2015 Williams Watch-Serena Has Flu, Makes Opponent Sick

The French Open women's semifinals were earlier today, and Serena was playing Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky for a spot in the finals.against Lucie Safarova.

She was hoping to avoid a troubling pattern in this French Open tournament in which she has dropped the first set, but roared back to win the next two and the match.  

With her quarterfinal straight set dispatching of Sara Errani, it looked like she was back to being the brutally efficient and dominant player she usually becomes when a title is in her reach.

What people didn't know before this match was that Serena was battling a nasty flu bug, and it showed in the first set that she dropped 4-6 to Bacsinszky.  But trailing 2-3 in the second set, coughing and struggling during the changeovers, Serena summoned once more that tremendous will to win that set her apart from most of the women on the tour and kicked up her game another level..   

She won not only the next game to even the second set at 3-3, but the next nine consecutive game to close out the second set and even the match at 6-3, then closed out the third set to win it and the match 6-0.

She said in a post match interview with Darren Cahill:

"I don’t think I’ve ever been this sick – I didn’t expect to win that, and I can’t believe I won.  I got the flu after my third-round match and I haven’t been getting better. Hopefully this is the worst and I’ll get better.  I really thought I was going to lose, and I thought: if I’m going to lose, I might as well go for winners. I was so tired, and I just fought for every point."

Serena may have been ill, but the only one who is probably sick at the lost opportunity to knock her out of the French Open and get to the final is Timea Bacsinszky.

Serena will have a day off to rest, and will be playing for all this history on Saturday.   If he pulls this off, it will be her third career French Open title and her 20th career Grand Slam title.   That will put her only two behind tying Steffi Graf..  

Speaking of two, she will be halfway to a calendar year Grand Slam, with her fave tournaments 'Williams'don and the US Open coming up.on the Grand Slam calendar.    It will also be the third straight Grand Slam she has won since the 2014 US Open.and put her one away from a 'Serena Slam'

Speedy recovery Serena and hope you make that happen.

2015 Williams Watch-Serena Rolls To The French Open Semis!

Serena Williams Roland Garros business trip is a step closer to a successful conclusion, but she had another slow start that almost derailed it.

She entered her fourth round match with Sloane Stephens mired in a puzzling pattern of getting of getting off to a slow start that puts her in a bind, then clawing back to win the match.

And once again, Serena dropped the first set 1-6 to Stephens, who hadn't beaten Williams since the 2013 Australian Open quarterfinal upset.

Serena woke up after trailing 0-2 in the second set to take it 7-5, and even the match, then punched her ticket to the quarterfinals by taking the third set 6-3 to close out another comeback and face Sara Errani.

In her quarterfinal match with Errani, who has never beaten her, the world number one was determined to avoid the bad starts that had plagued her in her last three French Open matches.    Serena took only 63 minutes to overpower her 6-1, 6-3 in a match that included a 123 mph ace.

She's baaaaack....and that may be bad news for Williams' semifinal opponent Timea Bacsinszky.  Serena is closing in on her third French Open title, 20th Grad Slam title overall and her third straight Grand Slam since taking the 2014 US Open.

If she gets past Bacsinszky tomorrow, she'll face the winner of the other semifinal being contested between seventh seed  Ana Ivanovic and number 13 seed Lucie Safarova.

2015 Williams Watch-Number 19!

The 2015 Australian Open started with Serena Williams being ranked number one but not having won this title since 2010.  

But with an amazing 18-4 record in Grand Slam finals, she had a great shot at ending her Australian Open title drought.

For the first time in eleven years, the Australian Open featured the world number one versus the world number two player playing for the title.   

It was Serena versus her favorite whipping girl Maria Sharapova.   Ever since that Wimbledon final upset in 2004, Serena has beaten Sharapova like a drum 15 straight times since then.  Two of those losses for Sharapova came in Grand Slam finals, the 2007 Australian Open and the 2013 French Open

Little Sis got off to a fast start in this one by immediately breaking Sharapova's serve and never trailing in that first set.   With Serena up 3-2, here comes the rain and the Rod Laver Stadium room was closed.   After the 12 minute delay, Serena won the next ten points to take control of the set 5-2 and win it  6-3,

;But Sharapova isn't ranked number two in the world for nothing, and jacked up her game another level.  Neither player dropped a game, there were some amazing shots made on both sides and the second set went to a tiebreaker.

The tiebreaker was just as hard fought as the second set was.    After Sharapova got a mini break by hitting a wicked forehand winner, Serena fought back to take both points and get back on serve.

Williams raced out to a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker before Sharapova fought back to narrow the gap to 6-5.

But one aspect of her game that puts Serena on a another level from \the rest of the women's tennis world is her serve, and she cranked what she thought along with the Rod Laver Arena crowd was the championship point.  

But after it was called alet, she gathered herself and hit another no doubt about it ace which was the 18th of the match and the title clinching point.

6-3,7-6 (7-5).  In addition to this being Serena's 6th Australian Open title, it was her 19th Grand slam title, putting her only three behind Steffi Graf at 22 and Margaret Court at 24.

The race to catch Steffi is on, and if Serena gets a calendar year Grand Slam, she will.  Just remains to be seen if she will accomplish it.

Congrats on title number 19, and on to Paris.

2015 Williams Watch-Serena To The Aussie Open Finals!

After the all-Russian semifinal ended with another Sharapova win over Ekaterina Makarova, the all American semifinal took place at Rod Laver Arena  between world number one Serena Williams and 19 year old phenom Madison Keys.

Keys knocked off fourth seeded Petra Kvitova and Big Sis on the way to her first ever Grand Slam semifinal.

This match was going to be a tough one for Little Sis because Keys is one of the few younglings who have the power in her serve and shots to match Serena.

Keys showed that power early and often in a tightly contested first set in which  a nervous Serena was immediately broken in her opening game, but eventually was broken by Williams to even the match in the first set at 3-3 despite a barrage of big serves and laser like ground strokes from Keys.   

Both players stayed on serve in the rest of the first set until the tiebreaker, in which Serena opened up a 4-1 lead before winning the tiebreaker 7-5 to take the first set.7-6.

Serena showed Keys who was the woman in the second set.  She broke Keys twice to run up a 5-1 second set lead.   But Keys showed she had some intestinal fortitude as well.   Serving to extend the match, she fought off seven match points to eventually take the game and force Serena to serve it out.

After Keys survived an eighth match point, Serena uncorked an ace to close out the hard fought match over Keys and win it 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.

She now has a shot at winning her first Australian Open title since 2010 and her 19th Grand Slam title overall.   Because she subdued Keys in the semifinal, she will continue to hold on to the world number one ranking no matter what the result of the final match is at 2 AM CST Saturday. 

Those of us who love Serena hope it's her capturing her fifth Australian Open title.

2015 Williams Watch- Good And Bad News Quarterfinal Day

My fave tennis playing siblings made it to the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Australian Open and if they made it through their respective matches, would play each other in the semifinals with a Aussie Open finals slot on the line.

While Serena handled her business and took out 2014 Australian Open runner up Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets.6-2, 6-2, to move on to the  semifinals, unfortunately that wasn't the case  for Big Sis.

Venus came out flat against American teen phenom Madison Keys and lost in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 4-6 despite Keys suffering a left thigh injury that necessitated a medical timeout in the second set.

It is the 19 year old Keys who will face the world's number one ranked player for a spot in the final against the winner of the all-Russian Ekaterina Makarova - Maria Sharapova semifinal.

Despite Venus' time in Melbourne being done, Serena is still alive for her fifth Australian Open title, her first since 2010 and her 19th Grand Slam title overall.

2015 Williams Watch- Venus and Serena In The Aussie Quarters

I've been having some problems with my cable, which has prevented me from watching my fave tennis playing siblings kick butt in the 2015 Australian Open 

My cable problems have cleared up just in time for me to discover that Serena and especially Venus are having a successful so far business trip to Melbourne.

I'll start with Little Sis' road to the quarterfinals which started with a 6-0, 6-1 opening round waxing of Belgium's Alison Van Uylvanck that took only 61 minutes. 

That set her up for a second round 7-5, 6-0 straight set win over Russia's Vera Zvonareva in which she got off to a slow start, saved three set points but eventually kicked it up to Serena mode 
She was clinically efficient in that closing set, taking only 27 minutes to complete it and move on to the third round.

She faced Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, and after dropping the first set 4-6, she regrouped to take the second set 6-2 to even the match, then blitzed her 6-0 to move on to the fourth round.

Spain's Garbine Muguruza also took the first set in their fourth round match 2-6 before Serena flipped the script and roared back to take the second set 6-3 and the deciding set 6-2 to head to the Australian open quarterfinals for the first time since 2013.

The world number one and number one tournament seed faces 2014 Aussie Open runner up Dominika Cibulkova, who survived a three set battle of her own with Victoria Azarenka. 

18th seeded Big Sis is having her best Australian Open since she made it to the Aussie Open finals against her sister in 2003.  She's made it to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2010 US Open.

Venus' path to the quarters started with a first round 6-2, 6-2 straight set win over Maria Torro-Flor of Spain.

That punched her ticket to a second round clash with fellow American Lauren Davis which ended with a 6-2, 6-3 straight set victory which propelled her to the third round.

She faced Italy's Camila Giorgi and battled to a hard fought 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) , 6-1 victory that sent her to the fourth round against 6th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska.    Venus took down Radwanska 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to advance to a quarterfinal match with American teen Madison Keys.

Should the Williams sisters win their respective quarterfinal matches, they will face each other in the semifinals for a spot in the 2015 Australian Open final.

2015 Williams Watch-Australian Open 2015 Starts

One of the other things that is a regular feature of TransGriot is moi  tracking the tennis playing exploits of my fave kick butt tennis playing siblings in Venus and Serena Williams.  This feature got started because I was tired of the racist disrespect the Williams sisters received at times

With the first Grand Slam of the 2015 tennis season about to start Down Under, it's time for another year of Williams Watch posts.

In addition to Serena chasing history and trying to win her 19th career Grand Slam tournament, she's trying to win her sixth Australian Open and her first since 2010.

But before the number one overall seeded Little Sis even takes the court against Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck, she will make tennis history.

She will become only the fourth player in the WTA rankings era to hold the Number 1 spot for at least 100 weeks.   She joins Chris Evert (113 straight weeks from May 10, 1976 to July 9, 1978), Martina Navratilova (156 straight weeks from June 14, 1982 to June 9, 1985) and Steffi Graf (186 straight weeks from August 17, 1987 to March 10, 1991) as the only players accomplishing that rare feat.

Serena has held the Number One ranking since February 13, 2013 and is guaranteed a 101st week through the second week of the Australian Open.  How long she holds that ranking beyond February 1 depends on how well she plays in this tournament.

Should she get through her opening round match, she would take on the winner of the Vera Zvonareva - Oris Jabeur match

Big Sis is here in Melbourne as well.  She's seeded 18th in this tournament, and she takes on Spain's Maria Torr-Flor inn her opening round match.   She would take on the winner of the Lauren Davis - Aleksandra Krunic match if she survives the opening round tilt.


They are also entered in the Australian Open doubles, and it will be interesting to see if they walk away with their first Australian Open doubles title since 2010.
Here's hoping you both have long successful runs in this 2015 edition of the Australian Open.

2014 Williams Watch-18!

While my fave tennis playing siblings went down in the US Open doubles quarterfinals 6-7 (5-7), 4-6 to the Russian duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, that wasn't the case in the singles tournament.

She vanquished Makarova in the semis in straight set and then spent 75 minutes completing her US Open threepeat with a 6-3, 6-3 straight set victory over Caroline Woxniacki for her 18th Grand Slam title to tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on the all time list. 

Serena also picked up a check for $4 million after she obliterated Wozniacki and won this edition of the US Open without dropping a set or losing more than three games in any set.  

You are witnessing the greatest tennis player of all time, and there won't be another like her for quite awhile when she does hang up her racquet.   So hate on haters.  While y'all keep flinging racist insults online at her she's still clocking dollars and making tennis history. 

Little Sis is now in striking distance of the top of the all time Grand Slam title wins list.  Next up to pass are Helen Wills Moody with 19, Steffi Graf with 22 and Margaret Court with 24.  

And yep, the 2015 Australian Open kicks off Down Under January 19-Febrary 1 where if she's playing her A+ game, she''ll dispatch your latest Great White Women's Tennis Hope with ease.

And I'll be enjoying every delicious minute of it


See y'all in Melbourne. 

2014 Williams Watch-US Open Party Getting Started

The last Grand Slam of the 2014 tennis season cranked up in New York yesterday, and the question the tennis world is asking is will Serena break out of her Grand Slam mini-slump and finally win one this year and win her 18th to tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on the all time list?

We'll find out the answer to that question later today when number one seeded and world Number one ranked Little Sis takes to the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to begin defense of her US Open singles crown against Zina Garrison coached 18 year old Taylor Townsend.

The winner of this opening round match will move on to the US Open singles second round face the winner of the Vania King-Francesca Schavione match.

Big Sis won her first round match with Kimiko Date-Krumm at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday, but not without a struggle.   Venus had a rough first set as Date-Krumm kept her off balance with her repertoire of spins to take the first set 2-6.   Venus roared back to take the second set 6-3 and rolled to a 5-0 third set lead before Date-Krumm fought back to snatch the next three games and have two game points to chop Big Sis' once seemingly insurmountable lead to 5-4. 

But Venus recovered to stave off the two game points and eventually take the hard earned match 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.  It extended her career record in first round match wins at the US Open to an impressive 16-0.

Big Sis will face in the second round the winner of the Kiki Bertens-Timea Bacsinszky match, but before she does so, she may wish to cut down on those 36 unforced errors.

My fave tennis playing siblings are entered in the US Open Women's doubles tournament, with them having an opening round match with the seventh seeded team of Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 

Best of luck ladies, and hope you have a long successful run in this tournament and piss off your haters.

2014 Williams Watch- Off To A Great Start At 'Williams'-don

While some of you are watching World Cup 2014 action from Brazil, I also have my eye turned toward the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to watch my fave tennis playing siblings in their first week of 'Williams'-don action.

Serena served notice to the tennis world that she's  put the disappointment of Paris behind her and wants that sixth Venus Rosewater Dish. 

Number one seeded Little Sis took only 61 minutes to blitz fellow American Anna Tatishvili in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. 

And blitz was the bet way to describe a match in which Serena blasted 16 aces past her opponent who is ranked 112 spots below her.   She moves on to a second round clash with South African Chanelle Scheepers.

But it's Venus who has been making some noise and news in this edition of Wimbledon.

30th seeded Big Sis started her fortnight in search of her sixth Wimbledon title with a three set 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Spain's Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor.    She then after a slow start beat in straight sets Japan's Kurumi Nara 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to punch her ticket to the third round and a date with sixth seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, who won the 2011 Wimbledon singles title. 

It was the first time in 18 months that Venus has reached the third round of a Grand Slam, and we can only hope that she'll be around in the Ladies Singles past this weekend.

The eighth seeded Williams sisters play their first round doubles match at 11 AM CDT today against the duo of Oksana Kalashnikova and Olga Savchuk

TransGriot update: Little Sis blitzed Scheepers 6-0, 6-1 to join Venus in the third round of the Ladies singles tournament.   In their doubles match with Kalashnikova and Savchuk, the Williams sisters advanced after a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 result.   

2014 Williams Watch-'Williams'-don Starts Today

My favorite tennis playing siblings had a forgettable trip to Stade Roland Garros and its clay courts last month as they both exited the 2014 French Open earlier than planned due to second round upsets.

But starting today through July 6 is the Grand Slam tournament at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London which the Williams sisters have so thoroughly dominated it I call it 'Williams'-don.  

Serena has won five titles here (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012) and so has big sis Venus (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008).  As a matter of fact their domination at Wimbledon is so complete that during the 2000's the only years that someone not named Williams won the women's singles title was in 2004 when Serena was upset in the final by Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo of France won it in 2006 after defending champ Venus was upset in the third round by Jelena Jankovic.  

During that stretch the Williams sisters met in the Wimbledon finals four times in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009 with Little Sis taking three of the four matchups.   Serena won her 2002 and 2010 Wimbledon titles without losing a set, and Venus did the same in 2008   

And yeah, can't forget to remind the Williams haters of the Olympic gold medal Serena won in the London Games and the London Olympic doubles title she and Big Sis won which was ahem, played at the All England Club.

The grass courts are well suited to their power game, and with Centre Court's retractable roof, when it's closed, they become even more lethal. 

But it's the 2014 edition of The Championships, and both are seeking rebounds from the double disappointments in Paris and Serena's shocking fourth round upset loss here last year. 

Number one ranked and number one seeded Serena starts the fortnight with an opening round match against fellow American Anna Tatishvili while 30th seeded Venus starts with an opening round match versus Spain's Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor.  

The Williams sisters are also entered in the ladies doubles tourney as they seek to capture their first Wimbledon doubles crown since 2012. 

And hopefully I'll get to see Serena holding up the Venus (Williams) Rosewater dish on July 6 

2014 Williams Watch-On To The Second Round

The 2014 edition of the French Open is underway, and there's good news and bad news for my fave tennis playing siblings at Stade Roland Garros.

The good news is that Big and Little Sis are through to the second round of the women's singles.  Number one seeded Serena took 79 minutes to spank French homegirl Alize Lim 6-2, 6-1 in straight sets and move on to play Spain's Garbine Muguruza.

Number 29 seeded Venus took less time (77 minutes) to beat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.6-4, 6-1 in straight sets, and will play Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the second round.

Now comes the bad news.  Should both advance to the third round, their next opponents will be each other.

It would be the first time since the 2002 French Open final the Williams sisters have played against each other with Little Sis holding a 14-10 edge in those matchups.

Who fell asleep during the women's singles draw setup last Friday to let that happen?  

Serena is playing for the repeat and tying Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for fourth on the all time Grand Slam titles list, while Venus is playing for her first ever French Open singles title.

Good luck in the second round ladies.

2014 Williams Watch-Serena Upset

Serena's attempt to win her first Australian Open title since 2010 came to a screeching halt as she was upset by Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 3-6, 3-6 to end her business trip down under and her 25 match win streak.

Cue the racist hatred of her in the Internet comment threads in 5...4...3...2...1...

Serena was down a bit from her usual high quality tennis level while Ivanovic was playing an A+ game. 

It was just Ivanovic's day as she kept kept attacking Serena's serve and hitting forehand winners just out of Serena's reach.   She even got the net court bounces to fall her way.  

The Serena haters are crawling out of their holes now in gleeful and racist celebration, so hate on.   All I have to say is see you in Paris at Roland Garros. 

2014 Williams Watch- Out Of The Doubles

It's wait until next year for any shot at capturing another Australian Open doubles crown for my fave tennis playing siblings.   Due to a leg injury suffered by Venus, she and Little Sis were forced to withdraw from the 2014 Aussie Open doubles tournament.

But the news is still all good for Serena in her march to the Australian Open singles title.   She spent another scorching afternoon at Rod Laver Arena, taking 80 minutes to knock off Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.

It's sets up her fourth round match with Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, with the winner moving on to the quarterfinals to take on the winner of the Casey Dellacqua-Eugenie Bouchard match  . 

2014 Williams Watch-Serena's Hot!

Literally and figuratively. 



Serena took to the court at Rod Laver Arena for her second round match in the Australian Open women's singles tournament at a time when Melbourne is going through a summer heat wave. 

Yes peeps, it's summer south of the Equator.. It's a major reason why the Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tournament of the year and held in January.     

Temps hit 40 C (104 degrees) during her match and peaked at 42 C (108 degrees).   But Serena had second round business with Serbia's Vesna Dolonc, and handled it with the efficiency of Scandal's Olivia Pope.  She took just 63 minutes to blast 10 aces past her, hit 24 winners and send Dolonc to a 6-1 6-2 straight set defeat,

The win against Dolonc was her 60th match win in Aussie Open tourney play.  It ties Little Sis with Margaret Court for the most matches won at the Australian Open and helped punch her ticket to a third round match with Daniela Hantuchova.

As for the doubles, she and Big Sis have yet to play their first round match against the duo of Kristina Mladenovic of France and Flavia Pennetta of Italy but when they do, will post that result for you. 
    

2014 Williams Watch-Good News, Bad News Tennis Day Down Under

The 2014 edition of the Australian Open has started, and both my fave tennis playing siblings had their opening round matches with different results.  

Serena only took 57 minutes to blitz Australian Ashleigh Barty 6-2, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena and punch her ticket to a second round match with Serbia's Vesna Dolonc.

Unfortunately Venus will not be joining her number one seeded little sister in the second round of the Australian Open singles tournament.

She had a tough opening round assignment at Margaret Court Arena facing 22nd seeded Ekaterina Makarova.  After splitting the first two sets, Venus was up 3-0 in the third until Makarova won five straight games to get control of the set and eventually the match.  

Venus fell 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 to end her attempt to win her first ever Australian Open singles crown. 

That's not the end of her tennis at Melbourne Park.  She and Serena are entered in the women's doubles tourney, and they start first round doubles play against the duo of Kristina Mladenovic of France and Flavia Pennetta of Italy
   

2014 Williams Watch-Chasing Grand Slam Titles Down Under

The 2014 edition of the Australian Open gets cranked up later tonight my time (January 13 there) and my fave tennis playing siblings are Down Under to handle their Grand Slam tennis playing business in Melbourne.

Hopefully by the time this tournament concludes January 26 Aussie time, they will be taking homes some trophies and a couple of nice seven figure checks.

Serena hopes to win her sixth Australian Open women's singles title and first since 2010.  If the world's number one player and the tournament's number one seed is successful in doing so, she would pick up Grand Slam singles title number 18 to tie her with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on he all time list.

Little Sis opens her quest for that sixth Australian Open singles title with her first round match against Australia's Ashleigh Barty.

Unseeded Venus is also playing singles in this tournament.  She opens up her quest for her first ever Australian Open singles title with a tough first round match against 22nd seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.  

Big Sis made it to the finals of the 2003 Australian Open but lost to Serena in a three set battle 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 4-6.    

And yes, the Williams sisters are entered in the doubles tournament.   They are seeking their fifth Australian Open doubles title and their first since 2010.  As usual they are unseeded, but that hasn't stopped them from walking away with Grand Slam double crowns before.

They open up their Aussie Open doubles play against the US duo of Madison Keys and Alison Riske.

So as usual, I'll be keeping an eye on my fave tennis playing siblings this year throughout this grand slam tournament Down Under and the others as this year progresses.

Good luck ladies!

2013 Williams Watch-WTF? Serena's Out at Wimbledon

For the first time since 2007, the list of Wimbledon women's champions will have someone other than a Williams sister on it.

After winning her 600th career match and tying her sister Venus' mark at 34 straight wins for the longest consecutive match win streak of her career with her 6-2, 6-0 second round straight set 61 minute demotion of Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, number one seeded Little Sis faced hard serving German Sabine Lisicki in the third round in a Wimbledon tournament that has seen more than a few top seeds on the men's and women's side go down to defeat.

Lisicki was considered the toughest test left for Williams because her game is well suited for the grass courts of the All England Club and she's had success here.  If she got past Lisicki, Little Sis would be taking a major step forward toward getting her sixth 'Williams'-don title and career 17th major.

Shockingly, Serena joined the upset victims on the All England Club sidelines as she went down to a 2-6, 6-1, 4-6 defeat in which she was up 3-0 in the third set but couldn't close out a hard charging Lisicki as she stepped up her game while Serena's wasn't at its usual dominating best.   It's only the fourth time Lisicki has beaten her, but what a time to get that win.

It is Serena's first loss in a Grand Slam tournament since last year's first round upset last year at Roland Garros and y'all know what happened after that.  She went on a tear that included the 2012 Wimbledon singles and doubles crowns, the 2012 London Olympic singles and doubles crowns, the 2012 US Open singles title and the 2012 ATP championship one.

So be afraid women's tennis world, very afraid.  The US Open is coming up in September and there will be a pissed off and highly motivated Serena Williams waiting to start another winning streak.

So y'all Serena haters have fun, laugh it up, yell and write the racist slurs and enjoy your strawberries and cream with the extra dollop of bigotry on the sides.   Sloane Stephens is still alive and in the quarterfinals at 'Wimblegeddon' as she called it, so I'll be rooting for her to win it. 

2013 Williams Watch-'Williams'-don Starts Today

Break out the strawberries and cream, The Championships or as I call them,'Williams'-don start today and run through July 7.   

Let me get the bad news out of the way now.   Venus withdrew because of recurring bask spasms, so that means that not only will Big Sis not be there for the first time since 1996, they won't be able to defend their 2012 doubles title.  

That leaves Serena to uphold Williams family honor and their tradition of beating down all comers in the women's tennis world at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.  

Where the French Open and its clay courts have been a house of horrors for them, Wimbledon and its grass courts have been the mirror opposite. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club has been the  Williams sisters personal tennis playground to the point that 10 of the last 13 Wimbledon singles crowns have been won by either Venus or Serena in addition to five doubles titles and the single and doubles gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics.

Serena comes into this tournament as the defending singles champion, the number one ranked player in the world, the number one seed and fresh off a dominating performance across the channel in Paris.

She starts her quest for her 17th career single titles and sixth Wimbledon title with a first round match against Mandy Minella of Luxembourg.

Considering the way she's been playing lately, I wouldn't bet against Serena holding up another Venus (Williams) Rosewater Dish at the conclusion of this tennis fortnight.
   

2013 Williams Watch-Sweet Sixteen!

Serena Williams completed her relentless redemption march through the 2013 French Open women's field by subduing Maria Sharapova (again) 6-4, 6-4.  

She got off to a slow start trailing 2-0 in the first set until she broke Sharapova's erratic serve to take control of the set and eventually the match. 

Little Sis whacked 10 aces, including three in the final game that clocked out at 118 miles per hour, 121 mph and on double championship point at 128 mph to capture her first French Open title since she beat Big Sis for the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen in 2002. 

Since that shocking first round loss in last year's French Open, Little Sis is 74-3, won 31 straight matches, 22-0 on clay, has captured the Wimbledon singles and doubles crowns, the Olympics singles and doubles title, the US Open singles title, the WTA Championship and has regained the world number one ranking.

And the way she's playing I wouldn't bet against her adding another title at 'Williams'-don in a few weeks. (June 24-July 7)

It is the 16th career Grand Slam title she's captured, putting her only two away from tying Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on the all time list.   Serena is also the fourth woman to win all four Grand Slam titles at least twice (Navratilova, Evert and Graf are the other three) and out of those women is the only one to repeat as an Olympic champion in singles and doubles.  

At 31 she's the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam since Navratilova captured the 1990 Wimbledon crown at age 33..

Serena was magnifique during this two week run at Roland Garros, and I wouldn't bet against her catching Evert and Navratilova before the year is out on the all time title list the way she's playing.