By: Matt DeCorso

Hey everyone! I hope you've all been having a good summer and maybe even soaking in some of the "US Open Series" on television. As we all know, Wimbledon ended with a bang, as Sharapova capped an amazing two weeks with the title. What most of you may not know is what went on last weekend all over the world....Fed Cup. I think a few women deserve some props for amazing weekends. Barbara Schett is on this list because she didn't lose a match this week. Out of three 3 matches, she lost 1 set (and who can beat Navratilova in straight sets in doubles?). French Open champ Myskina had a good weekend in not dropping a set in two matches but the bigger kudos goes to Gislea Dulko. She got her country's only point and almost won a second in the doubles. Amelie Mauresmo also dropped just 11 games in her two matches on the way to a French victory. Even though the Belgians lost to Spain, Kirsten Flipkens showed some ruthless play and made sure we knew she was a star in the future. That concludes the kudos for the semis. Now onto the qualifying round. You had to have a superb weekend to make my list and Jelena Kostanic did that by dropping 6 games in 2 matches in a Croatian demolition of Brazil. Barbora Strycova was the Czech hero last weekend as she won both of her matches, including an 8-6 in the third win over Maret Ani. Good job Barbora! What a weekend for German veteran Barbara Rittner. She won both of her singles matches plus a doubles match..all in three sets! This tie was down to the wire as the Germans found themselves 2-1 down against the Ukraine. With the tie at 2-2 Rittner along with Woehr clinched the doubles victory. Asagoe also won three magnificent three setters to send Japan on over a Maleeva-less and Karantancheva-less Bulgaria. The biggest kudos goes out to the entire Slovak team after dropping ONLY 12 games in their four matches combined against Belarus (maybe they could have used a Mirnyi). Finally, on a Canadian note, Aleksandra Wozniak showed nerves of steel in thrashing Swiss junior bombshell Timea Bacsinszky. Enjoy the preview!

Venus Williams versus Lindsay Lee-Waters

Well, it's finally time for the Williams family to excel. The summer hardcourt season has been the time when Venus and Serena (Venus mostly) made their impression on the game. She is the top seed here at Stanford where so many memories have come. This was Venus' first event of her career in 1994. After beating the world number 58 Stafford, 14 year old Venus was up a set and a break on world number 2 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario before succumbing. It was at this event 10 years ago when Venus signalled to the world she was a force to be reckoned with. After having a less than average season, Venus is hoping to redeem herself on the American hardcourts. She is a two time champ here and after being unable to defend her '02 title last year, she will be looking to gain her third title of the year and first outdoor hard court event since her '02 Stanford win. She has a pretty favourable draw and her first obstacle is Lee-Waters. Look for Venus to attack the Lee-Waters serve and move in and impose herself as much as possible on her fellow American.

Weakness: She may be still be suffering the pain of her Wimbledon loss to Sprem.

Lindsay Lee-Waters is a 27 year old beauty from Oklahoma and hasn't really had a stellar year or career. Some of her big moments include an excusing of former doubles winner Pam Shriver at Wimbledon in '95 before losing to Zvereva in the 2nd round. 1996 was a pretty good year for Lindsay as she reached the quarters of Tier 1 Indian Wells. She upset her first Top 10 opponent in Brenda Schultz-McCarthy en route. From then on she was really under the radar. Nothing significant happened for her until this year. She upset Grande at Auckland before losing out to Suarez. She then came to Melbourne and reached the second round before losing to Wimbledon champ Sharapova. Her last eventful tournament was in Memphis where she reached her first QF in 8 years, beating Morigami and Sucha before losing to Raymond in three sets. In this match look for Lindsay to be looking to attack with her forehand and try and break down the Venus forehand.

Weakness: Total domination by Venus.

Who has the Edge?

Serve- Venus

Groundies- Venus

Movement- Venus

Intangibles- Lindsay (no pressure)

Volley- Venus

Well folks, we should be saying hello to a new and improved Venus. She is so at ease on the hard courts of U.S.A it's scary. For Venus, make sure you come to net and utilise your reach. For Lindsay, try and stay with Venus early.

Matt's Pick: Venus will dominate their first meeting 6-3 6-2.

Thanks