I got a kick out of Serena Williams' most recent blog posting. It seems she is none too pleased about the locker room food restrictions.
You would think there have to be more important issues to blog about as Wimbledon begins.
By Mike McIntyre
Tennis fans in Dubai were treated to a blockbuster Thursday night to kick off
their weekends with both Williams sisters in action on Stadium Court. Earlier
in the day Kaia Kanepi continued her recent winning streak by defeating
qualifier Elena Visnina 6-3, 7-5 and Virginie Razzano knocked off number five
seed Vera Zvonareva 7-6(7), 7-5. This was just a warm-up for the two main
events that would follow. The court was packed for the first time all
tournament to get a glimpse of the Williams sisters back to back. Most were
hoping for an all-Williams semi-final to emerge and they would not be disappointed.
In the first match Venus Williams defeated Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-3 with
relative ease. She was never in trouble against the Russian despite the fact
that Dementieva had never lost in Dubai and has been on fire so far in 2009
with a 21-2 record coming into the match. Dementieva seemed unprepared for the
power that Venus unleashed on her throughout both sets. In the first set
especially there was never any doubt of the outcome as Venus finished if off in
a quick 31 minutes. While Dementieva is having a terrific year thus far, and
her serve is much improved from the last time I saw her play, she could not
match the powerful groundstroke’s that Venus launched at her all night long.
The second set began much closer and after 31 minutes this time the score was
tied at 3-3. Dementieva's errors decreased and the rallies lengthened.
The quality of the match was reflected in the buzz of the crowd who cheered
equally for both players. Serving at 3-3 Dementieva's serve would let her down
however with two double faults to give Williams the crucial break. She would
lose the match 6-3, 6-3 and fail to advance to defend her title from a year
ago.
Dementieva was noticeably upset in the post match press conference after having
her Dubai streak come to an end. Speaking about the reason for the loss she
said,
"I just feel like I did too many mistakes. I was missing every single return;
it's really hard to play like that. I was not aggressive enough today."
Venus was asked about what she might have to look out for if playing Ivanovic
or her sister the next day and replied,
"I'm gonna go out there and play my game to the best of my ability that's
pretty much what I do every time."
The next match was slightly closer than the first, yet Serena was never truly
troubled by Serbia's Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic brought a more varied approach
against Serena then Dementieva tried against Venus in the previous match. She
came to net from time to time although this tactic received mixed results and
often Serena was able to blast the ball right through her it seemed. One thing
that impressed me about Ivanovic was that she never seemed to get frustrated on
court no matter what the score was. That calm composure under pressure is
something that many of the players on the WTA tour seem to be lacking.
Serena won the first set 6-4 in 40 minutes and then seemed to take a mental
break from the match to start the second set. She went down an early break and
I noticed that she stopped shrieking when she hit the ball which signaled a
lack of aggression. It was as if she was a completely different player. This
lethargic behavior did not last long though, and she broke back quickly enough.
At 4-4 Serena stepped it up and ripped a couple of returns on Ivanovic's serve
that the Serb could not handle. She would move on 6-4, 6-4. It really came down
to too much power for Ivanovic to handle.
In the post match press conference Ivanovic was all smiles and did not seem
bothered at all by the fact she was out of the tournament. This approach was in
stark contrast with Dementieva's dejection, and showed me that perhaps Ivanovic
never really expected to beat Serena.
For her part, Serena exuded confidence in every statement she made afterwards.
When asked about Ivanovic's approach to the match and frequent trips to the net
she said,
"I think she hit really, really hard and I think that was her whole game
was to go for broke. I like when people come to the net against me, I really
do, next time I'll play her I'll know what to expect more and I'll look forward
to her coming to the net a lot."
Although both Venus and Serena played similar power games on the court, their
responses on the Shahar Peer/Andy Ram visa situation were quite different. It
had just been announced earlier in the day that Ram had secured a visa and
would be competing in the ATP doubles tournament here next week.
Venus took a distanced approach from the issue when she said,
"I think it's great because we're here just as athletes, we have no
platform, we just play tennis and we're entertainers and that's it."
I was surprised that she felt as athletes, or entertainers as she put it, they
had no platform. Who apart from them has a better platform to speak out about
this issue? Fans across the globe will be far more inclined to listen when
Venus Williams speaks on the issue rather than tour Chief Larry Scott.
Serena was more passionate in her response and stated,
"I think due to the press and the WTA talking about it and talking with
the tournament, and the pressure they felt after Shahar Peer not getting the
visa opened the opportunity for this other player (Ram) to get a visa. Because
we didn't sit down and just say, "oh it's ok", we kind of stepped up
to it and opened the doors for someone else which I think is great. Obviously
I'm not for discrimination, clearly...I think that in the day and age like this
everyone bleeds red blood and everyone is at equal opportunities."
Tennis continues Friday with the Kanepi/Razzano semi-final in the morning and
the much anticipated all-Williams sisters clash in the evening. The winner of
that night match will be heavily favored to defeat either of the two giant-killers
from the daytime session. I'd have to give Venus the edge in the night match as
she seems to be the fresher of the two and has been more mentally solid so far
this week. Although the sisters seem to be trading wins lately against each
other, so perhaps Serena is due for a victory tonight.
From The Hindu: Serena excited about coming to India
Q: What were your expectations for the Australian Open in the beginning of the year? A: To be frank, I wanted to go out there and try my best. Every tournament I enter, I try and win every match.
Q: How are your fitness levels now when compared to last year? Are you feeling 100 per cent fit for the 2007 season? A: Yeah! I'm in good shape but can get in better shape and am feeling extremely confident heading into the '07 season. ..
And now we can't complain that her Hollywood hobby is distracting her for tennis:-)
From the AP: Tennis star Williams to voice animated queen
The Australian Open tennis champion has lent her voice to an episode of the animated children's show "Loonatics Unleashed," airing Feb. 17 on The CW network.
Williams voices Queen Athena, who presides over an island colony of beautiful, powerful women with devious plans for the planet and its men.
From The New York Times: After Times of Grief and Doubt, a Tennis Ace is Hungry Again
...Williams had not often made the most of her talent of late. “I can definitely see how some people might have said, ‘What happened to Serena Williams?’ ” she said during an interview with a small group of reporters.
“But I think some of it was that I was dealing with a lot of stuff, and I was just trying to figure out my game and trying to figure out what I wanted to do and make it work. All I wanted to do was be the best tennis player, and at the same time I wanted to be really happy and do what made me happy. The thing that makes me happiest is playing tennis. I love winning.”
That was amazing - just amazing.
From the AP: Serena Williams overpowers Sharapova for title
Serena Williams won her eighth and most improbable Grand Slam title, overwhelming top-seeded Maria Sharapova, 6-1, 6-2, in the Australian Open on Saturday...
Continue reading "Serena Williams: Australian Open Champion 2007" »
From The Herald Sun: Williams KOs Peer and critics
FLAKY. Fat. Finished. There's no end to the F words used to describe Serena Williams in recent times.
Williams hit back yesterday, defeating rising Israeli star Shahar Peer in the Australian Open quarter-finals and whacking her critics.
"When you're down, sometimes people like to kick you," Williams said after the match.
"Does it make them feel good when it makes me feel bad? I guess it does...
From The Herald Sun: Serena gets hunger back
PRINCESS Mary walking the baby, yachties down at the dock and the odd touring cricket legend out at windy Bellerive Oval.
That's about as big as it gets in Hobart. Until Serena Williams decided to play in town this month.
It was big news: Williams' first outing since September's US Open. However it was still like a travelling circus had hit town. No one was taking the tennis seriously.
Williams won the first two rounds, but did little to instil confidence.
From The Sydney Morning Herald: Modest? When you're this good?
IF you asked Serena Williams about modesty she would probably tell you that she is really good at it.
Among the many revealing facts listed about the American in the WTA players' guide is that she is "self-described as very humorous with a great personality".
Which you might have thought was someone from the tour media department taking the mickey until Williams was asked after her match yesterday about the comparatively poor state of American women's tennis.
"US women's tennis is struggling a little bit, I guess," she allowed. "But we have a couple solid players, namely Venus Williams and Serena Williams, and those two players are amazing. I think the best you guys have yet to see."...
From The Herald Sun: Serena Williams defies critics
SERENA Williams had intended to get a manicure on Thursday afternoon, but slotted one last practice session into her diary instead.
For so long, Williams has been criticised for putting fashion ahead of old-fashioned fight. It was time to make statement.
And it was delivered brutally in Rod Laver Arena yesterday as Williams rediscovered some grunt to dispose of No. 5 seed Nadia Petrova 1-6 7-5 6-3.
