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19 Stories on Venus Williams
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SI.com: Kevin Armstrong: Venus shaky in opening victory

NEW YORK -- What we learned on Opening Night as Venus Williams struggled past unseeded Russian Vera Dushevina 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3:

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: Fifty thoughts from Wimbledon

Some scattered thoughts on a historic Wimbledon ...

SI.com: Kevin Armstrong: What we learned from Serena's Wimbledon win over Venus

Four things we learned while watching the all-American women's final at the All England Club on Independence Day ...

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: The best value in sports, Roger Wed-erer's decline and new rankings

I'm back from a week off. One of my new Twitter buddies noticed that I had attended the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C., last week, not as a journalist but as a fan. He asked me what the experience was like, and it was a good question. I can't recall the last time I'd attended a tennis event armed not with a notebook but with a bag of popcorn, concerned not about a deadline but about my daughter's sunblock status. Here are five impressions:

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: The value of exhibitions, how big is the Venus purse and more mail

What did you make of the matches on HBO? And how much should we read into the results? One never knows how hard the players are playing, does one? -- Barry, Arizona

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: Verdasco halts Murray title talk

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

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: The 'unworldly' Williams, Hewitt's heart and cramping up

I know you'll never touch this question but here's nothing. Serena said: Being a Jehovah's Witness kept her from voting in the election, but didn't prevent her from watching Barack Obama's campaign and victory. "I try to stay politically neutral, don't get involved in worldly matters," she said. "For me, because I am black, seeing that happen, I would be blind if I didn't take interest in it or I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in what was going on. Obviously I am." As an African-American, I'm curious as to whether winning slams and other tennis tournaments is somehow religious or unworldly? My point is that she and her sister set a poor example for young kids. Voting is ungodly but chasing Slams isn't? Your opinion? -- Ray Vinson, Hampton,Va.

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: Saluting Date, seeing no hope for Venus or Serena

We'll do some periodic baggies off the Australian Open. Also, I'm considering "live blogging" the final, so stay tuned for details.

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: And the Baggies go to ...

Few folks are likely to describe 2008 as a gilded year. Oh, for the days, when "bailout" was something done to a wayward rowboat, homes were worth more than mortgages, and Iceland was best known as a quirky (and solvent) vacation destination. Fortunately, tennis was there to provide us with diverting entertainment and some welcome escapism. The sport up to its usual tricks this year, serving up jarring plot twists (Justine Henin, the top WTA player, abruptly retiring), relentless melodrama, and enough mutually destructive in-fighting and finger-pointing to shame the post-election McCain and Palin camps.

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: An early U.S. Open pick, keeping tabs on the ATP trial and more mail

Federer or Nadal, who's your pick at the U.S. Open? -- Chas, New York

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