Venus Williams is among the most famous athletes in the world. A five-time Wimbledon singles champion. Seven-time Grand Slam tournament singles winner and, with younger sister Serena, a nine-time Grand Slam tournament doubles champion.

Just past her 29th birthday, the Lynwood native is as compelling on the court as she is in the board rooms where the business of tennis is conducted and its policies are shaped.

Labels: Venus Williams

At French Open, Federer Makes Case for Greatness

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY

PARIS — Men without any Grand Slam singles titles have made Roger Federer work long and hard here for the chance to win his 14th and for the chance to stake a claim to being the greatest tennis player ever.

After Jose Acasuso and Tommy Haas, the latest would-be spoiler at this unpredictable French Open was Juan Martín del Potro, a fast-rising Argentine seven years younger and five inches taller than Federer.

Del Potro, seeded fifth at age 20, frequently made Federer look underpowered and overwhelmed in their semifinal on Friday. But Federer, lunging into the corners, still found a way to solve the big riddle: employing just about every tool on his Swiss army knife of a game to break del Potro’s rhythm, including drop shots in abundance.

After five sets and 3 hours 29 minutes, Federer leaned on the net looking as relieved as he was content after his 3-6, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory. Now, his opponents in Sunday’s final will be Robin Soderling of Sweden and Pete Sampras.

Sampras played and won his last tournament at the 2002 United States Open and holds the record with 14 major singles titles.

“It’s always fun to see people try to break records,” said Paul Annacone, Sampras’s longtime coach, in a telephone interview from London on Friday. “Obviously, I didn’t think Pete’s record would be caught so quickly. But Roger has just had such an amazing run. He’s such a class act, and it couldn’t happen to a better guy. I hope it’s a good day Sunday. I hope it’s good tennis, and I’d like to see him hold that trophy up at the end of it.”

Annacone said that view is shared by Sampras, who has become friendly with Federer in retirement through playing exhibitions. “I talked with Pete two weeks ago in L.A., and he said he didn’t think the record would be caught that quickly either, but he said, ‘Roger is a great guy and great player, so hats off if he gets there and passes it because I know how hard it was to do.’ ”

There are some eerie parallels. When Sampras won his 14th major title, his wife, Bridgette Wilson, was pregnant with their first child and watching from the stands in New York. On the verge of his 14th, Federer’s new wife, Mirka Vavrinec, is pregnant with their first child as she watches him in Paris.

“I’m doing great,” Vavrinec said Friday after her husband’s latest five-set escape.

If Federer beats Soderling, he will have accomplished one feat that Sampras never quite managed: a complete set of Grand Slam singles titles. Sampras, despite occasional triumphs on clay elsewhere, advanced to only one semifinal at the French Open and never reached the final.

This will be Federer’s fourth straight final in Paris and the first in which he will not have to worry about Rafael Nadal’s left-handed topspin forehand kicking high to Federer’s one-handed backhand.

“Maybe you’ll miss him, but not me,” Federer said to reporters. “I’ve played him 20 times. It’s nice to play someone else, too. I know that I’ll be playing him plenty more times in the future.”

Without Nadal, Federer might already have won multiple titles in Paris, but without Federer, Nadal might already have won Wimbledon more than once. Playing the game of what-if in tennis is diverting but far from conclusive, which is also true of comparing greatness across eras.

“I think if he wins, you’d have to say Federer’s record is the greatest of the Open era,” said Brad Gilbert, the American commentator and coach. “But the greatest of all time? I really don’t think you can say that. Too much has changed to really compare.”

The Open era began in 1968 and allowed professionals to compete without restrictions in the four Grand Slam tournaments, which had been open only to amateurs, or at least to those who were able to hide their tennis revenue.

In the two decades after World War II, many top amateurs made their names and then quickly turned professional to join barnstorming tours like those run by the American star Jack Kramer. The result was that until 1968 very few players had the opportunity to amass large numbers of Grand Slam singles titles, with Roy Emerson of Australia, who remained amateur, being one of the exceptions by winning 12 over all.

To cite just two examples, Pancho Gonzalez of the United States and Lew Hoad of Australia, who both make many experts’ lists of greatest players, had brief amateur careers. Gonzalez won just two United States Open singles titles; Hoad won four major singles titles.

Tennis players who can't get enough of the game have another chance to take on some competition.

The United States Tennis Association and the Florida Tennis Cup are gearing up for a new round of one-day recreational tennis tournaments for adults across the state.

More than 1,300 adults participated in the first season of the Florida Tennis Cup, which concluded in April. During the season, 23 tournaments were held in cities across the state.
Organizers say they aim to keep registration fees at a minimum ($10 for USTA members).

Matches are shorter in duration, and the format includes an eight-game pro set with doubles and mixed-doubles divisions, split according to the combined ages of players. At the State Cup Finals, players compete for trophies and prizes.

Labels: New court session is coming for tennis players

Unfortunately, I do not agree with her title, but I do agree with her on certain points she made. The question is, are these athletes she examines actually successful at the professional level?

The first female athlete that was used was Anna Kournikova. Yes, Kournikova was more popular than some of the other top female tennis players before she retired and was labeled "hot," but was Kournikova actually successful as a tennis player?

Kournikova did go 209-129 in her matches, had two International Tennis Federation titles as a singles player, and yet her highest ranking as a tennis player was No. 8.

Kournikova did better in doubles and actually peaked at No. 1. She went 200-71 with 16 titles as a doubles player. So, her overall success came when she was playing with a partner, and not as a singles player.

I wouldn't say that Kournikova was more successful than the other tennis players mentioned in the article—Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis. Kournikova's popularity was much higher, but it doesn't mean she was more successful than Hingis or Davenport.

Hingis, for her career, has gone 548-133 as a single, including 43 titles and two ITF titles, and she managed to make it to the No.1 spot. For doubles, Hingis went 286-54, had 37 titles, and one ITF title. The numbers speak for themselves on who was more successful.

Lindsay Davenport's record as a singles player is currently at 753-194, and she has 55 career titles. Again, just like Hingis, Davenport earned a No. 1 ranking. For doubles, Davenport went 382-115, including 37 titles and a No. 1 ranking, too.

The numbers of Hingis and Davenport speak for themselves in regards to overall career success.

To me, it's the confusion of popularity with actual success. Danica Patrick is used in Target commercials, and Patrick has had pictures of her draped over a car while she's in leather. Yet, Patrick has only won one racing event in her three year career.

Even though I'm not a huge fan of racing, Patrick has shown her courage and has shown that she's not going to back down from anyone, including getting into feuds with rival racers. One of Patrick's most famous feuds came against fellow racer Dan Wheldon.

I also love the fact that the next point in Nash's article was in regards to what she calls "the female soccer player who took off her shirt." Brandi Chastain, in a moment of glee after making the game winning penalty kick, took off her shirt and waived it around in a moment that was basically what sports are all about; unbridled emotion.

So, what was the big deal of Chastain taking off her shirt? The answer is absolutely nothing. There are women all the time either out jogging or at the gym in a sports bra, and no one makes a huge deal about that. Yet, the incident made Chastain the talk at the time, when in reality it wasn't a huge deal, and it was the US Women's Soccer team's success that was more important than Chastain's moment of pure joy.

Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka will play each other for the third time in their careers and the second time in 2009 to fight for the Sony Ericsson Open title.

The 19-year-old Azarenka was the first to reach the final, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis. Serena Williams joined the world No.10 after winning the 20th career encounter with sister Venus 6-4 3-6 6-3.

It will be very interesting to see this final, as Azarenka could make a big breakthrough by defeating the top-ranked player in the world, the defending champion and also the five-time Miami titlist in the biggest final of her career.

Also, remember this year’s Australian Open? Azerenka and Williams met in the fourth round, with Azarenka winning the first set, but having to retire in the second due to dizziness and illness. The Belorussian was playing superbly and was capable of pulling off an upset, but she was so sick that she almost collapsed on court. Therefore, the Sony Ericsson Open final is a great second chance for Azarenka.

Also, it shouldn’t be forgotten that should Serena claim her sixth Sony Ericsson Open title, she will make a record. At five, the American is currently equaled with Steffi Graf. (photos: Ralf Reinecke)

Jimmy Fallon (feat. Serena Williams): After a solid first week (not huge, not horrible), Jimmy and Serena Williams played a quick game of beer pong. Thanks to some highly dubious underhanded lean-in throws, Serena took him down. Now that publicly challenging female tennis players to games is considered socially acceptable, let me formally challenge Ana Ivanovic to three quick rounds of Greco-Roman wrestling. I'll bring the pudding.

Labels: Serena Williams

Indian Wells will probably have to motor along without the WTA's top one attractions when the event commences one week from now, because the Williams sisters & Maria Sharapova won't be in attendance, at least not in singles in the latter's case. For different reasons, they hasten to add. For the sisters the reasons are personal; for Sharapova, it is her long-running shoulder injury that has gummed up the works again.
Around the start of the year I had written about Maria's problems with said shoulder & had predicted it might take far longer for her to recover than any of her team was willing to indicate. he was expected to be ready for Indian Wells, but something told me he wouldn't be. I went a bit further to even suggest this could be a career-changing injury for the Russian star. Wouldn't you know it, now that i am finally taking an interest in the woman's career, that career may be in jeopardy.

The word from the Sharapova camp is that her shoulder is fine mechanically; now it needs more time to get into match shape. what is their touchstone as a standard? he can't play one of one sets over a one day period without the shoulder tiring. But isn't that part of the daily grind? You can't play around a shoulder injury. It either works free or pain or it doesn't. It would appear Maria would still like to have her cake while eating it too, so she's decided to play doubles than singles.

This sounds like a odd strategy. The last time I checked you still have to serve the ball in doubles too, so I don't know how much rest/practice that Sharapova shoulder will get. I would think if he isn't ready to play, then throwing her into doubles may not be an adequate solution. Of work for the crowd at IW it would be a big show, & worth a bevy of photos right there. Sharapova playing doubles! I don't think i have ever seen her playing doubles, & I'll wager most of you haven't either. If you are all scrambling to hunt up when & if he ever had played doubles, let's lay the suspense to rest: it was back in 2005.

But is Sharapova playing doubles our elixir of female tennis happiness? I would think not. I guess the Sharapova team figures that half a loaf of Maria is better than nothing at all, so doubles it is. A quick check over the weekend around tennis chat rooms reveals that people require to see her back in the game. Maria is a star, perhaps the biggest star in terms of her game & how he wins with it, which is mainly via her serving game & her ferociously competitive presence.

This kind of weight is invaluable in keeping the women's game going about its competitive business. Ana Ivanovic was in the running for a while, & may be again someday, but right now she's shown herself to be a little girl still. Her associate Ms. Jankovic has the opposite problem: he plays every tournament so they see, if anything, too much of her; her value has gone down as a result. & lately her performances have been kind of....well, ratty should they say. Dementieva has beauty & game, but only until about the quarterfinals of major events. Then her serve still implodes on her. Dinara Safina is suddenly a bit fragile looking these days too. they have a lot of other youngsters providing nice stuff now too, but they are still appetizers. they need a big helping of a hefty main work. Serena & Venus will never play to satisfy at least my requirements for some slam-bam women's tennis.

they have the other "ichs" & the "ovas" to fuss over, & they have made much of their presence too. But they need Maria back in the mix. Recently I suggested this when writing about Amelie Mauresmo. Amelie brings a beautifully varied game to the women's side. Maria brings a much needed fire. they need both women but right now they need another female player who can step up & dominate. Not many of the women can do this now, except Sharapova & the Williams sisters. they can win matches by stepping onto a court with their determined presences. Most girls have already conceded them the match.

That leaves you, Maria. Hurry it up already, but take your time if the shoulder is still odd. If there is lingering pain, maybe you should bite the bullet & continue to sit on your hands until you are ready. I for one can live another week without seeing you play doubles. I can!

i have to confess to some feelings of excitement though about watching her when he first steps up to that line & tries to serve. Will they see adjustments in the motion? Will he show hesitations? Are they going to be hanging on her every serve? Or are they going to be left hanging? How gruesome is the reentry stage going to be? Remember, we're also attending on His Lordship's reentry too: that being Mr. Federer, with new coach Darren Cahill hopefully in attendance. It will be a interesting ten days, I think, with much collective holdings of breath.

Maria's team may be overly optimistic about her chances, but they may feel like Maria needs to be out there in the public eye anyway. Are they being tossed a bone now because a longer absence is coming? one wonders. Onward into battle then! Even if it is only doubles.

Labels: Maria Sharapova, sharapova not ready