And Still Serena Rises

One of the things I'm absolutely sick of along with other African-Americans is the racist hatred and trans misogyny that flows from the mouths of vanillacentric privileged white peeps mad that their European tennis glamazons weren't up to the task (again) of beating the world's number one ranked tennis player in Serena Jameka Williams.

It's not a new problem.  I've written about it previously, but it still pisses me off to see it.

Serena earned that sixth title, going through a three set match with Victoria Azarenka in the quarters, beating down Maria Sharapova for the (ho hum) 17th straight time since 2004 in the semis and taking out a tough Garbine Muguruza to claim that 'Williams'-don crown and the Serena Slam

But y'all still hate on her.

I'm tired of this ongoing pattern of successful Black female athletes like Serena Williams having their femininity attacked because they excel at what they do.  It is part of the same four century old racist pattern of whiteness and white supremacy demonizing Black women and Black womanhood in general.

If Serena Williams had the same number 34 ranking as Sloane Stephens and the same number of Grand Slam titles won (zero) instead of being the World Number 1 ranked player with 21 Career Grand Slams (and counting), white folks wouldn't be saying jack about Serena.


Neither would they be saying anything if she were mixed race like 18th ranked Madison Keys trying to downplay the fact she has a Black father. Then again Keys, like Stephens hasn't won a Grand Slam either.   Keys was vanquished by Serena in straight sets in the 2015 Australia Open semis.

Serena clearly being the best women's tennis player on the planet, repeatedly kicking European tennis glamazon azz, staking her increasingly unassailable claim to being the greatest tennis player of all time while being unapologetically Black and a curvy dark skinned Black woman who got back in a sport with predominately white players is clearly setting some people free and has since 1999.

And I'm enjoying every nanosecond of Serena's tennis superiority as the vanillacentric privileged haters try to find a reason to not give her credit for her decade of dominance. . 

I didn't appreciate the problematic July 10 New York Times tennis body image article by Ben Rothenberg that insinuated in thinly racist tones that Serena's was the body the glamazons didn't want to have. 

Well, Serena's happy with it, Black women are happy with it, her fans and supporters are happy with her fine brown frame, and so am I

As one person who slammed the article on Twitter remarked about the description of Serena as 'animal-like said and I concur with that,“This black people as ‘beast’ thing needs to go down with the #ConfederateFlag.”

Even David Frum's tired behind tried to shadily slime her by throwing out the steroid accusation before retracting after getting called out about it.

FYI dog, since tennis is an Olympic sport, it uses the same IOC drug screening protocol.to the point that during last month's French Open, Serena was playing and beating all comers at Roland Garros while suffering from a cold.

David, ask the former East Germans or Shirley Babashoff what women on steroids look and sound like before you have several seats and some strawberries and cream flavored Haterade.

And still Serena rises.  And y'all hate it.

See y'all in New York at the US Open.

2015 Williams Watch-Serena Slam!

I repeat, how like her now haters?

Serena Williams ended her business trip to London on a successful note as she captured her sixth 'Williams'-don title, her 21st Grand Slam championship overall, and her second Serena Slam with a 6-4, 6-4 straight set victory over Garbine Muguruza of Spain.

But the 21 year old Muguruza, who knocked Serena out of the French Open last year in the second round and was confident she could pull off the upset again, and was determined to not roll over and hand the Venus Rosewater Dish to Little Sis.  

She was planning on making Serena earn the trophy, and she did..  Muguruza broke Serena's serve in the opening game of the first set and built a 4-2 lead before Serena kicked it up another level and won the next five games to take the set and go up 1-0 in the second set.


Williams built a 5-1 lead in the second set before the nerves and magnitude of what she was about to accomplish briefly affected her, and she dropped two service games with a chance to serve for the title as Muguruza fought to stay alive in the match.

Muguruza closed to 5-4 with a chance to serve to knot the set at 5-5.   But Serena would wake up and build a 40-0 lead and watch Muguruza hit a forehand shot wide to get the break and her sixth Wimbledon title.

In addition to winning her fourth straight Gland Slam title since the 2014 US Open, she is now seven wins away from capturing her first calendar year Grand Slam, tying Steffi Graf with 22 Grand Slam title wins and only three Grand Slam title wins from catching Margaret Court. 

The queue for the strawberries and cream flavored Haterade forms to the left.  

See y'all in New York next month for what may shape up to be a historic US Open.

2015 Williams Watch- Playing For The Serena Slam!

It's the 'Williams'-don semifinals, and Serena Williams was going for her 8th Wimbledon ladies final appearance against a foe in Maria Sharapova who hasn't beaten her since 2004.

And she wouldn't do it today either.

Williams and Sharapova were meeting for the 20th time, and Serena has owned her with a 17-2 record in their head to head meetings.

Make that 18-2.    Serena beat her for the 17th straight time since that shocking 2004 straight set Wimbledon finals loss,.  Little Sis was on her A+ game and made quick (1:19)  6-2. 6-4  straight set work of Sharapova to get to her 8th Wimbledon final, the 25th Grand Slam final of her career and win her 26th straight Grand Slam match.

The win over Sharapova keeps her quest alive for a Serena Slam.  This will be if she wins Saturday  in addition to her sixth Wimbledon ladies singles title, her fourth straight Grand Slam title since she captured the 2014 US Open.   With a win Saturday at Centre Court Serena will also set up a chance to accomplish a calendar year Grand Slam at the US Open and tie Steffi Graf with 22 Grand Slam wins.

How you like her now haters?  Here's some strawberries and cream flavored Haterade for you to drink. Hater tots will be coming soon for you to munch on.

She will face 21 year old Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who knocked off 2012 Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2.3-6, 6-3 to become the first Spanish woman since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario did so in 1996 to advance to the Wimbledon final.

And you can bet Serena won't be sleeping on Muguruza.   If that name sounds familiar to you, it was none other than Muguruza who upset Serena in the second round of the French Open last year.

While Muguruza is capable of doing it, she'll probably get a Serena who is on her A+ game,  remembers what happened last year. at Roland Garros and is ready to atone for it..  

But unfortunately for Muguruza, this ain't Roland Garros, it's the All-England Club, the Williams sisters personal tennis playground.

Should be fun to watch this tennis history unfold for the greatest tennis player of all time as she attempts to win her sixth 'Williams'-don ladies singles title and another Venus Rosewater Dish for her trophy collection.  

I also love the fact she's on the verge of doing so 40 years after Arthur Ashe won his Wimbledon title.

2015 Williams Watch-Only One Can Go To The Quarterfinals...

Because the geniuses at the All England Club had Serena and Venus on the same side of the draw, they met for the 26th time and the first time in six years at this Grand Slam event that has been their personal playground.

At 'Williams'-don, Serena and Venus have won a combined 10 singles titles (and counting), five doubles crowns. one mixed doubles title, and oh yeah, the 2012 London Olympic singles and doubles gold medals.

But this time they were playing for high stakes at Centre Court.  In addition to both seeking their sixth Wimbledon crowns and a spot in the quarterfinals, Serena was playing to keep her Serena Slam alive and her pursuit of a calendar year Grand Slam going as well. 

While Venus had a 6-3, 6-2 straight set victory over Aleksandra Krunic to get to this fourth round showdown with her number one seeded little sister, Serena had to battle all of the Centre Court crowd and Great Britain's Heather Wilson to get there.  It took three sets in which there were some testy moments, but she prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to get to the match with Big Sis.

While Big Sis put up a fight, Little Sis is just too good and rolled to a 6-4, 6-3 straight set win.

But the fun is just getting started for Serena.   Waiting for her in the quarters is Victoria Azarenka, and should she get past her, a potential semifinal matchup with Maria Sharapova is on the horizon should she survive her quarterfinal match with American Coco Vandeweghe.

If she gets past them, she will have earned that spot in the final versus potential opponents from the  other side of the quarterfinal bracket like Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska or Madison Keys who square off in one quarterfinal match.   The survivor would get the Garbine Muguruza-Timea Bacsinszky winner.

We'll see if Little Sis can survive and advance to Saturday, and I'm rooting for her to do so.

2015 Williams Watch-On To The Third Round

My fave tennis playing sisters are still cruising toward a Wimbledon quarterfinal clash if the brackets hold up.

Okay, what genius at the All England Club set up the brackets so they were on the same side of the Wimbledon ladies singles draw anyway?

One of the other interesting pieces of Williams Sisters related news coming out of The Championships this week was the withdrawal of Venus and Serena from the doubles tournament so they could concentrate on playing singles.


In their second round matches, Serena got past Timea Babos of Hungary in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to set up her third round clash with British homegirl Heather Watson.

Venus had to work a little harder, but she also prevailed in straight sets 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in her match against Yulia Putintseva.    She gets the Czech Republic`s Aleksandra Krunic, fresh off of springing an upset on Sara Errani.

Can they survive their third round matches and treat the tennis world to a Little Sis-Big Sis fourth round matchup at Wimbledon and the first in six years?   We`ll see.

2015 Williams Watch-On To Wimbledon`s Second Round

My fave tennis playing siblings got off to a great start on the opening day of `Williams`-don. 

Shouldn't be a surprise because the All England Club has been their personal playground throughout their careers, and yesterday was a welcome sign to those of us who love Venus and Serena Williams that their dominance at that hallowed tennis venue would continue.

Sixteenth seeded Venus got off to a wonderful start in this 2015 edition of Wimbledon with a 6-0, 6-0 straight set victory over fellow American Madison Brengle to punch her ticket to the second round.

World number one ranked and top seed Serena also won her opening match in straight sets over Russia`s Margarita Gasparayan 6-4, 6-1 to get her quest for her first Wimbledon title since 2012 off to a satisfying start.

If Serena continues through to claim the Venus Rosewater Dish, it would be her sixth 'Williams'-don crown, her third straight Grand Slam title this year and fourth consecutive one since winning the 2014 US Open.  It would also put her in position to win a calendar year Grand Slam.

But there`s still two weeks of tennis to play before we get to that point.

2015 Williams Watch- Welcome To 'Williams'-don

It's the start of the third Grand Slam of the 2015 tennis season in London, known to the world as The Championships, but what I call on these electronic pages 'Williams'-don.

It will run from today until July 12, and the start of it was delayed a week to give players time to adjust to grass from the clay surfaces of Roland Garros.

The All England Club has been such a personal playground for both Venus and Serena they have won a combined ten Ladies Singles titles, five Ladies doubles titles and the 2012 London Games singles and doubles gold medals on those hallowed grass surface courts that seem to be tailor made for their power tennis games.

But the last time world number one Serena took the Venus Rosewater Dish home was in 2012, and Venus' last win was in 2008.  

You can bet both sisters wish to change that dynamic.  Serena lost last year in a third round three set   upset loss to Aliza Cornet, and in 2013 lost a three set battle in the fourth round to runner up Sabine Lisicki.

Venus is hoping that she can get back to playing the consistent tennis she needs to play to make a deep run in a Grand final again.

We will find out as the Wimbledon fortnight progresses.

2015 Williams Watch-Number 20 And Counting!

Serena Williams run to this third French Open title was a bumpy one at times.   She had several three set matches in which she dropped the first set against formidable opponents like Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens but roared back to win.   She battled the flu in her semifinal round match with Timea Bacsisczky but came back to win in three sets.

She was so ill that she couldn't even train yesterday, but there she was on Court Philippe Chatrier for the 2015 French Open final against the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova.

It started in dominating fashion with Serena taking the first set 6-3.   She was cruising at 4-1 in the second set and serving for a 5-1 lead when in her words in the post match interview 'she choked'.

Williams stopped playing her A++ game as Lucie Safarova seized the early Christmas gift to get back into the set and win it in a tiebreaker. 6-7 (2-7) to even the match.

A pissed off Serena, upset that she blew her opportunity to close it out in straight sets, fell into an 0-2 hole in the third set before she kicked up her game another level that Safarova tried to match but couldn't.   Williams won the next six games to take the match 6-2 and hold the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for the third time.

It was Serena's 20th Grand Slam title, tying her with Steffi Graf, her third straight Grand Slam win since the 2014 US Open, her third French Open title and first since 2013.

And how apropos at the conclusion of this successful business trip to Paris, she's hoisting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen on D-Day..

And oh yeah,Serena haters. she's halfway to a calendar year Grand Slam.    The next Grand Slam is across the Channel at the All England Lawn Tennis And Croquet Club starting June 29, which has been her and Big Sis' personal playground throughout her career..

See y'all at 'Williams'-don..

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-The French Open Starts

The second major of the 2015 international tennis calendar is here in the French Open. It started on May 23 and will run until June 7, and is being contested on the clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris.

Once again my fave tennis playing siblings are in France to handle their tennis business.  

Serena came in holding the world number one ranking and the number one seeding.  She came to Roland Garros looking for her third French Open title,  her 20th overall and keep a calendar year Grand Slam alive, but was battling an elbow injury.

Meanwhile big sis Venus was seeded 17th and facing a tough opening round match with Sloane Stephens. Venus' tournament stay was unfortunately a short one as she was ousted in the first round by Stephens 6-7 (5-7) 1-6.

As most people in the tennis world know, clay is not one of Serena's fave surfaces, and if you ant to knock her out of a tournament, you have to catch her early in the first week of a tourney before she gets on one of those rolls that ends with her waving to the crowd and holding up another championship trophy.

Meanwhile Little Sis got her opening week at Roland Garros off to a good start with a straight set 6-2, 6-3 win over Andrea Hlavackova.   

But her second round match with Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam was a little more difficult.   She dropped the first set 5-7, but roared back to take the second and third sets 6-3, 6-3  to move on to a third round battle with Victoria Azarenka

Azarenka took advantage of another slow start out of the gate by Serena to take the first set 3-6..  Azarenka was up 4-2 in the second set until Serena woke up and took the next four games to take the second set 6-4 to even the match.  A pissed off Azarenka jumped out to a 0-2 lead in the third, but Serena raised her game another level, took the next five games to put herself firmly in control and sen Azarenka packing with a 6-3 third set win and punch her fourth round ticket.

Serena's fourth round opponent is the same Sloane Stephens who knocked her big sis out of this tournament tomorrow, with a quarterfinal berth on the line 

Winner gets the winner of the Sara Errani-Julia Gorges match.

TransGriot Update.  Serena knocked off Sloane Stephens 1-6, 7-5, 6-3  and will face Sara Errani in the French Open quarterfinals.

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-Serena Goes For The US Open Threepeat

Number one seeded Serena Williams has been all business and brutally efficient in this march to the 2014 US Open final.  

Taylor Townsend went down 6-3, 6-1 in 55 minutes in the opening round..  Her 6-0, 6-1 second round demolition of Vania King took just 56 minutes. The third round 6-3, 6-3 straight set win over Varvara Lepchenko took an hour and 35 minutes.  The fourth round 6-3, 6-3 win over Kaia Kanepi took 65 minutes.  Sending Flavia Pennetta to the US Open sidelines 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals also took 65 minutes, but ironically the first set took 29 minutes despite Serena being down 0-3.

And Ekaterina Makarova, who knocked out two time US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka, was no match for Little Sis, who took an hour to steamroll her 6-1, 6-3.

And now Serena goes for her 18th Grand Slam title against Caroline Wozniacki, who should be quaking in her tennis shoes after she pulled this stunt in 2012.  Serena is also 8-1 lifetime against her.

The media may be trying to push this 'Serena and Caroline are friends' storyline, but if y'all think the African-American community (or Serena) forgot how she was dissed by Wozniacki in Brazil, I have some Louisiana waterfront property to sell you along I-10 in the Atchafalaya Swamp. 

This match should be fun to watch.   If Serena is playing her dominant A+ game at Arthur Ashe Stadium, she should win her third straight US Open title and finally tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova at 18 on the all time majors win list.

Go get her Little Sis.

TransGriot Update:  6-3, 6-3  The threepeat is complete..

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-Out Of The Wimbledon Ladies Singles

It's the third round of Wimbledon, and up until this point my tennis playing sibling were looking good headed into this weekend's play at the All England club.  

Serena had destroyed Chanelle Scheepers in an astounding 49 minutes (that's not a typo)in the second round  and the number one seed was highly favored to move into the fourth round against 25th seeded Alize Cornet of France.

But after taking only 29 minutes to win the first set 6-1, a rain delay on Court No 1 ensued.   When play resumed, the Serena that has been destroying people inexplicably disappeared and shockingly lost the next two sets to Cornet 3-6, 4-6 to find herself on the Wimbledon sidelines for the second year in a row. 

And yeah, as you probably guessed, out comes the predictable Internet peanut gallery racist and transmisogynistic commentary after Serena lost.

Big Sis had a tougher third round match with former Wimbledon champ and sixth seeded Petra Kvitova. 

Venus had been playing well, but exited the singles tournament with a three set 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 5-7 third round loss.  But she made Kvitova work to eliminate her.  

The Williams sisters are still not done in the Wimbledon doubles tournament.   The eighth seeded siblings have a second round doubles match coming against Kristina Barrois and Stefanie Voegele