Sisters Serena and Venus Williams are not playing in Indian Wells, although fans would love to see them there! So, why aren’t they? If you follow tennis at all, then most likely you know. It’s a decision they have made together and they are standing by each other on this one, even if there are consequences.

The details of what happened are definitely a bit sketchy. No one seems to have the real story.

Since 2001, the details surrounding Venus and Serena’s choice to not play Indian Wells have been a bit sketchy. Reports have alleged that they, along with their father Richard, were victims of racial discrimination from hecklers in the crowd, after Venus pulled out of her semi-final match against Serena, just prior to stepping onto the court.

Heckling and general bad-mouthing from the crowd continued when Serena accepted the winner’s trophy. Eight years later, the sisters are still united in their stance to not play Indian Wells ever again. Whether you agree or disagree with their decision, you can’t help but respect their unwavering commitment to their values.

 

I don’t blame them and am glad to see them stand together for something they believe in. There may be some consequences for the sisters this year.

The WTA has put new regulations in place this year and it gets very, very interesting. Read what those regulations are and what options Serena and Venus may have here.

Any thoughts on this?

Image Credit: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Why Are Serena and Venus Not at Indian Wells?

Serena Williams proudly hold up the trophy from the Billie Jean King Cup tournament in her “blue dress”, as she calls it.

On Monday night, World No. 1 Serena defeated her older sister Venus Williams in a 6-4, 6-3 victory. This was Serena’s first tournament at Madison Square Garden.

“Definitely winning in Madison Square Garden, also with Billie Jean and this Cup is just really fun and it being the first time is really cool,” said Serena.

How much did she get to take home from this win? How does a cool $400,000 sound!

Pictures, video and more below.

The Williams sisters were the biggest attraction for the crowd and they gave them what they wanted to see. A great match.

The sisters were tied at 4 in the championship when they engaged in easily the longest game of the night. After nine deuces, Venus dumped a backhand into the net on Serena’s eighth break point of the game. Serena then held to take the first set and opened the second with another break as a weary Venus struggled with her serve.

“I just would’ve loved to have held there,” Venus said of the critical stretch in the first set. “That’s tennis—you can’t get broke that much. Too many breaks today.”

 

What a weekend it was! Wish I could have been there to experience it all first-hand. Videos and photos from the weekend below.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Serena Williams Takes Home the King’s Cup

Serena started off the match great, had the early break, but couldn’t stave off Venus’ rally. Venus saved multiple break points on her serve and then turns around and broke Serena to win the first set 7-5.

The second set went Venus’ way as well at 6-4, but it was so very competitive for the first eight or nine games. Serena actually broke Venus in the early going, but Venus broke little sis right back.

I believe it was somewhere around 4-4 that I noticed Serena had stopped grunting with every point. The noise levels were definitely lop-sided and it was all coming from Venus’ side. As soon as I noticed that, I knew Serena was done. I don’t think she wanted it any less, she just wasn’t good enough on a day that Venus wanted it more.

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Venus Wins Number Five at Wimbledon!

This is five years later, however, and both of the Williams’ are playing at about the same level.

Venus ousted fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6(7-3), and Serena dispatched surprise semifinalist Jie Zheng 6-2, 7-6(7-5). Anyone else notice the almost identical scores from the two matches? And neither sister has dropped a set en route to this final.

Both players have big serves. While I think Venus falls slightly behind Serena in the power category, she more than makes up for it with her height-induced range. Serena does hold an 8-7 career advantage but that statistic should be voided considering how long it has been since they’ve faced each other competitively. At the same time, just because it’s been years since they’ve been on the big stage together, it doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten a thing about the other’s game.

How disconcerting would that be? Knowing when you step on the court, the person who knows the most about your game outside of yourself is on the other side of the net. There are no tricks, secret shots or special formulas to whip out at a critical moment because they don’t exist in a match where the opponent already knows everything.

But – even though I’ve spent the last two paragraphs hyping up this match – I don’t think it will be amazing. I hope I’m wrong. I’m begging the tennis gods that I’m wrong, because there’s nothing better than a knock-down fight at a Grand Slam final. These are the Williams sisters though. Maybe it’s like having a double negative: too much firepower on one court really does cancel the other one out and leaves the crowd with a dud of a match.

Post from: EveryJoe

Williams’ Wimbledon: Third Time Charm for Venus?

Elena Dementieva, the highest remaining seed at number five, managed to come through a tough quarterfinal match to set up a meeting with Venus in the semis. Dementieva blew Nadia Petrova away with a 6-1 first set, but Petrova bounced back and won a tiebreak second set. The swing set went to Dementieva with two breaks at 6-3.

On the other half of the draw, Jie Zheng is already up a set on Nicole Vaidisova, winning it 6-2. You know, the further Zheng moves in the tournament, the better it makes Ana Ivanovic’s loss to her look. Don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t justify it or make it ok. It’s just that when you start out with something so horrible as the beating Ivanovic took from a relative no-name, it doesn’t take a whole lot to make it look a little better.

Agnieszka Radwanska or Serena Williams in the bottom quarter?

Post from: EveryJoe

Final Four: Women’s Field at Wimbledon

Holy whoa! What have we got going on Court 11?! Fernando Verdasco and Mario Ancic are in an old-fashioned brawl. Verdasco won the first two sets 6-3, 6-4, but Ancic counter-punched by winning the next two sets 6-4, 6-3. Neither one is giving way in the fifth set; they’re deadlocked at 9-all. Man, I wish I was there.

How ’bout my girl Jelena? Yeah. Le sigh. Jelena Jankovic didn’t do much of anything in a piddly, po-dunk match against Tamarine Tanasugarn. T-squared gave the second-ranked Serb the boot 6-3, 6-2. I may end up having two today, but early morning Slacker of the Day honors have to go to JJ.

Both Serena and Venus Williams moved into the quarters with ease and the path to an all-Williams’ final is looking pretty sweet for the duo. Gosh, it’ll be like rolling back the clock a few years.

And Nicole Vaidisova, not at all known for her mental strength, came from a set down to move past Anna Chakvetadze for a quarterfinal berth.

The round of 16 – so very exciting – so very many matches and so very much drama!

Post from: EveryJoe

Jankovic Ousted, Federer Coasts

- Rafael Nadal is rolling. Rolling! Three sets later, Nicolas Kiefer is no more. I’ve never seen Rafa look so dangerous on grass. Anyone in his way is in for a serious fight if they want to move past him.

- I get such a kick out of watching Mikhail Youzhny on court. The man is just spastic or something. Whatever he is, he’s still finding a way to win. A see-saw five-setter with Radek Stepanek was more than enough to send Youzhny into his usual antics, and he just managed to come out on top (7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3).

- The Brits still have hope in the round of 16? Why, yes they do! Andy Murray dropped a set against Tommy Haas but powered his way through the final two sets to ink in an appointment with Richard Gasquet.

- Venus Williams allowed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez to work her way back into the second set, but Williams still moved on in straight sets (6-1, 7-5) to continue her march to defend her 2007 Wimbledon title.

- There was no tricks left in Dinara Safina’s wonder bag against Shahar Peer. Safina scrambled and gutsied her way back into the match to win the second set in a tiebreak after losing the first set 5-7. Safina didn’t have enough in the tank though and Peer won the deciding set at 8-6.

- Even though Safina lost, I can’t saddle her with Slacker of the Day dishonors. No one really stood out with a really poor performance so for the lack of a superstar, today we’re picking on Paul-Henri Mathieu. The 14th seed won the first set in a tiebreak but couldn’t carry the momentum any further, and Marin Cilic strung the next three sets together for the victory. Mathieu: I bid you adieu and bestow Slacker of the Day cords about your neck.

Post from: EveryJoe

Venus, Rafa and Murray into Round of 16

Venus Williams made the first step in defending her title (I’d forgotten she won last year. Which may not be surprising considering the number of Wimblys she’s won and her somewhat streaky nature.), and squeaked out a close first set against British hopeful Naomi Cavaday at 7-6 before dominating a 6-1 second set.

Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova both turned in convincing performances in the first round to move on, and Dinara Safina won her first set in a tiebreak before ousting Yung-Jan Chan with a 6-2 second set.

The expected names from the men’s side (except for our Slacker of the Day) moved on; Richard Gasquet, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and James Blake are all into the second round as well.

And tomorrow – who’s going to be our slacker of Wimbledon: Day 3?

Post from: EveryJoe

Davydenko Hasta la Pasta; Jankovic, Venus Move On

Roger Federer sailed through the first round in straight sets (6-3, 6-2, 6-2) over Dominik Hrbaty and will be squaring off against Robin Soderling in the second round. The experts say that’s a potential upset, but Soderling took four sets to win his first match – including a bagel performance in the second set against Kevin Kim of the United States before ripping off the third and fourth sets for the victory.

Good news for Roger – and any one else who would have been in his way – Gael Monfils withdrew from competition earlier today due to an inflamed right shoulder.

Lleyton Hewitt also just dropped his first set to Robin Haase in a tiebreak. If Hewitt moves through, the possibility for a meeting with Federer exists but the Aussie’s start isn’t the most superb.

Despite a slow start, Serena Williams won her first round match 7-5, 6-3 Kaia Kanepi. Williams will take on Urszula Radwanska in the second round.

World number one Ana Ivanovic (it sounds so weird to call her top dog!) had no trouble in her opening match and will face Nathalie Dechy in the second.

Svetlana Kuznetsova just choked big time. In her first set of the day against Mathilde Johansson, Kuznetsova had a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak. She should have been able to close it out, but Johansson reeled off the next five points to win the first set 7-6 and take a one-set lead. *Shakes head*

It’s during times like these I wish I had access to the internet so I could watch live scores…or I could just take off work for two weeks :)

(Image: Newscom)
Serena Williams got off to a slow start, but she’s still around at Wimbledon after winning in the first round.

Post from: EveryJoe

Wimbledon, Baby!

Steve Tignor has Venus Williams picked to win the women’s title and Rafael Nadal on the men’s. The picked semifinalists for the women are Ana Ivanovic defeating Serena Williams and Venus defeating Maria Sharapova. For the men, Tignor picked Roger Federer to defeat Novak Djokovic and Rafa to defeat Andy Roddick.

I haven’t done an in-depth analysis of the draws yet. That’s the bad part of Wimbledon being in the summer. It’s also wedding season which is what I’ve been doing tonight, celebrating the death of two people’s independence :) But I can see where Tignor pulled his picks from. Betting against Venus at Wimbledon is a dangerous thing, and I’m not so certain Ana Ivanovic is at the point in her career to pull of back-to-back slams. I do think Jelena Jankovic deserves a little more respect. I don’t care what surface it is, she’s going to be in the middle of it.

On the men’s side? Everyone has the same question in mind: is the King about to give up his crown? I don’t have the answer to that. I don’t know if I’m scared of the answer or if I just really don’t know. But what everyone has been saying is true: if he’s going to lose Wimbledon then this is a prime year for it to happen.

Roddick in the semis? Remember when he was on the verge of being the next big thing? That was five years ago, and he’s never managed to slip off that cusp of greatness. He’s not even there anymore really, but we’ll see if he has what it takes to get back to the semis. I don’t think it’s happening, nope, not happening.

Your picks? Matches you’re looking forward to? Sound off below!

Post from: EveryJoe

The Wimbledon Draws