Kayne West is digging tennis right now. He’s said that it’s his “new thing.” So much so that he approached Serena Williams on Sunday to give a few strong hints that perhaps she should teach him a thing or two about the game.

He caught up with Serena at London’s Paramount club and congratulated her on the beating sisters Venus in the final. That’s when he suggested that he’d like to get a few lessons from her. Or maybe he was just being nice? Or that he kinda digs her? Who knows, but if he IS serious about learning the game of tennis, why not do it from the best?

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Serena Williams won the women’s singles championship at Wimbledon and her sister, Venus Williams, was her runner up but the ladies were not content to let their winning streak end there.  Yesterday, the two paired up to take the top prize in the women’s doubles final.

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The American tennis stars beat Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (4), 6-4 to clinch their fourth Wimbledon title together.  “There’s nothing like winning a title with your sister,” said Serena. “It’s really a good feeling. I’m really excited to have doubles titles.  I rack ‘em up.”

“One out of two’s not bad,” Venus said. “I really wanted to win the singles, but they’re two separate events. If I won the singles and not the doubles, it’s still not the same.  I wanted my name on the trophy so one out of two’s not bad.”

I know that some people might complain about the domination of the Williams sisters but I think it brings excitement to the sport.   Congratulations on all your success at Wimbledon this weekend, Venus and Serena!

For the eighth time in 10 years, one of the Williams sisters has been named the women’s Wimbledon champion.  At the All England Club today, Serena Williams beat Venus Williams 7-6 (3), 6-2 and won her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam championship.

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I’m sure it’s strange to play against each other (and even difficult since they are both so skilled and competitive) but I’m also sure that it felt great for Serena to beat her big sister in the fourth all-Williams final.

Venus could have become the first woman to win the tournament for three years in a row since the 1991-1993 winning streak of Steffi Graf.  This is Serena’s third win in London and her first in six years.  After falling to her knees in celebration, Serena hugged her sister at the net.

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“It feels so amazing,” she said. “I feel so blessed. I feel like I shouldn’t be holding the trophy. It’s named for Venus and she always wins.”

Congratulations, Serena!

It will be a one-two finish for the Williams sisters as Venus Williams and Serena Williams square off in the ladies final at Wimbledon for the fourth time on Saturday.  It feels like a repeat of last years finals.  Venus won 7-5, 6-4 so I’m wondering if kid sister, Serena, will top her this year.

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Venus took down Dinara Safina in a predictable semifinal match. Venus Williams has won 35 straight sets for an incredible record – she hasn’t lost on Centre Court since 2004.  That’s unbelievable!  Meanwhile, 23-year-old Safina incurred 16 unforced errors in the lopsided 6-1, 6-0 loss. At least it was over quickly – Venus destroyed the world No.1 in just 51 minutes!

The battle between Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva was a lot more interesting.  While the pair traded breaks in the first couple games and then went head-to-head for the rest of the thrilling match.  Right down to the final set, the intensity was incredible and it looked like Dementieva might take it after Williams double faulted but in the end, Williams walked away with a 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 8-6 victory over the Olympic gold medalist.

The Williams sisters, who will meet for the 21st time, have dominated the finals at Wimbledon for seven of the last nine years.  I’m sure it will be an amazing match!

The four top-seeded women have made the semifinals at Wimbledon which will feature a Russian versus an American player in both matches.

Despite her dislike for playing on the grass, top-ranked Russian, Dinara Safina, beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1 on Centre Court which marks the first time she has advanced to the Wimbledon semifinal.

Safina was the runner-up at the French Open and the Australian Open and she played like a true champion on the hot day in London, although she did lose her cool at one point –she slammed her racquet down after committing her seventh double-fault.  Still, she managed to compose herself, regain her focus and beat Lisicki, who had to have her trainer ice her legs as she lay down on the court during the seventh set.

The Williams sisters have both made it to the semifinals which has led me to wonder if we are going to see a repeat of last year’s results with Venus winning over Serena in the finals.

Venus Williams easily secured her spot in the semifinals by beating Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 in just 68 minutes.  It’s not surprising considering the American’s incredible record.  She has won 33 straight sets at Wimbledon since 2007.  That’s almost inhuman!  She’s now 67-9 all-time on grass

Meanwhile, Serena Williams played a clean match against Belarusian Victoria Azarenka and walked away with a 6-2, 6-3 victory on Centre Court in 1 hour, 13 minutes.  This marks the sixth time that she has made it to the Wimbledon semifinal.  Serena is a two-time champion at the All England Club.  She battled her sister for both victories in 2002 and 2003.

Russia’s Elena Dementieva routed Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-2 on Court 1 in just 66 minutes.  It wasn’t the cleanest match for the reigning Olympic gold medalist who incurred nine double faults but she managed to finish strong with a victory.

The semifinals take place on Thursday, July 2, 2009 with the following pairings:

• Dinara Safina vs. Venus Williams (Venus is 2-1 in the three times they have met before)
• Serena Williams vs. Elena Dementieva (Elena is 3-1 in the four times they have met but Serena won their most recent battle at the Australian Open)

The women’s semifinals are definitely going to be interesting.

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Star tennis player, Serena Williams, was honored at last night’s BET Awards where she was named “Best Female Athlete.”  She wasn’t on hand to accept the award, of course, since she’s currently competing (and doing very well!) at Wimbledon.

Congratulations, Serena!  You deserve it!

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Second-seeded Serena Williams has advance to the fourth round at Wimbledon after posting a straight victory over Italy’s Roberta Vinci at the All England Club.  She easily won the match 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 7 minutes.

Williams, who is a two-time Wimbledon champion, will go on to face Daniela Hantuchova (who beat Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-3 in 1 hour, 36 minutes) in the fourth round.  Williams has won six of the seven matchups with Hantuchova including two battles at Wimbledon in 2002 and 2007 (Williams won both times).

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Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Olympic gold medalist, Elena Dementieva also advanced to the fourth round after beating her her fellow Russian, Regina Kulikova 6-1, 6-2 in just 59 minutes.  It was Kulikova’s first-ever Grand Slam tournament.

Dementieva will go on to battle another Russian, Elena Vesnina.  If history repeats itself, Dementieva will take the match since she has beat Vesnina both times the women have met.

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For the second year in a row, former No. 1 Maria Sharapova was eliminated at Wimbledon in the second round.  The 22-year-old Russian star won the tournament in 2004 but hasn’t been able to recapture that magic since.

Indeed, Day 3 was unkind to Sharapova who was eliminated by Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on Centre Court in 2 hours, 13 minutes.  I’m sure Sharapova is beyond disappointed and frustrated with her performances recently (she’s lost three of her last five matches) but she was out with a shoulder injury for 10 months.  Maybe she just needs a little more time.

Meanwhile, former Wimbledon champ (2002 and 2003 and was runner-up to Sharapova’s 2004 victory), Serena Williams, sailed to an easy victory after punishing Australia’s Jarmila Groth 6-2, 6-1 in 58 minutes on Court 1 at the All England Club.  At least it was over quickly!

Some of the other results from the third day include Belarussian Victoria Azarenka’s 6-0, 6-0 victory over Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru.

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Roger Federer has added on to his record run of consecutive Grand Slam semis.  After beating Gael Monfils 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, 6-4 in a rematch of a semifinal played at the French Open last year, Federer affirmed that he would appear in his 20th straight major final four.

On Friday, second-seeded Federer will compete against fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.  The pair have a history that tips the scales in Federer’s favor – he beat del Potro at this year’s Australian Open quarters and in the second round at Wimbledon two years ago.

The other men’s semifinal match will feature a showdown between 12th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez and 23rd-seeded Robin Soderling (who eliminated four-time reigning French Open champion, Rafael Nadal, in a huge shocker earlier this week).

Meanwhile, things took another surprising turn on the women’s court.  Second-seeded Serena Williams was beat by the seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 7-5 on Court Lenglen.

It was an exciting back and forth match between the women and, for a little while, it looked like Williams was going to take it.  “In the third set I had an opportunity and I got really tight, and I pretty much gave it to her,” Williams said. “It was like, ‘Here, do you want to go to the semis? Because I don’t.’ She was like, ‘OK.”‘

Was it nerves?  “I don’t know,” Williams said. “I haven’t gotten tight since 2007 in Australia. Maybe I put some expectations on myself that I didn’t put on myself initially.”

Kuznetsova’s has advanced to the semifinals where she will face 30th-seeded Samantha Stosur, who will be competing in the Grand Slam semis for the first time.

In the other women’s semifinal, Dinara Safina will square off against Dominika Cibulkova.

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Aleksandra Wozniak, was living her dream as she defied odds and became the first Canadian woman to make it to the fourth round at Roland Garros in 17 years.  Unfortunately, she was eliminated today by second seeded American, Serena Williams, but at least she can say that she battled against one of the world’s best tennis players but, ultimately, lost 6-1, 6-2 in just 53 minutes.

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“You really want to win badly and there’s so many things going on,” said Wozniak. “It was my first time on Philippe Chatrier court. Emotions get involved and you just get tight and you can’t play really your game, so it’s tough.”

I can imagine that the 21-year-old’s nerves got the best of her but I hope she goes home to Blainville, Ontario with a deep sense of pride for what she accomplished personally and for her country.

Williams, on the other hand, has extended her Grand Slam winning streak to 18 matches and referred to the win as her “most focused match so far.”  In the pursuit of her 11th major title, Williams will next play seventh seeded Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won the 2004 U.S. Open.  “I feel like I have nothing to lose,” Williams said. “This is when everything counts, you know. I have to pick up my level and play again a really good, strong match, especially playing somebody like Svetlana who is a great clay-court player and who moves extremely well and doesn’t do anything bad.”