updated: Thu May 31 2012 13:37:00
Virginie Razzano tells CNN about her nail-biting win over Serena Williams at the French Open.
Czech Petra Kvitova began the defense of her Madrid Masters crown with a comfortable victory over New Zealand's Marina Erakovic.
Serena Williams is looking forward to the new clay season after scoring her first win on the surface in almost two years.
Serena Williams bemoaned the amount of unforced errors she made after suffering a quarterfinal defeat to fellow former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki at the Miami Masters.
Serena Williams avenged her 2011 U.S. Open final defeat to Samantha Stosur with a straight-sets win over the Australian sixth seed to reach the last eight of the WTA tournament in Miami Monday.
Serena Williams made a winning return from a left ankle injury by defeating Zhang Shuai in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
MELBOURNE, Australia -- For all those adjectives that seem to genuflect before Roger Federer, you seldom hear him described as "sentimental." Sentient? Yes. Sensational? Sure. But not "sentimental."
Unseeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova upset five-time champion Serena Williams of the United States 6-2 6-3 on Monday to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
For more than a year now, the tennis parlor game here has been trying to confirm the identity of the WTA's top player. The rankings give us little guidance. Nor does a list of the recent major singles title winners. The consensus: the Queen Bee is Serena Williams. Or at least she is when willing and able -- and fully committed. The combination of her physical gifts, ballstriking, fearlessness and self-confidence -- the ingredients that have enabled her to win 13 Grand Slam titles over a gilded career -- are still some of the most fearsome and feared weapons around.
Serena Williams breezed into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday dispatching Hungary's Greta Arn convincingly 6-1 6-1.
American tennis star Serena Williams recorded a landmark 500th career victory on Thursday when she beat the Czech Republic's Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-0 6-4 in the second round of the Australian Open.
Sixth seed and home favorite Samantha Stosur became the first high-profile casualty at the Australian Open on Tuesday, but five-time champion Serena Williams eased to victory on her return from injury.
Former world number one Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Brisbane International tournament in Australia after suffering an ankle injury in Wednesday's third-round victory over Bojana Jovanovski.
Serena Williams has revealed she is not in love with playing tennis, despite an impressive straight sets victory on her return to action at the Brisbane International tournament.
1. The Djoker got away ... from the rest of the field. We're a spoiled bunch, us tennis fans. First we get the unsurpassed play of Roger Federer. Then comes Rafael Nadal. And in 2011, a Third King arrives. In a thoroughly dominating year, Novak Djokovic won three Grand Slams, 10 titles overall, 70 matches (against six losses) and a record $12.6 million in prize money. The Serb also prevailed in 10 of 11 matches against the other two members of the Big Three, maybe his most impressive accomplishment. And he did it all while comporting himself like a pro. Adje, indeed.
For those tired of discussing Serena Williams -- and you're well within your rights to be -- skip this section. There was so much residual email, I didn't want to ignore it entirely, but I feel like we could all stand to move on.
Unpredictability is one of the great virtues of sports. Want scripted endings? You go to the theater. Want choreography? Go to the ballet. Then there are sports, the best reality TV going, virtually limitless in their capacity for surprise.
Serena Williams will face world number one Caroline Wozniacki for a place in the U.S Open final after both women recorded last eight victories in New York.
Simple question: Will the USTA ever build a roof? Along with 50,000 other people, I got rained out today and I'm not happy about it! -- Salil, Long Island, N.Y.
"Life is so precious," Serena says of her sister's Sjögren's syndrome diagnosis
A 'Bag before the Big Show. Check back Thursday for the U.S. Open seed reports, and don't forget our guide to attending the tournament in New York:
WIMBLEDON, England -- We've had an early casualty on Centre Court this year, a longtime fixture put to pasture on the grass. The seeds have survived -- some more easily than others. But you'll note that as players walk onto the court, they no longer bow and curtsy before the Royal Box. This tradition has been dying slowly over the past few years. It's now officially dead. The Duke of Kent, patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, requested an end to the practice, claiming it no longer fits in with the modern game. (This comes months after Buckingham Palace explicitly asserted that those meeting royalty should only bow or curtsey if they want to.) The Club relented. Bowing before Royalty is now voluntary.
updated: Sat Jun 18 2011 16:35:00
CNN's Ayesha Durgahee speaks to Serena Williams about recovering from a blood clot in her lungs.
Jon Wertheim breaks down the men's and women's seeds at Wimbledon. Read on for the top first-round matchups, dark horses, and his predicted winners.
updated: Fri Jun 17 2011 06:57:00
Venus Williams tells the WTA she is back and aiming to win and what it's like to have her sister Serena back.
We'll be back Friday with our seed report ...
I've always thought that one of the best things about American sport is that we aren't dominated by one team game, as so much of the rest of the world is soccer-centric. That's why we can have our own American dream. The dream of most other countries is simply to have their national soccer team do well.
The tennis star talks about how her panic in the middle of her blood-clot nightmare
1. Cup coup. Last week was Davis Cup week. And, as badly as the event is in need of a format/marketing upgrade, it succeeded in spite of itself. Exceptional tennis, exceptional drama, heroic efforts, and that beguiling overlap of individual and team. Spanning the globe ... we go to Chile, where the Americans made Jim Courier's debut a success and prevailed on clay. As long as Andy Roddick and the Bryans are on the skipper's line-up card, the Americans have a good chance. Riding a big win by Joachim Johansson (remember him?) the Swedes scored a big win against Russia. Kazakhstan upset the Czech Republic. I liiike! Depsite Ivo Karlovic's record 156 miles per hour. serve, Germany was able to beat Croatia. Last year's winner, Serbia -- which prevailed over France just a few days ago, it seems -- was sensibly given a first-round bye. No, wait! This just in: the Serbs beat India in Novi Sad. Check all the results at the consistently excellent DavisCup.com. If the only ITF's ability to
The tennis ace suffered a pulmonary embolism and a hematoma but is "doing better"
The tennis star, 29, was hospitalized and underwent emergency treatment
updated: Tue Feb 08 2011 10:28:00
Serena Williams talks about her foot injury and what she's been doing in her time off from the game.
Ten things I'd like to see as the 2011 tennis year unfolds:
1. The new sheriff. Was it really 2009 that the last holdout caved, and we reached a rare consensus that Roger Federer was the best player in the modern era? Suddenly it's a race again. After retiring from the Australian Open with a knee injury, Rafael Nadal stormed back to win three straight majors, completing the career Grand Slam and bringing his total to nine -- still seven fewer than Federer, but ahead of his trajectory. If Nadal completes the "Rafa Slam" in Australia, the debate will only intensify. Pick a side, but agree it makes for compelling theater.
I'm not sure how many people asked for it -- at last count, I believe it was 18 -- but here we are in the middle of the tennis Silly Season. Just when you thought the U.S. Open was such a fabulous venue for closure, onward we go to Beijing, Shanghai, Venus and Oz.
1. The little match girl: Even before Caroline Wozniacki won the Beijing event, her WTA-leading fifth title of 2010, she had eclipsed Serena Williams and achieved the No. 1 ranking. Predictably, cheers were tempered with critique that the WTA computer rankings system is somehow flawed. (Wozniacki, of course, did not even reach a major final in 2010; Serena won two of the three she entered.) We know that gap in her resume. Why don't we consider what Wozniacki has done: She's won more titles and more matches than any other player this year. Given the points breakdown, to balance Serena's two Grand Slam titles, Wozniacki needed to reach the equivalent of eight major singles quarterfinals in one year. That's an awful lot of ground to cover. That's she done it suggests there's some heft to her record after all. If my life were resting on the outcome of a match, whom would I rather be playing: Serena or Wozniacki? No contest. But for now, let's acknowledge the Dane's successes, not her
"Call me! It's that easy," the tennis star tells PEOPLE
Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams is our guest respondent for this week's Mailbag. Currently ranked No. 3 in singles and No. 1 in doubles, Venus has taken a break from preparing for the U.S. Open and promoting her bestselling book Come to Win in order to answer your questions.
The GOAT debate rages, with lots of you continuing to make compelling cases for and against Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. In the span of five minutes last week, I got one email from Paul in Long Beach reading, "Your piece on Serena Williams as the GOAT was the fairest and most unbiased assessment of Ms. Williams I have ever read ... no rational fan can deny that she is not the GOAT," and another from Samuel of Miami reading, "I've lost all respect for you with this championing of Serena as the GOAT ... I can no longer read your column." So there. As a wise man once said: "Opinions are like Facebook pages: Everyone has one."
1. Foot in mouth: Amid all this GOAT talk -- which we'll put to pasture for a while -- Serena Williams offered a vivid illustration of why she causes so much skepticism and unease among some fans. A week after a starring performance at Wimbledon, she takes a rumored $1 million fee to play in Belgium and then promptly bails on both World TeamTennis and every event before the U.S. Open because of a foot injury. You question the truthfulness or severity of an athlete's injury at your own peril. (And while details are still sketchy this injury does apparently involve surgery.) But -- as is too often the case -- something is a bit off. You read Serena's tweets about her active social life or watch this Kevin Frazier video and it rankles. Over FanHouse, Greg Couch made a fair point: If Serena wants to avail herself only for Slams, she's earned that right. But the unending withdrawals -- and the WTA's apparent complicity -- insults fans and promoters alike. Serena has a terrible track
Most of the mail this week both rebutted and supported my suggestion that Serena Williams is the GOAT of women's tennis. As usual, lop off 10 percent of the responses from both extremes, and we have a civil, engaging discussion. Some recurring themes:
Did you really says Serena is the GOAT in this week's Sports Illustrated? --Jeff H., New York
We were considering expanding our random ruminations to 68-70 items. But fatigue has set in, so herewith, 50 thoughts on a strange Wimbledon ...
I keep looking for the real story. Between Serena Williams's website, the WTA Tour site and wire service reports, there is nothing but mystery surrounding an injury that now requires surgery. Collectively, they've left everyone in the dark, which leads to a grim and familiar conclusion: Serena has the entire sport buffaloed.
Two things came to mind last week when colleague Jon Wertheim deemed Serena Williams the greatest female player of all time. First, that I hadn't heard it mentioned before, at least among the sport's most respected observers, and certainly not with such conviction. Secondly -- and not surprisingly -- Jon's claim made a great deal of sense.
Serena Willams stories from the SI Vault
Plus, the tennis star explains why she and rapper Common called it quits
Three quick thoughts from the women's final at Wimbledon on Saturday:
Ten thoughts on Wimbledon's second Monday, for sheer quantity the sport's greatest show on earth:
WIMBLEDON, England -- Three thoughts from the women's quarterfinals at the All England Club on Tuesday:
SI.com caught up with Sports Illustrated senior writer S.L. Price after Samantha Stosur defeated Serena Williams in the French Open quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 8-6. Price is in Paris covering the tournament.
How do you think Uncle "Fly coach, drive Kia" Toni feels about Rafa's $525,000 watch? --Christina Davis, Boston, Mass.
I just cleared some space in my tennis video library for a Spanish woman named Maria Jose Martínez Sánchez. She has enough names for two people, and more imagination than anyone. She deserves a worldwide toast for winning the Italian Open on the storied clay courts of Foro Italico, and not merely because it's the first significant singles title of her career. Her performance sent a message to every young girl trying to learn the game.
Lleyton Hewitt ended the Australian Open with surgery and was on crutches afterward, but he is back in action this week at Houston. Serena Williams won the Australian Open, but hasn't played a match since then, claiming she is injured. Maybe it is just me, but something does not seem right about this. --Aaron, Illinois
I can't imagine Serena Williams merely strolling onto the grounds of the Italian Open, where she is making her return to the game this week. More likely, she sashayed in. This is a woman who knows how to make an entrance, and she'd better make an impression after taking nearly four months off.
I enjoyed watching Mary Joe Fernandez as a player, I enjoy listening to her as a commentator, and I've enjoyed the success she's had as Fed Cup captain. What I would enjoy even more, however, is for her to say to the Williams sisters, "It's obvious you don't care enough about this competition to play, and that's your prerogative. But I, at least, am going to stop this silly and transparent charade about you wanting to and saying that you will, so you can appear patriotic, and then pulling out at the last minute. From this point on, Fed Cup is a Williams-free Zone." The team has done very well without the Williamses, and they are a joy to watch, because they all want to be there and enjoy being on the team together. --Chris F., Otsego, Minn.
Mentally tough? Try Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting from the cricket world. Or try, still active, track legend Haile Gebreselassie (more than 25 world records in middle- and long-distance races and current men's marathon world-record holder). It sure takes mental toughness to beat out your tough rivals while dominating middle- and long-distance running over the span of a decade. -- Jim Bates, Cairns, Australia
What will it take to get Nadal back into game shape ... for the long run? Take time off? Retire then unretire? Knee surgery? Change his game? Please tell that a six-time Grand Slam champion isn't done at 23. --Yves, Montreal
So it has come to this in the world of big-time tennis: You're 28 years old, absolutely in your prime, cherishing the game -- and you're some kind of mythical superhero, a miracle of longevity and commitment.
Five things we've learned from the Australian Open women's final:
Today's baguette in lightning round mode:
So much about the Australian Open suggests a year of intrigue and fresh storylines, but there is disturbing familiarity to the biggest story: Rafael Nadal's fading invincibility, and the notion that we've seen the best of his rivalry with Roger Federer.
Now that the Aussie Open is reaching the halfway point, time to revise your picks. Of those left standing, who's going to reach the semis and the finals? --Scott Freeman, Atlanta, Ga.
Tour officials would have you believe that the 2009 Grand Slam season was another compelling, fun-filled display of women's tennis, but it was hardly that. It was a mess. If there was an overriding theme, it was something along the lines of "I'm An Emotional Wreck."
This was going to be the decade of deliverance for women athletes. Instead, the "aughts" have been naughts in many ways.
• Men: Roger Federer. He's alone atop the mountain, not just for the past decade but for always. Put simply, he is the GOAT, the greatest of all time. Since Wimbledon of 2003, Federer has won 15 of the 26 majors he's entered -- including each of the four at least once -- to set the all-time record. Plus, he has done it with a singular combination of will and grace.
You can lament the length of the season. You can mourn a confusing ranking system, greedy administrators and tape-delayed broadcasts. You can mourn the corruption of the word "retirement." But say this about tennis: It's never boring. This year's episodes included cocaine kisses, crystal meth cover-ups, unraveling hairpieces, no-fault foot faults, and $9 million payoffs.
Preliminary programming note for our off-season 'Bag this week. We'll hold our annual Baggies Awards ceremony for 2009 next week. And 60 Minutes will be shown immediately following the game, except on the West Coast where it will air at its regularly scheduled time.
We'll start this week with two open calls. I received my ballot for the 2010 inductions to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Doubles is the theme this year and the nominees are Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva (as a team), Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (as a team), and Anders Jarryd (individually).
Be sure to check out Andre Agassi's revealing autobiography excerpt in this week's Sports Illustrated. I'll be taking all questions on the must-read next week.
Are you really equating a couple of sets of exhibition tennis to the demands of a long tour season? -- Henry Brito, Atlanta
While wondering whether Serena Williams' new, shiny No. 1 ranking will have any subconscious bearing on the pending ITF decision ...
Thanks to Joe, Kanye, Serena, and other misfits, a lot of people are talking about how society is undergoing a rash of rudeness.
updated: Mon Sep 21 2009 11:13:00
From Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst to Serena's tennis rant and Kanye stealing the show, its been a week of bad etiquette.
Serena Williams just wants to move on. But the controversy around her obscenity-laced tirade at a line judge at the U.S. Open continues.
I feel as though tennis has never been so popular. Lead segments on the news, hot topics in the blogosphere, hundreds of questions rolling in here. Were it not for Kanye West, we might have even had the president weighing in on Serena-gate. We may as well ride the wave with a quick post-U.S. Open mailbag.
NEW YORK -- The U.S. Open felt like two separate tournaments. The first was an exciting, spirited 10-day party, played amid ideal conditions. The second was a soggy circus. But in the end, the sun came back out and we were treated to some compelling finals. Herewith, some scattered observations and opinions:
NEW YORK -- Here it is the men's semifinals and all anyone wants to talk about is the end of Serena Williams' loss to Kim Clijsters on Saturday night. I keep seeing this referred to as a "controversy," but I struggle to see what exactly was controversial.
updated: Mon Sep 14 2009 12:07:00
Former world number one Kim Clijsters speaks to CNN about her return to the U.S. Open since coming out of retirement.
SI.com caught up with Sports Illustrated senior writer S.L. Price, who is covering the U.S. Open in New York, after Serena Williams was penalized on match point in her 6-4, 7-5 loss to Kim Clijsters in the semifinals Saturday night. Clijsters will play Caroline Wozniacki in the final at 9 p.m. ET Sunday.
We now enter the Hit Parade portion of the athletic calendar, the annual Casey Kasem phase, when first college football, then basketball, is consumed by weekly rankings.
Plus, the tennis star speaks for the first time about the "dark period" after her sister's death
I am a Roger Federer fan, but it gets harder to support him after postmatch interviews where he bashes his opponents and fails to credit them with good play. Case in point: the interview after his loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Rogers Cup. Federer choked, and Tsonga stepped it up. Enough said. At what point does greatness turn into arrogance? -- Jose, San Antonio
Programming note: I'll be on vacation next week. Our oxymoronic "guest host" will be Sam Querrey, who will be taking questions from the Farmers Insurance L.A. Tennis event.
Each week, SI.com's Richard Deitsch will report on newsmakers from the world of TV, radio and the Web.
Some scattered thoughts on a historic Wimbledon ...
updated: Mon Jul 06 2009 06:27:00
CNN's Alex Thomas interviews Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.
Four things we learned while watching the all-American women's final at the All England Club on Independence Day ...
updated: Tue May 26 2009 16:58:00
CNN's Pedro Pinto talks to defending French Open champion Ana Ivanovic about her chances in this years competition.
Even if you believe Serena Williams is "the real No. 1" on the women's tour, which she probably is, you've got to question the timing of her cocksure, matter-of-fact declaration on the eve of last week's Italian Open.
Has there been a more fun time in men's tennis than now? Rafael Nadal is definitively on top, Roger Federer is still in the mix with a will to regain his form, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have officially arrived, Juan Martin del Potro is continuing to make strides, and Andy Roddick seems to be right on the verge this season. With variations for surface, there seem to be six players in the mix to some extent for any major tournament right now. Let's hope they all stay healthy. -- Dan, Atlanta
Here I thought we had closed the retractable roof on the 2009 Australian Open. But after the remarkable men's final and even more remarkable trophy presentation, the questions/comments/laments keep pouring in. So a special edition Mailbag.
He stands 6' 1", weighs 185 pounds and can send a tennis ball pretty much anywhere he pleases. He's won on a variety of surfaces, collecting Grand Slam singles titles at a breakneck pace. He projects professionalism and grace and a distinctly European dignity. For all his success, he remains modest and grounded, uninterested in the usual trappings of modern celebrity, attracting attention only with his play.
Some scattered thoughts on the heels of another Australian Open:
Where does Fernando Verdasco go from here. He just lost a classic semifinal to Rafael Nadal. Does he turn into a pumpkin? Or do you see him challenging for Slams? -- Marty, New York
The past three years, we have had surprise men's finalists. My vote this year goes to Fernando Verdasco. I think he might surprise us all and make it to the finals. -- Michael White, Fort Worth, Texas
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