Baby Sis In 2009 Australian Open Final

New year, new tennis season, and the first Grand Slam tournament is being played Down Under.

Y'all know I have much love for my my favorite tennis playing siblings and was hoping to see another all-Williams final. I was horrified to watch Venus just stop doing what worked in the first set and get unceremoniously bounced from the Australian Open women's singles in the second round by Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 3-6, 5-7.

But no worries mates and sheilas. Baby Sis upheld Williams family honor and made it all the way to Saturday night's (Melbourne time) final at Rod Laver Arena while battling the oppressive summer heat. (Yes peeps, it's summer south of the Equator)

Serena will be playing in her fourth Australian Open final versus Russia's Dinara Safina after taking only 99 minutes to beat Russia's Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-4.

Serena interestingly enough has won the Australian Open in 2003, 2005 and 2007 and since this is an odd numbered year, let's hope the pattern continues.

Little Sis Wins The US Open

For the first time since 2002 Serena Williams has claimed the US Open singles title, but it wasn't easy.

To earn her third US Open singles title she had to go through her Big Sis in the quarterfinals, beating her 7-6, 7-6 and Russian Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2.

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia awaited her at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She was playing in her first Grand Slam final and served notice early on that she wanted it just as badly. Williams won her first game but after Jankovic held serve she broke Serena to lead 2-1. Little Sis then stepped up her tennis to another level and won four straight games to lead 5-2. After Jankovic held serve and then broke Serena's to close within 5-4, Little Sis returned the favor to win the set 6-4.

The second set was just as hard fought. Serena held serve and had two break points in the second game, but Jankovic saved both points to stay even at 1-1. They stayed on serve with Jankovic once again having to stave off multiple break points to stay even at 3-3.

In the seventh game with Little Sis up 40-30 she was rattled by a late non-call on a ball that barely kissed the edge of the line and stayed in. Jankovic took advantage and broke Williams' serve for a 4-3 lead. She held serve and had three set points on Little Sis, but Serena saved them all to win the game and narrow the gap to 5-4.

In the tenth game Serena forced five break points, but Jankovic battled back to save them all before double faulting to tie the set and give Little Sis an opportunity to take the lead at 6-5. After holding serve, she kept the pressure on Jankovic and force championship point. Jankovic saved the first one but Little Sis forced another one and won her title on a blistering backhand winner.

In addition to getting paid for the win, she also regained the international Number One ranking in women's tennis for the first time since August 2003.

US Open 2008

Lost in the avalanche of news concerning the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Games and the Democratic convention news is the start of the US Open for us tennis junkies.

The last major tournament of the year is running through September 7, and my favorite golden tennis playing sisters unbelievably have been stuck on the same side of the women's singles draw.

They aren't playing doubles in this one, and so far Venus and Serena are on track to meet in the quarterfinals.

Big Sis hasn't dropped a set so far in beating Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3, Rossana De Los Rios 6-0, 6-3 and Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1.

Little Sis has played two matches at the time I'm writing this post, but also hasn't dropped a set in beating Alona's baby sis Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-4 and Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-1. Little Sis has an upcoming third round match later today with Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

While I'm not happy about the draw, I'll be rooting for whichever Williams sister survives their quarterfinal clash

Venus and Serena Win Beijing Doubles Gold

My favorite tennis playing sisters shook off their disappointing quarterfinal singles losses and beat Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-2, 6-0 to win the women's doubles tornament

They were the 2000 Sydney Games doubles gold medallists, but didn't defend the title at Athens because of an injury to Venus. They made a little history in the process by becoming only the second pair to win the Olympic doubles title twice after fellow Americans Gigi and Mary Jo Fernandez.

While they had their troubles in the Beijing singles tournament, they didn't on the doubles side of it. They only dropped two sets during the entire tournament and were rarely challenged. In fact, the sisters are now 10-0 in Olympic doubles competition.

The 2012 London Games tennis tournament venue, should the Williams sisters decide to defend their title and make the 2012 Olympic team, will be conducted at the Williams sisters personal playground, the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Good Olympic News, Bad Olympic News

This is a good news bad news kind of Olympic day so far.

Dawn made sure I was up for the 8 AM EDT start of Team USA's men's game versus Greece. The 'Redeem Team' has several members on it that have not so fond memories of the 2006 FIBA World Championships. That squad was upset by the Greeks 101-95 in a game that sent seismic shock waves through the international basketball community and led to a major reorganization in the States of how we handle our basketball business on the men's side.

The 'Redeem Team' in their first tough game of the tournament, beat down Greece 92-69 to avenge that shocking 2006 loss in Japan and go 3-0 in their pool. They also qualified for the medal round no matter what happens in their remaining pool games versus Spain and Germany.

The women kept their record perfect in pool play as well. They beat Mali 97-41 as Lisa Leslie scored 16 points on 7 of 7 shooting from the field to help Team USA earn their 28th straight Olympic victory and go 3-0 as well in Group B. Seimone Augustus chipped in 12 points, while Cappie Pondexter, Candace Parker and Tina Thompson each chipped in 10 points apiece. Lisa broke the US Olympic record of 6 for 6 shared by Katie Smith in the 2000 games and Nikki McCray in 1996. Team USA closes out pool play versus Spain and New Zealand.

I was disappointed that Houston Comet Hamchetou Maiga-Ba suffered a high ankle sprain and couldn't play. She's out for the Games and may not be able to play for the Comets when the WNBA resume play after the Olympic break.

I was watching that fantastic relay race for the ages a few nights ago. I knew Cullen Jones was making history as a member of that team, but I didn't realize just how until after they obliterated the world record in the 4 X 100m freestyle relay and edged the trash talking French for the gold.

With the upset win Cullen Jones became the second African-American swimmer to win a gold medal, and in the process helped keep Michael Phelps quest to win eight gold medals alive and on track. He's the second because in 2000, biracial swimmer Anthony Ervin tied for the 50m freestyle gold medal and won a silver medal as a member of the 4 X 100m freestyle relay team.

As a tennis fan, I watched as James Blake shockingly beat world number one ranked (until he cedes it to Spain's Rafael Nadal in a few days) and slumping Swiss Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6 (6-2) in men singles for the first time in nine tries.

Federer still has a chance to earn his first Olympic gold medal in doubles, while Blake moves on to the semifinals against 2004 Athens singles bronze medallist Fernando Gonazalez of Chile.

But unfortunately my tennis playing sistahs got zapped by the same upset bug that claimed Roger Federer. The only way the Williams sisters can win a medal in Beijing is in doubles because both lost their respective singles matches. Baby Sis lost to Elena Dementieva of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 while Big Sis was upset in straight sets to the delight of the crowd by homegirl Li Na 7-5, 7-5.

Big Sis Beats Little Sis at 'Williams'-don

Those of us who are big fans of the tennis playing Williams sisters were not only hoping for a Sister-Sister final, we got it. We were also hoping for an entertaining and competitive final, and we got that as well.

Venus took her fifth Wimbledon singles title in a marvelously competitive 7-5, 6-4 Centre Court match to add another Venus Rosewater Dish to her trophy collection.

The way she's collecting these the All England Club may need to consider renaming it the Venus Williams Rosewater Dish.

But this match was the bomb. Prior to today Serena had taken the two previous Sister-Sister Wimbledon finals and early on as Venus struggled to control that powerful serve of hers as the high winds played havoc with her ball toss. Serena took advantage of Big Sis's service struggles and got the upper hand early in this match. But as Venus began to find the range and settle down she and Serena battled each other by pulling out shot after amazing shot at critical points in the first set.

But it was Little Sis who made the critical mistake of the first set, putting the ball in the net with Venus up 6-5. Despite outplaying Venus, she'd dropped her first set of the tournament.

The second set would be just as competitive. Serena battled back to force a break point, but Venus uncorked another monster serve to save it and set another Wimbledon service speed record in the process at 129 mph.

The sisters continued their nip and tuck battle in the second set until finally Venus built a 5-4 lead and had two Championship points in the tenth game of this set. Serena sent an ace blistering past her sis to save the first point but on the next one hit her return wide to end a match for the ages and strike a blow for the pride of older siblings all over the planet.

The sisters have one more match to play at the all England club for the Ladies' Doubles Championship. The way they're playing right now they'll probably take that title home with them as well.

Althea Gibson is looking down at these ladies and smiling. They gave it their all and definitely made us all proud of them today.



picture credits-T. Melville, V. Dorsey

Sister-Sister III

On my Wimbledon 2008 post one of my readers expressed her hope that both Williams sisters not make it to another Wimbledon final because she felt they didn't play well against each other. I was fairly confident it would happen because both had been playing great tennis so far and neither had dropped a set.

I got my wish. This Saturday as our British cousins are eating their strawberries and cream, Serena and Venus Williams will battle it out on Centre Court for the Venus Rosewater Dish (no joke) in their third all-Williams Wimbledon final.

Defending Wimbledon champ Venus took out fifth seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-1 7-6 (7-3) to punch her ticket to the final. Baby Sis had a tougher time battling rain delays and 24 year old wildcard Zheng Jie. Zheng gave it her all and even had an opportunity to take the second set in her attempt to become the first Chinese player to make a Grand Slam final. She eventually lost 6-2 7-6 (7-5) after Serena saved that set point and took it to a tie breaker.

Serena will be seeking her ninth Grand Slam title, while Venus will be looking for her fifth Wimbledon title. Serena has beaten Venus in their two previous matchups in 2002 and 2003.

And don't look now folks, the Ladies' singles title isn't the only championship they are pursuing at the All England Club. The Williams sisters are in the Ladies' doubles semifinals as well.

Wimbledon 2008

It's simply known as 'The Championships', but tennis fans all over the world know that you're talking about Wimbledon, the second jewel of the tennis Grand Slam that started June 23 and runs through July 6.

The defending champ is Venus Williams, and so far she's made it into the round of 16 without dropping a set. She's seeded sixth in this tournament and also broke the Wimbledon record for fastest serve. She uncorked a 127 mph ace to close out her third round straight set 6-1, 7-5 victory over Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Seventh seeded baby sis Serena is also in the Round of 16 and hasn't dropped a set either. She did have to work to oust France's Amelie Mauresmo in their third round match. Mauresmo forced a tiebreaker in their first set that Baby Sis took 7-5, then blew her out in the second set 6-1 to take the match.

At least this year we have the possibility of a Sister-Sister final. Serena on paper looks like she has an easier draw, while Venus has Jelena Jankovic on her side of it. The Williams sisters will also be representing the USA at the Beijing Games and my Houston homegirl Zina Garrison will be coaching the Team USA women. I'll be tuning in to the Olympic tennis tournament being conducted from August 10-17 as well to see if my girls can bring home the gold.

We'll find out over the course of this week if the Williams sisters will be the last women standing as they seek to add additional Wimbledon singles and doubles titles to the ones they've already won.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Open, Open, Open!

The first Grand Slam event of the 2008 tennis season is being contested Down Under. My girls Venus and Serena Williams start the season ranked seventh and eighth in the world. Oh yeah, bad news for the doubles tandems on the circuit, they plan on playing doubles in some Grand Slam events this year, starting with the Australian Open.

The Australian Open kicked off on January 14 and runs through January 27. As those of you who took fact-based science know, it's summer in Australia and the rest of the Southern Hemisphere. (Now that I've gotten my free shot at the fundies in, I now return you back to your original post.)

Looks like the draw is set up for a potential Serena vs. Justine Henin final, but Henin has Maria Sharapova on her side and they're on track to meet in the quarterfinals. The defending champ Serena has a potential quarterfinal match with Jelena Jankovich looming on her side of the bracket.

Serena is still alive as of this posting. She hasn't dropped a set enroute to her fourth round match with Nicole Viadisova. Venus is still alive and plays her third round math today with India's Sania Mirza.

On the doubles side they've already knocked off the Number 2 seeded doubles tandem and in good position to win their third Grand Slam doubles title.

Ladies, here's hoping for a great start to the season for both of you.

The Williams Sisters Are Dominating The US Open

The Williams sisters are still administering tennis beatdowns to the 2007 US Open women's field. They are on track to meet each other in the semifinals. (what genius set up this draw?)

Venus has been on a roll since the US Open started on August 27. She took out Kira Nagy 6-2, 6-1 in the first round, sent Ioana Raluca Olaru packing with a 6-4, 6-2 butt kicking, quickly eliminated Alona Bondarenko in the third round 6-1, 6-2 and polished off the No. 5 world ranked Ana Ivanovic in a Sunday afternoon matchup at Arthur Ashe Stadium 6-4, 6-2.

Baby sis has had to work a little harder, but she's been just as impressive. In her first round match Serena beat Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-5, took out Maria Elena Camerin 7-5, 6-2, had to work to beat Vera Zvonareva 6-4,7-6 (7-4) and defeated 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-4.

The sistas are looking dominant, kicking butt and taking names. Hopefully one of them will be taking home the US Open championship trophy later this week.

Venus Won!

On July 6, 1957 legendary tennis pioneer Althea Gibson became the first African-American athlete to win Wimbledon.

50 years to the day of Gibson's triumph, Venus Williams, one of the women now building on her legacy, won her fourth Wimbledon title and her first Grand Slam event title in two years by beating Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.

She made a little history as well. Since Wimbledon went to the computer raking system in 1975, Venus became the lowest ranked seed (number 23) to win the title. Her world tennis ranking has fallen to number 31 due to the wrist injury she was recovering from.

She also joined Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as players who have won Wimbledon at least four times since the tournament began admitting professional players in 1968.

The one thing that would have made this 50th anniversary win better is if Serena could have joined her big sis in the final. She fell in the quarterfinals to the current number one world ranked player and tournament number one seed Justine Henin 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.


In this decade, Wimbledon has been the personal playground of the Williams sisters. With the exception of the 2004 tournament, in which Maria Sharapova beat Serena 6-1, 6-4 and 2006 in which Amelie Mauresimo beat Justine Henin, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, either Serena or Venus has been the last one standing at Centre Court holding the Wimbledon championship trophy, ironically called the Venus Rosewater Dish.

I couldn't think of a more fitting way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Althea Gibson's breakthrough win at Wimbledon by seeing Venus hopefully return to championship form.

Watching tennis tournaments will definitely be more fun for me now that my girls are starting to return to their winning form. They just need to stay healthy, avoid the nagging injuries and they could once again dominate like they did at the beginning of the decade. I'd love to see one or both of the Williams sisters eventually win a Grand Slam before they retire.

Today, Althea Gibson is smiling. You go Venus. See you at the US Open.