With Serena sidelined, sister Venus dominating tour

— -- Venus Williams was never comfortable with sad or dramatic storylines. So it's no surprise she's not falling for the heroic ones now.

In 2011 at age 31, when she announced she had been suffering from Sjogren's syndrome, the autoimmune disease that causes extreme fatigue and debilitating muscle pain among other symptoms, she said she was just happy to have a diagnosis so she could "move on and get better."

When she lost at the Australian Open in 2014 at age 33 for her third first-round defeat in a year and a half and the questions of retirement surfaced yet again, she explained simply that "I love tennis. It's fun. It is definitely motivation for me [to continue]."

So when Williams, 35, won her second title in five weeks on Sunday to return to the WTA's top 10 for the first time in more than four years, it was only natural she would once again take the pragmatic approach of a professional athlete and little more.

"I've had so many experiences in tennis that I still expect a lot from myself," Venus told reporters after defeating Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 7-6 (6) to win the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China. "So I'm very happy to be moving forward, but I also want to continue and not stop here."

The thing with Venus, ranked No. 7 as of Monday morning, is that even when she fell out of the top 100 as she did in 2012, even when it seemed almost impossible that she would add to her seven Grand Slam singles titles, she was always capable of instilling fear in her opponent.

She was once the best in the world, and no matter what her results have been in recent years, Venus has never seemed to lose that swagger. Even after being thrust into the shadow of sister Serena, it never seemed to take away her veneer of confidence.

"I always want to be in the finals," Venus told reporters last week. "It doesn't matter what stage I'm in. Even if it was the last tournament of my career, I would still want to be in that final."

While Serena often self-destructed in matches, needing to resort to herculean comebacks even as she was on her way to four straight Grand Slam titles this year, Venus was usually beaten by a better opponent or a tough draw.

This year, she found herself in Serena's half in every major tournament they played, something Venus admitted bothered her.

"It's hard when you see sometimes the other side of the draw [and] there's nothing happening," Venus told reporters last month at the Wuhan Open. "I feel happy for them to do that. But I really had a tough year. It was just bad luck."

Serena's US Open semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci, which derailed the world No. 1's pursuit of the season Grand Slam, particularly seemed to get to Venus. And the older of the fiercely loyal sisters took special delight in avenging that loss by beating the 32-year-old Italian in a third-set tiebreaker in the Wuhan semifinals.

Vinci cursed at Venus in Italian, asking whether she wanted coffee or tea when Venus stepped off the line on Vinci's second serve on a Venus match point.

Williams' reply: "Excuse me?"

Her other reply: A backhand service return that Vinci ripped wide to give Venus the victory.

This was not the play or behavior of someone who was mellowing at 35.

But then, Venus has always had at least one big reason to be confident, even when her body has otherwise betrayed her: Her serve, long the most aesthetically pleasing in the game, has remained among her biggest weapons.

"As long as I'm serving big, it makes my life so much easier," she said at Wuhan, the site of her 700th career match victory.

This season, Venus won three WTA titles in a single season for the first time since 2008. Her 41 match victories are the most since she notched 50 in 2007.

At No. 7, Venus is the oldest player in the top 10 since 1995, when Martina Navratilova, at 38, rang in the new year at No. 8.

As Serena seems to be contemplating her long-term future in the game with her withdrawal from the remainder of her 2015 schedule after the US Open, big sis seems to be only growing stronger.

"I've been in the top 10," Venus said after winning her latest title. "I've been to the top before. I can't say that I'm like, 'Oh my god, I can't believe it happened.' But by no means do I want to stop. I would like to continue to improve in ranking and winning events and all of that."

After years of wondering how much longer she can go on, you sense that when Venus Williams does retire, it will be squarely on her terms.

Just as it always has been.