slam champion on the time.
And when their Australian Open match began, it was clear proper from the beginning that Molik wouldn’t go down simple this time. Ultimately, not solely that Molik did not go down with no combat, however she additionally beat Williams 7-5 7-6 (3) to make her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in entrance of her residence followers.
“I wasn’t the identical participant because the occasions I would performed her earlier than. I hadn’t gained as a lot, I did not have the identical rating, I hadn’t overwhelmed as many top-tier gamers,” Molik advised the Australian Open web site.
“I used to be driving excessive. I felt invincible. I used to be coaching so properly, so exhausting. I used to be clearly match, robust. It doesn’t matter what the rating was, what the temperature was, whether or not I had niggles, soreness – I simply knew I would get by all these tough matches.”
Molik tells how her coach ready her for the Williams matchup
On the time, Molik was working with coach David Taylor. And after the Australian booked a gathering with former world No. 1 Williams, coach Taylor did an in-depth evaluation of tips on how to strategy the matchup and tips on how to assault the American.
After the evaluation was accomplished, coach Taylor suggested Molik to attempt to go after Williams’ forehand wing along with her serve – defend with slices when wanted to extend factors and look forward to a possibility to assault – and to attempt to be aggressive when she had a clear alternative to take action.
“It did not occur in a single day. A number of my confidence got here from wins, however I had an extremely lengthy and exhausting pre-season. I put in lots of months of actually, actually exhausting work, on the court docket within the scorching summer season, within the health club – I keep in mind it fairly clearly. It was fairly full-on to organize myself for all the pieces and something,” Molik defined.
“It was the primary (Australian) summer season I actually felt able to delivering. And I used to be delivering. I would gained Sydney, I used to be taking part in very well. There’s so many matches you go into and also you’re form of, ‘yeah, I’ve obtained an opportunity, I really feel I’d have the ability to do that’. However I truly knew I may beat her.
“(Dave and I) actually spent lots of time to suppose by and map out how the match most likely would go. So I felt like in a manner I would form of performed it out in my thoughts quite a lot of occasions earlier than truly strolling out on the court docket.”
Molik on if beating Williams on the Australian Open was her ‘profession spotlight’
When Molik beat Williams, it wasn’t simply her first win over the American but additionally one thing that landed her first Grand Slam quarterfinal look and assured a top-10 spot.
“It is proper up there. As a result of Venus was actually near being at her finest then. It was extremely important. Not simply (beating) Venus; it was the spherical of 16 on the Australian Open. It additionally meant a lot, as a result of it is on residence soil,” Molik mentioned when answering if beating Williams at Melbourne Park was the spotlight of her profession.
“It was unbelievable. It is form of that second you go, ‘oh God, I did it! I can do that! I did it at residence’ – it is twice as exhausting on residence soil. That night time I felt like I used to be actually within the zone. It was the fruits I consider the exhausting work, the idea, the preparation, the match wins within the lead-up, for confidence.”
After beating Williams, Molik suffered a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss after former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport outlasted her 6-4 4-6 9-7.
In the remainder of her profession, Molik by no means once more made a Slam quarterfinal and he or she was additionally overwhelmed by Williams in 2007 Tokyo of their final matchup.