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Falconi will be another good test for Venus

Falconi's first round opponent Crawford had 40 unforced errors. Her game is all about power and no control. Venus is powerful, something too powerful and without control. She played a very good match against Puig, who was a good test for her. Venus is now to face another tough player

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Falconi was somehow always living and playing in the shadow if her compatriots. She is 25 and is very close to having her best ranking ever again (Top 70). This season, Falconi has 32 wins but is still in between ITF tournaments, WTA qualifying rounds and WTA main draw. She has 10 main draw wins on WTA level this season. 

Falconi beat 20-year-old Crawford two days ago in US Open first round. Crawford never really proved herself at WTA level despite being praised by some of her opponents in the past. There were some moments in which she showed why she deserved those here. She is tall, has powerful forehand and good serve, which sounds great in theory. That mostly works against weaker opponents but Crawford will have to have a much better balance between her power and efficiency in order to make progress. There is no shortage of power with her but efficiency is a big problem.

Falconi forced her to work hard for each point. Powerful shots that lacked precision simply didn't work as she had 14 winners, 10 more than Falconi, but at the same time had 40 unforced errors, 31 more than Falconi.

Venus's status was questionable before the final Grand Slam. She had failed in Istanbul, where she was the top seed, and then lost to Lisicki in straight sets in Toronto. She struggled against Diyas in Cincinnati and then pulled out of the match against Ivanovic. All things considered, she probably couldn't have had a worst preparation for this. She, however, seemed to be doing well at practice sessions before the first round here. She was well-rested and smiling. She beat Puig in three sets in the end but could have finished the job in straight set had she used only one out of the 4 match points in the second set tiebreak. But she didn't and Puig managed to force her into the third set where Venus' power settled the match.

- Puig was so good in the back, which is great. Good things come from her - Venus said and added:

- You don't want to do your best in the first round but you want to do well.

Venus really had to close to her best in order to beat Puig. Her opponent proved she can do well but her problem is inconstancy. Both have played a really good match with an occasional miss but we saw some great winners on both sides.