World No. 134 Venus Williams says that trying to qualify for the London Olympics is seriously motivating her to improve her ranking. Venus, whose ranking will rise at least into the Top 100 after her three wins in at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, still needs to reached the Top 56 at the end of Roland Garros to automatically qualify and not have to ask for an exemption.
"Whenever things look bleak, I think about the Olympics,” Williams said after her near three-hour win over Alexandra Wozniak. "That keeps me motivated. When I don't want to get up or, you know, I want to do something different, I want to make an error, then I think about the Olympics and how if I don't do the right thing I might not be there. That keeps me on the straight and narrow."
Venus added that she is also hoping to play doubles at the Olympics, but has not considered playing mixed doubles. John Isner has said he would liked to play mixed doubles with either Venus or Serena.