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-The French Open Starts

Today starts the 113th edition of the French Open at Stade Roland Garros in Paris through June 8.  The question I will have on my mind along with all international tennis fans is can Serena repeat?

I'd say it's likely after being upset in the Australian Open by Ana Ivanovic, so the French Open field needs to be very afraid after Little Sis warmed up for the French by capturing the Italian Open title which is a clay court tournament.

If Serena manages to win the French Open, she will tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for fourth on the all time titles list at 18 and be only one singles title away from tying Helen Wills Moody who sits in third place.

Number one seeded Serena starts the chase for her third French Open singles title with her first round match against French homegirl Alize Lim.  

Big Sis Venus is also playing in this tournament and is unfortunately on the same side of the draw as Little Sis.   She starts her French Open singles play against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

As to whether the Williams sisters will be playing doubles in this tournament, won't know until they post the women's doubles draw. 

Will this be another successful French business trip for Serena?  Will Venus make some noise in this one?   We'll begin to find out the answers to those questions in a few hours.

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!

Serena Williams Is 2013 AP Female Athlete Of The Year

Read it and weep haters!  Serena Williams was named the 2013 AP Female Athlete of the Year for the third time.  She'd previously won that honor in 2002 and 2009.

It capped off a year in which she won the French and US Opens to push her Grand Slam title count to 17, won 11 tournament titles, earned $12 million in prize money and finished the season ranked number 1 on the world for the third time in her career.

She is only one Grand Slam title win away from matching Chris Evert and Martina Navratiloa who are tied with 18 majors.  

And yeah, just to remind y'all, the Australian Open starts January 13.

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. 
 

2013 Williams Watch-Serena's In The French Open Finals!

After getting her stiffest challenge of her 2013 Paris business trip to Roland Garros in a three set quarterfinal scare from Svetlana Kuznetsova, Serena Williams moved on to her first French Open semifinal in a decade against the fifth seed, Italy's Sara Errani.

Errani was last year's French Open women's tourney runner up, but it was no contest for Little Sis as she took only 46 dominating minutes to punch her ticket to her first French Open final since she won it all in 2002.

Serena was on her A++ game today as she took only 21 minutes to win the first set and won the first 9 games before Errani finally broke through on her serve to win her lone game in this 6-0, 6-1 rout on Court Phillipe Chatrier.  

Williams bumps her current match win streak to a career best 30 straight matches and a 22-0 record this season on clay and faces in the final defending 2012 French Open champ Maria Sharapova, who survived a three set grunt fest against Victoria Azarenka.  

Sharapova has a 2-13 record against Serena, but one of the wins came in the 2004 Wimbledon final and she lost to Serena in straight sets recently on clay at the 2013 Madrid Open final 6-1, 6-4.

So will Serena be holding the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen Saturday for the first time since 2002?   I wouldn't bet against her the way she's playing right now.   

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2013 Williams Watch-Serena's Headed To The Semis!

"She's the best in the world. She has been playing unbelievable tennis. But I believe that I have game and my good days as well. Let's cross fingers I will have a good day."
--Svetlana Kuznetsova

For much of the match Svetlana Kuznetsova was having a good day on Court Suzanne Lenglen against Serena J. Williams.

After getting blitzed in 28 minutes in the first set by Little Sis, Kuznetsova took an injury time out, regrouped and rallied to take the second set as Serena's play came down a level from her fast start.  

Kuznetsova had Serena down 0-2 in the third set and for a moment visions of another quarterfinal round loss (2004, 2007, 2009 to Kuznetsova and 2010) at Roland Garros were on the horizon for Serena Williams.   

But Little Sis simply refused to go out like that again and stepped up her game.  In that critical third game of the set she fought off three Kuznetsova break point chances, held serve and then kicked her game to another level to win 6-1, 3-6,6-3 punch her ticket to the semifinals for the first time since 2003.

She'll face number 5 seed and last year's French Open runner up Sara Errani of Italy for a chance to play in her first French Open final since 2002. 

2013 Williams Watch-On To The Quarters!

Serena Williams is still in the hunt for her 16th Grand slam title after taking only 70 minutes to breeze past 15th seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-1, 6-3.   It was her 28th consecutive match win and puts her in the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time since 2010.

She's an unbeaten 20-0 on clay this year, but now faces the woman that knocked her out of the 2009 French Open and went on to win the title that year in Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova. 

The two time Grand Slam champion Kuznetsova knocked off 8th seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany in three sets to punch her ticket to the quarters

Since losing in the French Open first round last year, Little Sis is 71-3 and has won the Wimbledon singles and doubles titles, the Olympics singles and doubles titles, the US Open singles title and the WTP Championship.

Should she get past Kuznetsova, she would make it to the semis at Roland Garros for the first time since 2003 and the way she's playing right now I wouldn't bet against her doing it.

2013 Williams Watch-Serena To Fourth Round

Serena Williams' march to her first French Open women's championship since 2002 continued as she took on Sorana Cirstea of Romania in her third round match on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Little Sis took 61 minutes to send the 26th seeded Cirstea to a 6-0, 6-2 straight set defeat with the first set taking the world's number one ranked player only 23 minutes to complete.

She has only dropped six games total in her three matches so far at Roland Garros, is on a career best 27 match (and counting) win streak and awaits the winner of the Roberta Vinci-Petra Cetkovska match which was in its third set as I compiled this post.

Meanwhile, the person who gave Serena her last loss in a Grand Slam singles tournament is lurking at the other end of the women's singles tournament bracket. 

17th seeded Sloane Stephens has yet to play her third round match with Marina Eracovik of New Zealand and is on a potential fourth round collision with defending French Open champ Maria Sharapova assuming she survives her match with China's Jie Zheng.

And you know after Stephens flapped her gums and dissed Serena  earlier this month, many of us in tennis world would love to see a rematch between the two in the French Open finals.  

But there's still a lot of tennis that needs to be played before that can happen and Sloane has a tougher draw with people like Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur, Petra Kvitova and Sharapova still in it.  
  
The first weekend in Paris is shaping up to be a very interesting one for us tennis junkies. 

TransGriot: Update:  Serena will face Roberta Vinci in the fourth round. 

2013 Williams Watch-Next!

My fave tennis playing siblings are in Paris for the 2013 French Open, and world number one and tournament number one seed Serena Williams continues to handle her tennis business at Stade Roland Garros.

The latest person dispatched to the sidelines of this women's tournament by Serena was 19 year old French homegirl Caroline Garcia.   Andy Murray may think she's a future number one but she didn't show it against the current world number one player.

Little Sis took only 62 minutes to made quick 6-1, 6-2 work out of her and get ready for her third round match against Sorana Cirstea of Romania 

And yep, in the lower half of the women's bracket 17 seeded Sloane Stephens is making noise.
 
In the doubles competition they pulled out.  No explanation yet as to why but speculation is because Venus did report pain in her lower back after the three set first round loss to Urszula Radwanska.  They have won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles as a duo, so we'll see if they get together to defend their 'Williams-don' doubles title.

If Little Sis handles her business as expected against the 26th seeded Cirstea she'll face in the fourth round the winner of the Petra Cetkovska-Roberta Vinci match.  

2013 Williams Watch-Good News Bad News At Roland Garros

The 2013 edition of the French Open started yesterday in Paris and will run through June 9. 

Unlike that Grand Slam tournament on the other side of the English Channel that my fave tennis playing siblings have dominated to the point I call it 'Williams-don', Stade Roland Garros and its clay courts have been a frustrating career long house of horrors for the Williams Sisters.

They have won the French Open doubles title twice in 1999 and 2010, but the only time Big and Little Sis have made it to the French Open singles final was in 2002 when Serena beat Venus in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 for her only French Open singles title to date.

2002 is also the last time that either Williams sister has made it to the finals of the French open women's singles.  Venus has never won a French Open singles title and that streak will sadly continue. 

Stade Roland Garros is also the site of the only first round loss ever for Serena Williams in a Grand Slam tournament when she shockingly lost last year to 111th world ranked qualifier Virginie Razzano of France 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3. 

Number one world ranked and number one seeded Little Sis however sent a message to the 2013 French Open field that she's in it to win it this year by blitzing in 51 minutes her first round opponent Anna Tatishvili of Georgia, 6-0, 6-1.

She faces France's Caroline Garcia in the second round and if you think she isn't pissed about her first round loss here last year or what transpired in Australia back in January, y'all don't know Serena Jameka Williams very well do you?

Unfortunately as I mentioned earlier, Big Sis is done in this 2013 singles tournament.   Venus took 3 hours and 19 minutes to go down fighting to Urszula Radwanska, the baby sis of 4th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska.7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4.   Ironically, Agnieszka Radwanska eliminated her from last year's French Open singles tourney in the second round.

But her competitive stay in Paris isn't over because she and Little Sis are playing doubles at Roland Garros.  They are seeded 12th in this French Open doubles competition and are seeking their first doubles title since 2010.

They will start the quest for their third French Open doubles crown with their opening round match with the doubles duo of Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia.  

Here's hoping that on June 9 I'm writing some good news about my fave tennis playing siblings taking home the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen and the Coupe Simone Mathieu. 

FYI in case you're wondering, those are the names of the championship trophies for the French Open women's singles and women's doubles tournaments.

2013 Williams Watch-End Of The Aussie Open Title Chases

The title chases for the Williams sisters Down Under came to a screeching halt in the Australian Open quarterfinals.

In doubles, Big and Little Sis fell to the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-7 (5-7) 5-7 to end their chance to take home their fifth Australian Open doubles crown.. 

Then a few hours later Serena faced rising newcomer Sloane Stephens with a trip to the semis to take on Victoria Azarenka in the balance.

In the first set looked like Little Sis was going to send the 19 year old fellow American to the sidelines, taking only 29 minutes to win the first set 6-3.   But after opening up a 2-0 lead in the second set Stephens began to fight back and live up to her growing rep as 'the next Serena'.   She chased down shots and frequently made successful foray to the net for drop shop winners that kept her in the set and gave her chances to break Serena's serve.

Stephens caught another break with Little Sis leading 4-3 in the second set when Serena suffered a back spasm while trying to avoid running into the net. 

The injury basically took away Serena's formidable serve for several games and allowed Stephens to pounce on it, climb back into the match and take the second set.

Serena started recovering from the back spasm in the third set but by that point young Stephens wasn't intimidated by her idol and stayed close until she broke Serena again for the deciding set win. 

6-3, 5-7, 4-6.  It was the first loss for Serena in a Grand Slam since the 2012 French Open, ended her chance at another Serena Slam, and was the first time she's lost to an American teenage tennis player since 1999.

And for the haters gloating about this loss, all I have to say about it is remember what happened the last time Serena lost in a Grand Slam tournament.   She won Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open.

See y'all in Paris in May.. 

2013 Williams Watch-Serena To The Aussie Open Quarters

Little Sis' quest for her sixth Australian open singles title is still on track thanks to her fourth round straight set blitzing of 14th seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko.

It took number three seeded Serena less than an hour (57 minutes to be precise) to post her 6-2, 6-0 win and set up an intriguing quarterfinal match up with the woman who is touted in international and US tennis circles as possibly being 'the next Serena'.

She is 19 year old and 29th seeded American Sloane Stephens, and yep, she's a sistah playing in her first Grand Slam tournament.  

Stephens outlasted Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 to set up the match with the woman Stephens described as her childhood idol.   They have already faced each other in Brisbane, a match that Serena won 6-3, 6-4.

But this time it's in the Australian Open quarters, and her idol has not dropped a set in her methodical march to the quarterfinals.

Winner of this match will take on the survivor of the Victoria Azarenka-Svetlana Kuznetsova match.    Azarenka is the defending Aussie Open champion and tournament number one seed while Kuznetsova sent 10th seeded Caroline Wozniacki packing 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.  

Naw, I still haven't forgotten that foul shyt Wozniacki pulled in Brazil.

Ahem, focus Moni.

As I mentioned in a previous Williams Watch report, the sisters are still kicking butt and very much on track in their quest for their fifth Australian Open doubles crown. 

They have yet to drop a set in theis tournament, and the 12th seeded Williams sisters now face in the doubles quarterfinal round the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci for a spot in the semifinals against the 4th seeded Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.  

2013 Williams Watch-Rolling To The Doubles Quarters

My fave tennis playing siblings are still in the mix for their fifth Australian Open doubles title.

Little Sis and Big Sis are seeded number 12 in the doubles bracket and opened their title pursuit with a 6-3, 6-1 straight set win over Camila Giorgi of Italy and Stefanie Voegle of Switzerland that took only 70 minutes to complete..

They faced in the second round Vera Dushevina of Russia and Olga Gorvortsova of Bulgaria and they were dismissed in straight sets as well 6-1, 6-2 in 76 minutes.

In the doubles third round they faced fifth seeds Nadia Petrova of Russia and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia who took only 74 minutes to fall 6-2, 6-3.  

The Williams sisters now face in the doubles quarterfinal round the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci for a spot in the semis against the winner of the match between 4th seeded Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina vs Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinosa and Carla Suarez Navarro. 

The Spanish duo punched their quarterfinal ticket by upsetting the 5th seeded team Liezel Huber of the USA and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-4.

The Williams sisters are in position to get their first Australian Open doubles title since 2010, but still have a lot of tennis left to play to get there.