While Maria Sharapova, who went into the event unseeded, managed to make it to the next round, big names like top-seeded defending champion Dinara Safina, second-seeded Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova were sent packing.

image: Zuma Press

Safina lost her match against qualifier Kai-Chen Chang (pictured celebrating above) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5 which lasted 2 hours and 44 minutes.  Wow!

Meanwhile, Williams couldn’t get past yet another qualifier, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and lost 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 in just under two hours.

A third qualifier, Andrea Petkovic, took down fifth-seeded Kuznetsova 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Wow.  What a day!  It will be interesting to see who emerges from the event with the title!

Post from: EveryJoe

Major Upsets at the 2009 Tokyo Open

While no announcement has been officially made, Serena did mention the deal last week during the Rogers Cup: “there have been preliminary talks, and hopefully it’ll work out.  That would be a great opportunity for both of us. You never know. We’ll see what happens.  There’s always so many opportunities out there, and Venus and I are always trying to expand our brand and do the best that we can do, and if an opportunity presents itself, we would love to see where it can take us.  Who knows what’s going to happen, but hopefully we’ll be able to hopefully continue to expand our brand.”

image: Zuma Press

The ladies like just about an hour away from the Dolphin’s stadium and join Jimmy Buffet, Marc Anthony and Gloria and Emilio Estefan, in their partnership with the team’s new owner, Stephen Ross.

A Dolphins spokesman had no comment regarding the involvement of the Williams sisters so I think that’s a good sign that this is true.

Post from: EveryJoe

Williams Sisters Co-Own Miami Dolphins

Venus took on Italy’s Flavia Pennetta and she made 38 unforced errors and just looked wild.  She kept dumping balls into the net and ended up losing 7-6 (2), 6-4.

image: Zuma Press

If you thought that was bad, you’ll be shocked to learn that Serena actually fared worse.  On the very same court just hours later, a second Williams sister was eliminated after making 44 unforced errors and ended up losing to Austria’s Sybille Bammer with a final score of 7-5. 6-4.

Both ladies, who are normally pretty reserved, had some things to say about their losses.

“I wasn’t able to get control of my ball today,” Venus said. “After a while, it was obvious to see she was just keeping the ball in play and waiting for me to self-destruct.”

“I saw her after the match, and she just said she had made a lot of errors,” Serena said. “I was like, ‘Wow.’ I didn’t think I would do the same thing… I never played worse in my life.  It was really a bad match.  We don’t lose too much in the same day, so usually I’m so pumped.  And I was pumped today. I just couldn’t get it together.  I just hope I don’t have another day like this for another several years.”

Yeah, I hope so too, Serena…

Post from: EveryJoe

Both Williams Sisters Lose in Cincinnati

Things weren’t as smooth for top-seeded Dinara Safina who seemed to struggle to get control over her game early in the match against unseeded Roberta Vinci.  I don’t know if this had anything to do with the cut to the left hand that Safina suffered opening a coconut last week in Los Angeles but she was uncharacteristically sloppy.  Eventually, she was able to rally and pull off a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 win.

image: Zuma Press

“It was just a day when everything was going all over the place, except for the tennis court,” Safina said. “He’s like, ‘You realize you can put the ball inside (the lines).’ I said, ‘Yes, that’s what I’m realizing.’  He said, ‘Don’t do anything. Just go deep through the court and let her do something.’ I guess she was not ready to beat me.”

Other results:

• Svetlana Kuznetsova outlasted Lucia Safarova 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4).
• Agnieszka Radwanska advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Ai Sugiyama
• Flavia Pennetta moved on with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ayumi Morita
• Yanina Wickmayer upset Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4
• Alona Bondarenko upset Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-3
• Shuai Peng advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Dominika Cibulkova
• Agnes Szavay beat Urszula Radwanska 7-5, 7-5
• Sorana Cirstea eliminated wild-card Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 7-5
• Daniela Hantuchova outlasted Sara Errani 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
• Maria Jose Martina Sanchez beat Vera Dushevina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
• Alisa Kleybanova topped Aravane Rezai 6-3, 6-3
• Sybille Bammer beat Jie Zheng 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
• Maria Kirilenko defeated Yaroslava Shvedova 6-4, 6-1

Post from: EveryJoe

Safina, Williams Advance at Cincinnati

image: Zuma Press

Venus is no stranger to victory in Stanford.  She captured the title at this event in both 2000 and 2002 and was the runner-up in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2005.  It’s very possible that she could win this title again.

She and Bartoli do not have a long history but it’s still meaningful – they have played against each other just once before during the 2007 Wimbledon final with Venus winning 6-4, 6-1.  I’m sure Venus would love a repeat of her success while Bartoli is probably dreading it.

The winner at Stanford will go home with $107,000.

Post from: EveryJoe

Venus Williams Advances, Serena Ousted

Tennis great, Venus Williams, tried EA Sports’ Grand Slam Tennis (as herself, I’d presume!) and she had a lot of things to say about how different it was to play on the Nintendo Wii.

“I was pressing buttons to hit the ball when I first played the game because it’s hard to let go of that mentality. But you then realize motion control is better for tennis games” Williams said.  “Holding the controller like a racket and swinging feels good to me.  It’s a lot more realistic… I think it’s important kids are very physical with this game and are moving around, because these days kids can’t go outside without adults watching them. And hopefully the game will pique their interest in the real sport of tennis, too.”

image: EA Sports

Post from: EveryJoe

Venus Williams Praises “Realistic” Wii

The ESPY Awards will be hosted by Samuel Jackson and is scheduled to air Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 9pm on ESPN.

Here are a couple pictures of Venus (left) and Serena.  They look so different when they are all glammed up.  They’re gorgeous!

images: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

Williams Sisters At 2009 ESPY Awards

image: TSN

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!

Post from: EveryJoe

Williams Sisters Win Doubles at Wimbledon

image: Zuma Press

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.

image: TSN

“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!

Post from: EveryJoe

Serena Beats Venus, Wins Wimbledon

image: Zuma Press

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!

Post from: EveryJoe

Venus vs. Serena at Wimbledon Finals