2017 Williams Watch -It's A Williams Sisters Aussie Open Final!

The 2017 Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season, and for the first time since 2003 ,the Williams sisters will be facing off against each other for the title.

We Black folks in the States think this is a BFD, but if you ever wondered how this news is playing out across the rest of th African Diaspora, check out what a Nigerian based TV station is saying about the looting championship match starting at the 1:13 mark.

Venus had the tougher match to get to final, facing giant killer Coco Vandeweghe, who took out defending champ Angelique Kerber

She hadn't dropped a set enroute to this semifinal match with Vandeweghe, but after the first set got away from her in the tiebreaker , she rebounded to break Vandeweghe and cruise  to a 6-2 win to even the match, and then uncorked several aces enroute to taking the third set and the match.



Venus wins it 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3 to punch her ticket to the final and shots at her first Australian Open title and eight Grand Slam title overall

Meanwhile Serena was facing off against surprise semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia, and she took only 50 minutes to cruise to a 6-2, 6-1 straight set victory and set up she and Big Sis first clash in a Grand Slam final since the 2009 Wimbledon.

She hasn't dropped a set in this tournament, and  Little Sis will not only be playing for her seventh Australian Open title and her 23rd career Grand Slam title win  but if she wins will reclaim the world number one ranking.because of Kerber's early exit from this tournament.

Going to be fun to watch this one at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday.

2017 Williams Watch -On To The Aussie Open Semifinals!

My fave tennis playing siblings are just one match away from meeting each other in the Australian Open Finals for the first time since 2003.  They are also the only seeded players left standing in the women's singles bracket as we reach the Australian Open women's Final Four.

The other thing we can pop our collars about as American tennis fans is that we are guaranteed of at least having one American woman in the final, since three of the four player remaining are Americans.

Two of the three Americans left are the Williams Sisters who for once are on opposite sides of the bracket.

13th seeded Venus has rolled through her side of the bracket without dropping a set, and it didn't hurt that some major seeds that were in that half of the bracket fell, including tournament number one seed and world number one (temporarily) Angelique Kerber.

Big Sis in her quarterfinal match beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to punch her ticket to the semifinals against fellow American Coco Vandeweghe, who took out another seeded player by beating 7th seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain  in straight sets 6-4, 6-0.

Meanwhile on the other side of the bracket number 2 seeded Serena handled her tennis business against number 9 seed Johanna Konta of Great Britain, who until she faced Little Sis was on an impressive Australian Open run of her own.

Konta not only hadn't dropped a set enroute to this clash with Serena, but had sent to the Aussie Open sidelines number 17 seed Caroline Wozniacki and 30th seeded Ekaterina Makarova to get to face Serena for the first time ever.

Serena dispatched her in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 despite having a subpar for her service game while breaking Konta four times at critical points in the match.

And who will Serena play next?   It will be Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who upset 5th seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to make her first Grand Slam semifinal since Wimbledon 1998.  

Serena is playing not only to win her 23rd Grand Slam title and her seventh Australian Open, but with a win in this tournament, she would regain the world number one ranking.   Venus would be should she knock off Vandeweghe, playing for her first Australian Open title.

Well, y'all know who I want to win on Thursday.   Let's hope we get to see it happen and we get treated to another Williams Sisters Grand Slam final.

2017 Williams Watch- Rolling To The Quarterfinals

I was a little busy handling some movement business over the last few days in Philly, so I haven't had the chance to sit down and watch much of the Australian Open's first week

The seeds are falling, including the world number one ranked and number one seed Angelique Kerber, who was beaten by Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets.

But I am happy to hear that my fave tennis playing siblings are still kicking butt and taking names on their Melbourne business trip.

When I last checked in number 13 seeded Venus and number 2 seeded Serena had just advanced to Australian Open second round singles matches against Stefanie Vogele and Lucie Safarova, and were waiting to play their first Aussie Open doubles match versus Timea Babos and Anastasia Pavlyuchenko    They withdrew from the doubles to focus on the singles tournament which so far looks like it was a wise decision.

Big Sis sent Vogele packing in straight sets 6-3, 6-2  to set up her third round match versus China's Duan Yingying.   That was also another straight set 6-1, 6-0 victory to propel her into the fourth round against German qualifier Mona Barthel, who knocked off Rio Olympic singles champion and 29th seeded Monica Puig.  

Venus prevailed 6-3, 7-5  to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova  for a spot in the semis against the Muguruza-Vandeweghe winner

Little Sis was also holding it down on her side of the Australian Open bracket.   After sending Safarova to the sidelines with a straight set 6-3, 6-4  victory, she beat fellow American Nicole Gibbs 6-1, 6-3 to advance to a fourth round match against 16th seed Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

Serena dispatched Strycova 7-5, 6-4 after a tough match to set up her quarterfinal match with Great Britain's Johanna Konta.

If the Williams Sisters win their next two matches, they will face each other in the Australian Open finals for the first time since 2003.  Serena also has an opportunity because of the Kerber loss to regain the world number one ranking if she wins the tournament.

Oh yeah, it would also be her 23rd Grand Slam singles title and seventh Australian Open after losing to Kerber last year.

And who won that 2003 Australian Open finals clash?   Serena did 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4 over her big sister.   That was also the only time Venus has reached the Australian Open final.

They still have some work to do Down Under to make that all Williams final happen.    

2017 Williams Watch - The Australian Open Starts

As you longtime TransGriot readers know, I'm a big tennis fan, and two of my fave players are the fabulous Williams Sisters

The first Grand Slam of the 2017 tennis season is already upon us in the Australian Open in Melbourne, and this will be an interesting one.

It will run until January 29 in Melbourne and for the first time in several years, Serena Williams is not going to be the world's number one ranked player in the world going into a Grand Slam after tying Steffi Graf's record of holding it for 186 consecutive weeks.

That's Angelique Kerber (for now), the defending Australian Open champ who is also the number one seed in this 2017 edition of the Aussie Open. Serena is now number two in the world and also and the number two seed while Venus starts this Australian Open as the number 13 seed.

Opening round play got underway yesterday and both my fave tennis playing siblings got through it to the second round.

Venus had a tough opening round match with Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova, but she prevailed for a 7-6 (7-5) and 7-5 straight set win   She's in the same half of the bracket as Kerber, so there's a possible clash brewing with Kerber should both keep winning.

Big Sis faces qualifier Stefanie Vogele of Switzerland, who upset Kurumi Nara of Japan, in the second round.

Speaking of winning, second seed Serena started with a tough opening round match with Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.   Little Sis prevailed in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 and will face the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova.

Are the Williams Sisters playing doubles in this Grand Slam?  Yes they are, and they are seeded 15th in the Australian Open doubles tournament    They will face the doubles duo of Timea Babos of Hungary and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia  ,

Can they take some more Grand Slam singles and doubles titles back home when their business trip to Melbourne is over?   We'll  see.  

2016 Williams Watch- Moving Towards A US Open Semifinals Clash?

Sadly, no.   My fave tennis playing siblings are in this year's 2016 edition of the US Open, and were until yesterday on track to meet in the semifinals.

Serena hasn't dropped a set yet on her way to the quarterfinals.   She beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, then took down fellow American Vania King by the same 6-3, 6-3 straight set score in the second round.

In the third round it took Little Sis exactly one hour to blitz Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-2, 6-1 to set up her fourth round match with Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who also bowed down to the Queen of Tennis in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals.

Serena with the Monday win over Shvedova, also became the winningest player of any gender in Grand Slam tennis history with her 308th match win in Grand Slam play, passing Martina Navratilova (306) and Roger Federer (307).

She will face number 5 seeded Simona Halep of Romania, and should she get past Halep, would face the winner of the Ana Konjuh-Karolina Pliskova match in the semis.

Big Sis was a third set tiebreaker match point away from joining Serena in the US Open quarters, but alas it didn't work out for her.

Venus started her 2016 US open by beating Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, then beat Germany's Julia Gorges in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.

Venus then got past Germany's Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-1 in the third round before running into Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the fourth round and falling in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (3-7).

So we won't see another Williams Sisters Grand Slam clash, but i'd rather have those happen in a Grand Slam final anyway.

 

2016 Williams Watch- US Open Starts Today

After a surprising exit in the Rio Olympic singles and doubles tournament, Serena Williams enters New York and this edition of the 2016 US Open with an eye toward winning the title that she shockingly lost last year in the semifinals just shy of a calendar year Grand Slam.

It's the last tennis Grand Slam tourney of the year, and she's still not happy about the one that got away.   So look out all you peeps playing against her starting today and over the next two weeks,

Serena's still ranked number one in the world, is the number one seed in this edition of the US Open and number one in our hearts.   She and Venus step on the Flushing Meadows grounds of a USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center that has undergone some major changes,

This will be the first open in which Arthur Ashe Stadium as part of the $550 million dollar renovation to the USTA National Tennis Center will have a retractable roof to cover the main stadium court like the Aussie Open and Wimbledon have had for years over their main Grand Slam tournament venues.  Louis Armstrong Stadium will also have a roof enclosing it once it is reconstructed and its current 10,200 seating capacity is increased to 15,000 by the 2018 Open.

Unlike the Australian Open and Wimbledon, the US Open officials plans are to only close the Ashe Stadium roof for rain, not extreme heat.  We'll see how long that lasts.

A brand new 8000 seat Grandstand Court will also make its debut at this tournament, and for those of you in the New York area planning on attending it this year, you'll be happy to know that the National Tennis Center grounds were also redesigned to improve foot traffic,

But back to talking about the US Open which will run until September 11.   Serena will start her pursuit of her record seventh US Open title title and 23rd major title with a tough opening round match versus Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.  

Should she win that one, it's on to the second round to face the winner of the Antonia Lottner- Vania King match

Venus was the Williams sister that surprisingly took home a medal from Rio, a silver that she won in the mixed doubles tournament with Rajeev Ram.   She's seeded sixth in this edition of the US Open and unfortunately is in the same half of the draw as Little Sis.

She will open up first round play in a match with Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine, and would face the winner of the Julia Gorges-Yanina Wickmayer match in the second round.

And in case you're wondering if Venus and Serena were entered in the US Open doubles, nope they aren't.

Best of luck to my fave tennis playing siblings in this last tennis Grand Slam of 2016.

2016 Williams Watch- Number 22!

Should be an interesting Saturday for the Williams sisters, and you never bet against them when they are playing matches at their personal SW19 tennis playground called the All England Club.
-TransGriot, July 8, 2016

It took a while, but after upset losses in the 2015 US Open semis, the 2016 Australian Open finals and the 2016 French Open finals a month ago, world number one Serena Williams finally gets that elusive Grand Slam title number 22 at her SW19 tennis playground.  She prevailed with a 7-5, 6-3 straight set win on Centre Court over Germany's Angelique Kerber, the player who upset her in Australia a mere six months ago.

That was then, this is now.   While the fourth seeded Kerber came to play and tried to execute the game plan that worked for her in Melbourne by trying to hit those wide crossing shots to pull Serena off the court, Serena was anticipating she'd do that and was ready for her this time.


She cut that off, and when it was time to serve, it was on target and being placed with laser precision accuracy wherever she wanted it.

And oh yeah haters, she repeats as Wimbledon ladies singles champion and equals Steffi Graf with that 22nd Grand Slam singles title.

This was her seventh Wimbledon ladies singles title, and she has a shot at capturing another title today with Big Sis in the ladies doubles championship.  Should they knock off the Timea Babos-Yaroslava Shvedova duo, it would be their 14th doubles Grand Slam crown

TransGriot Update: She and Venus did win the Wimbledon ladies doubles crown.  They won their sixth 'Williams'-don doubles title in a straight set 6-4, 6-3 win over Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova.

They are now 14-0 in Grand Slam doubles finals.  

2016 Williams Watch-Serena And Venus In The Wimbledon Doubles Final!

For the first time since they won it all in 2012, the Williams sisters are playing in the Wimbledon ladies doubles title match.

They knocked off the eight seeded duo of Julia Gorges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 on No. 1 Court to advance and play for a shot at their sixth Wimbledon doubles title and 14th Grand Slam career doubles title.

And just a reminder for all you peeps in the doubles competition at the upcoming Rio Olympic Games, Big and Little Sis are the three time doubles gold medalists, winning in 2000, 2008 and in 2012 at their fave tennis venue.

The women standing on the opposite side of the net that will try to stop them from making more tennis history will be the number five seeded doubles duo of Hungary's Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.   They are on a roll after knocking off the number one seeds and defending Wimbledon doubles champs Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 to get to the semis, and a 6-4, 6-2 straight set win over the tenth seeded American duo of Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears to advance to the doubles final.

Should be an interesting Saturday for the Williams sisters, and you never bet against them when they are playing matches at their personal SW19 tennis playground called the All England Club.  

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2016 Williams Watch- Mixed Wimbledon News Day For The Williams Sisters

Today was semifinal day for the'Williams'-don ladies singles tournament, and my fave tennis playing siblings were at Centre Court playing for their first all Williams singles final since 2009.

Serena quickly dispatched Russia's Elena Vesnina in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to make it to her third consecutive Grand Slam final this year and set up an opportunity to win her seventh Wimbledon title and 22nd career Gland Slam title win.

However, eight seeded  Big Sis didn't get to join Little Sis in the Wimbledon ladies singles final.  She unfortunately lost to fifth seeded German Angelique Kerber 4-6, 4-6 and fall just short of the opportunity to win her sixth Wimbledon title.

It is Kerber, who upset Serena in the 2016 Australian Open final that will face Little Sis on Saturday.

Big Sis' London business trip isn't over yet.  She and Serena are still in contention for their first Wimbledon doubles crown since 2012 and their 15th Grand Slam title.

They headed over to Court No. 2 and knocked off the number 4 doubles seeds Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in three sets 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-2 to punch their ticket to the ladies doubles semifinals

The Williams sisters will take on the 8th seeded doubles duo of Julia Gorges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic with a spot in the doubles final on the line.

Should they handle their business tomorrow, they will face in the finals the winner of the Timea Babos/Yaroslava Shvedova - Raquel Atawo/Abigail Spears match

ButThe fifth seeded Babos and Shvedova knocked off the number one seeds and defending Wimbledon doubles champs Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets to take on the 10th seeded American duo.

We'll see what happens tomorrow in  the ladies doubles action and on Saturday at Centre Court.

2016 Williams Watch- In The Wimbledon Semis!

I told y'all the All England Club was the personal tennis playground of the Williams sisters, and in this 2016 Wimbledon tournament they are proving it.   For the first time since 2009, the Williams sisters, who have eleven singles titles combined, are in the Wimbledon ladies singles semifinals at the same time.

World number one Serena won her Centre Court quarterfinal match with Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to punch her ticket to the semifinals against another Russian in Elena Vesnina.

Meanwhile over on No. 1 Court, eighth seeded Venus was pushed a bit and was down 2-5 in the first set tiebreaker, but regrouped and won in straight sets against Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 to make it to her semifinal match with number five seed Angelique Kerber

It was the first time since the 2010 US Open that she has made it to a Grand Slam semifinal,

We'll see on Thursday if both Williams sisters make it to the ladies singles final on Saturday.

They are also still in contention for their first 'Williams'-don doubles crown since 2012, and dispatched the Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-3 in their third round ladies doubles match

They will face in the ladies doubles quarters the winner of the Barbora Strycova/Michaella Krajicek - Elena Vesnina/Ekaterina Makarova match.

TransGriot Update:  They will face in the Wimbledon doubles quarters the number four seeded Russian duo of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova.

2016 Williams Watch- Serena And Venus In The Wimbledon Quarters!

The Williams sisters are still alive in this rain delayed 2016 edition of 'Williams-don' and are both in the ladies singles quarterfinals cruising toward a possible All-Williams Wimbledon finals matchup for the first time at the All England club since 2009.

Number one tournament seed Serena handled her third and fourth round business by blitzing Germany's Annika Beck in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 and 13th seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-0 in the same fashion on Centre Court.

The Kuznetsova match was noteworthy because it was Little Sis' 300th Grand Slam match win, and ensured she would keep the number one world WTA ranking for the 300th consecutive week.

Serena will now face 21st seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who knocked off Yulia Putintseva, 11th seeded Timea Bacsinszky, and 27th seeded Coco Vandeweghe to get her shot at the world's number one player.

Should she get past Pavlyuchenkova, she would face in the semis the winner of the Dominika Cibulkova- Elena Vesnina match.

Meanwhile eighth seeded Venus, after surviving two three set matches, found herself in the fourth round facing 12th seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro.   She had to endure a first set tiebreaker, but this time finished her business in only two sets and closed out her match serving for triple break point.  

Big Sis' 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 sent her to a quarterfinal matchup with Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, who has knocked off Julia Gorges, 17th seeded Elina Svitolina, Sabine Lisicki and 28th seeded Lucie Safarova to get to the quarterfinal round.

Should she get past Shvedova, Venus' semifinal match would be another tough one.  She would have to face the survivor of a quarterfinal match between number 4 seed Angelique Kerber and number 5 seed Simona Halep.

The Williams sisters are competing for their first Wimbledon ladies doubles title since 2012 as a warmup for the Rio Olympic tennis tournament, and are now in the third round of this doubles competition after knocking off the Belgian duo of Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

They will face the sixth seeded Czech duo of Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova for a spot in the ladies doubles quarterfinals.

So far things are looking good for them at their 'Williams'-don playground, and we'll have to wait and see if my fave tennis playing siblings are hoisting trophies this weekend at SW19.

2016 Williams Watch- Still Playing At Wimbledon

We've reached the first weekend of The Championships, AKA 'Williams'-don as I love to call the third Grand Slam of the tennis season because of my fave tennis playing siblings utter domination of it,

While it has been a little bumpy at times for both number one seed Serena and number 8 seeded Venus, they are still around and still playing at the All England lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as the ladies tournament seeds keep falling.

Number 2 seeded Garbine Muguruza?  Gone in the second round along with No. 7 Belinda Bencic (retired due to injury), No. 14 Samantha Stosur, No 15 Karolina Pliskova, No. 16 Johanna Konta, No 17 Elina Svitolina  No. 20 Sara Errani, No. 22 Jelena Jankovic, No. 30 Caroline Garcia and No 32 Andrea Petkovic.  They join  No. 23 Ana Ivanovic and No. 31 Kristina Mladenovic who went out in the first round and third round casualty Daria Kasatkina

Serena started her quest for her 22nd Grand slam title by dispatching Swiss qualifier Amra Sadikovic in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to move on to her second round match with fellow American Christina McHale.  

That match was tougher than she expected, because McHale not only took Little Sis to a first set tie breaker, but snatched the first set from her. Order was restored in the tennis world as as a pissed off Serena resumed her usual dominance and punched her ticket to the third round clash with Germany's Annika Beck with a 6-7 (9-7) 6-2, 6-4 win over the plucky McHale

On the other side of the ladies singles bracket, Venus was also dismissing her first round opponent Donna Vekic of Croatia in straight sets 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, but had to endure a first set tiebreaker to do so.

She then sent qualifier Maria Sakkari of Greece packing with a 7-5. 4-6, 6-3 three set win to send her to a third round clash with Russia's Daria Kasatkina.

That match featured a marathon third set, but she survived again 7-5,4-6, 10-8 to face No. 12 seed Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain in the fourth round.

As they did in the French Open, they are also playing doubles, and got thorough their opening round ladies doubles match with their 7-5, 6-3 straight set win over the Slovenian duo of Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik.   They face in the second round of the doubles tourney Belgian qualifiers Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach

Will Serena keep rolling to another final and FINALLY get that 22nd Grand Slam title?  Will Big Sis continue surviving and advancing through the bottom half of the 'Williams'-don ladies singles bracket?

Stay tuned.

'Williams-don' 2016 Starts Tomorrow

The Championships, AKA Wimbledon are starting tomorrow in London.  I call this third Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season 'Williams'-don because Serena and Venus Williams have turned the All England lawn Tennis & Croquet Club into their personal playground with a combined 11 titles since 2000.   .

Venus won her five titles in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008 while Serena won hers in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015)   She was upset in the 2004 finals by Maria Sharapova, the 4th round in 2013, and the third round in 2014.

Serena is also trying to tie Steffi Graf for career Grand Slam championships, but has been upset in the semifinals of the 2015 US Open and upset in the finals of the 2016 Australian Open and the 2016 French Open.

Venus is seeded number 8 and will face Donna Vekic of Croatia in her opening round match as she seeks to win her sixth Wimbledon title.

So while Little Sis still holds the world number one ranking and once again is the number one seeded player in this tournament and has been dominant here at the All England Club, the recent finals losses has people thinking she's vulnerable.

We'll see starting tomorrow as she opens her quest for her seventh 'Williams'-don title with her first round match against Swiss qualifier Amra Sadikovic

2016 Williams Watch- Serena To The French Open Finals!

It has been a French Open at Roland Garros in which they have battled through rain delays, cold temperatures and the field being decimated by upsets and injuries, but Serena Williams has survived.

She dispatched the red hot Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in straight sets at Court Philippe Chatrier to punch her ticket to the French Open finals 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 but she had to fight for it.

Trailing 4-2 and noting that Bertens was hobbled a bit by a strained left calf, Little Sis zeroed in on that to flip the match script.  While everyone on tour knows that she can hit with power and is undeniably the best shotmaker in the women's game, many people forget that she can also hit an amazing deft drop shot, and she repeatedly deployed it against Bertens to get back in the match..

Like the great champion she is, Serena survived and advanced.  She's now made it to her 27th Grand Slam final and her second consecutive French Open final.  Serena is also playing for her 22nd Grand Slam title to pass Steffi Graf and get her closer to Margaret Court's 24 Grand Slam titles.

Standing in her way of making more tennis history is number four seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who dispatched 21st seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in the other semifinal at Court Suzanne Lenglen.

If that name sounds familiar, she was the player responsible for shockingly knocking Serena out in the 2012 French Open second round in lopsided fashion, which Little Sis beating her in last year's Wimbledon final in straight sets.

But tomorrow Williams will be playing her fourth straight match while Muguruza will be playing her third straight one  because of all the rain delays.  

Will she handle her business tomorrow and make this business trip to Paris a successful one?   We'll see.

2016 Williams Watch-Serena To The French Open Semis!

It took her three sets, but number one seed Serena Williams fought through a bad day at the office and a short rain delay  to prevail over a determined Yulia Putintseva  5-7, 6-4, 6-1 to punch her ticket to the French Open semifinals.

Serena got off to a slow start in large part to the 24 unforced errors she sprayed all over Court Philippe Chatrier in the first set.  Despite that display of error infused tennis, she was serving at 5-5 in the first set up 40-love but got broken, then Putintseva took advantage of the huge gift to serve out the set and become the first person in this edition of the French Open to take a set from the tournament's number one seed.  

Williams ended up with 43 unforced errors to just 16 for Putintseva, but offset that with 36-16 advantage in winners.  Little Sis woke up just in time at 4-4 to rally and take that second set with some timely assistance from Putintseva.  She was down two break points but held serve to take a 5-4 lead, then broke Putintseva to take the second set to even the match when Putintseva double faulted.

Serena then found her A game and blew out Putintseva in the third set to take the match.

She will face the red hot Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, who is on a roll and has taken down four seeded players in number 3 Angelique Kerber, number 25 Daria Kasatkina, number 15 Madison Keys and number 8 Timea Bacsinszky on the way to the semifinals and qualifying for the Dutch Olympic tennis team .

 Fourth seeded Garbine Muguruza and 21st seeded Samantha Stosur will square off in the other women's semifinal.match

2016 Williams Watch- One Sister Still In The French Open, One Sister Is Out

It has been a rainy few days in Paris during this 2016 edition of the French Open that has not only seen rain delays that have wiped out whole days of play, but many of the seeded players falling on the women's side.

That pattern continued in the fourth round after two days of rain delayed play once again in which number two seed Agnieszka Radwanska, number 4 seed Garbine Muguruza, number 6 seed Simona Halep and number 12 seed Carla Suarez-Navarro all fell.

So did number 9 seeded Venus Williams in straight sets to number 8 seeded Timea Bacsinzsky 2-6, 4-6 to end her time at Roland Garros.

But 'Williams'-don will be cranking up on June 27-July 12 on the other side of the Channel.  See you then Big Sis.

Meanwhile, number one seeded Serena cruised to the quarterfinals after blitzing Elina Svitolina in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 to set up her quarterfinal match with Yulia Putintseva, who upset Carla Suarez-Navarro in a hard fought 7-5, 7-5 straight set match.

Should Little Sis prevail against Putintseva, she would take on the winner of the Timea Bacsinzsky-Kiki Bertens match.   Bertens is on a roll, and now that she has qualified for the Dutch Olympic tennis squad in Rio by getting past the third round in a emotional 6-2,3-6,10-8 three set win over Daria Kasatkina, the pressure on her entering the tournament has been lifted.   She could be a dangerous opponent for the eighth seeded Bacsinzsky.  

But once again, you have to play the matches.

2016 Williams Watch-Rolling To The Fourth Round

My fave tennis playing sisters are having a marvelous business trip to Paris so far as we cruise into the second week of the French Open.

Serena is chasing history and another French Open title as usual, while Venus is striving to get back to the elite level of tennis she was playing before she was diagnosed with the autoimmune ailment that has sidetracked her for several years.

This 2016 French Open women's tournament has already witnessed nine seeded players fall in the first round, two in the second and another nine in the third round.   But two of the ten seeded players still left in this 2016 edition of the French Open women's tourney have the last name Williams, and eight of them are bumping heads in the fourth round.

Serena, the tournament's number one and still world number one ranked player is handling her French Open business, and so far hasn't dropped a set on the way to the fourth round and hopefully her fourth French Open title.

She took out Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 in her opening round match,  Brazil's Teliana Pereira 6-2, 6-1, and 26th seeded French homegirl Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 7-6 (12-10). She will face 18th seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in her fourth round match.  .

Should she get past Svitolina, she would face in the quarters the winner of the match between 12th seeded Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain and Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.

Ninth seeded Venus is trying to win her first ever French Open title in her illustrious career.  But her road to that first title and the fourth round has been tougher.  Big Sis has had to play several tiebreakers on the way to her fourth round match with number eight seeded Swiss miss Timea Bacsinszky.

She played a tough opening round match with Estonia's Anett Kontaveit, prevailing in straight sets 7-6 (7-5),7-6 (7-4).   Big Sis then sent fellow American qualifier Louisa Chirico to the sidelines by beating her in straight sets 6-2 , 6-1.

In the third round, like Little Sis, she faced a French homegirl in Alize Cornet.   But unlike Serena, it took her three sets to win this match.

Venus captured the first set 7-6 (7-5), dropped the second set 1-6, and blitzed Cornet in the third set 6-0 to punch her ticket to the fourth round match with Bacsinszky.

Should Venus survive this match, she would take on in the quarters the winner of the match between the Netherlands Kiki Bertens and 15th seeded Madison (I'm not Black) Keys

Should my fave tennis playing sibling survive their quarterfinal matches, they would play each other in the semifinals..

The Williams sisters were also entered in the French Open doubles this year, but were knocked out in the third round of the doubles tournament by Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson in straight sets 3-6, 3-6.

Oh well, there's always the 'Williams'-don doubles in a few weeks. .

We'll see how this second week of their Paris business trip plays out and if one of them is holding the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen on Saturday.