Wimbledon – Williams sisters win doubles

Three-and-a-half hours after the women’s singles final at Wimbledon, Venus and Serena Williams took to Centre Court again but this time they were on the same side of the net.

The Williams sisters  put sibling rivalry them to win the women’s doubles title in emphatic style.

As the sun dipped down behind Centre Court’s roof, the Serena and Venus teamed up to win their fourth Wimbledon women’s doubles title, defeating Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs of Australia 7-6 6-4.

It was consolation of sorts for Venus, who had lost the women’s singles final to her sister earlier in the day.

Serena beat her older sibling 7-6 6-2 to deny her a hat-trick of Wimbledon singles titles, while at the same time claiming a third Sw19 crown of her own.

Venus has now lost six of the eight grand slam singles finals she has played against Serena, three of them at Wimbledon.

Still, it was a good day for the American ladies.

Serena, when asked about her motivation and attempt to regain the world No. 1 ranking said:

You know, I’m not super motivated. I think if you hold three Grand Slam titles maybe you should be No. 1, but not on the WTA Tour obviously, so…

You know, my motivation is maybe just to win another Grand Slam and stay No. 2, I guess (laughter).

(Note: Despite being eliminated in the semifinals at Wimbledon, Dinara Safina remains No. 1 in the WTA rankings. Go figure).

Tennis – Fun Facts

• Lawn Tennis: The game of tennis as it is played today comes from Great Britain, where it originated as lawn tennis in the mid-1800’s.
• Wimbledon: In 1884 the Ladies’ Singles at Wimbledon was inaugurated, and from a field of 13 players Maud Watson became the champion.
• Tennis Balls: A new tennis ball should weigh two ounces.
• Bouncing Balls: When dropped from a height of 100 inches onto concrete, a new tennis ball should bounce about 55 inches.
• Grand Slam Titles: Margaret Smith Court holds the record with 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
• Record Holder: Martina Navratilova holds the record for most career singles and doubles titles with over 325.
• 1884/1885: Ladies’ singles tennis competition was added to Wimbledon in 1884. Maud Watson won in both 1884 and 1885.
• Lottie Dod: Lottie Dod won the women’s Wimbledon Championship five times between 1887 and 1893.
• 1897: The first Women’s French Tennis Championship is held.
• Ball Boys & Girls: There are more than 200 ball boys and girls used to fetch tennis balls during Wimbledon.
• Lawn Mower: Wimbledon is the only major tennis tournament still played on grass. The lawn there is cut every day.
• Tennis Dresses: The first women to play in the Wimbledon tournament wore full length dresses.
• Australian Open: Martina Hingis was the youngest Australian Open Women’s Single Champion (16 years, three months) in 1997.
• Wimbledon Wood: A wooden racket was last used at Wimbledon in 1987.
• Equal Pay: In 2007, the men’s and women’s singles winners at Wimbledon each received £700,000. It was the first year that women got as much prize money as men.
• Wimbledon Winner: May Sutton of the United States became the first non-European champion in 1905 when she captured the women’s singles title.
• Love Match: Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi were the first married couple to have won both the men’s and women’s singles Wimbledon Championships.

Wimbledon – Williams sisters through to semis

It’s the USA against Russia in the Wimbledon women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday.

The world top four players have all won their quarter-final matches setting the stage for a possible all Williams final.

First, Venus Williams dismantled 20-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in 1 hour 8 minutes. Then there was a short break and then Serena Williams, on Centre Court, made it two sisters in the semifinals.

With Venus watching, number two seed Serena took out Victoria Azarenka, the 19-year-old from Belarus, 6-2, 6-3.

Serena will play Elena Dementieva after the Russian fourth seed came through 6-2, 6-2 against Francesca Schiavone of Italy.

Top seed Dinara Safina will face the defending champion Venus.

With Serena’s  10 Grand Slam victories to Venus’s 7, could it be another Venus vs. Serena final? It’s looking that way.

Wimbledon drops ‘Miss’ from scoreboards

Wimbledon has always been known for its strict standards of etiquette. Organizers of the tournament like things to be done just so, like insisting players wear predominantly white.

But nothing is sacred and some traditions have been scrapped in recent years. Players have not had to bow or curtsy to the royal box when entering and leaving Centre Court since 2003.

This year another formality has been dropped. For the first time in the tournament’s 132-year history female tennis players are no longer referred to as “Miss” or “Mrs” on scoreboards.

Insiders suggest the tradition has been dropped to bring the women’s game in line with the men’s (women now get paid the same as men at Wimbledon), and because not using first names can become confusing if sisters are playing each other.

“There is no official line on this,” says a spokeswoman for Wimbledon. “It’s something that we’ve just changed this year. It’s actually gone completely unnoticed, until now.”

Up until this year women players had been referred to as “Miss” or “Mrs” and no first names were used, according to the All England Club. The title “Ms” has never been used.

When the Williams sisters played each other, the initials from their first names were used to differentiate who was who. Now, first names will regularly replace social titles.

But the use of titles has not been completely consigned to the record books. Women players are still referred to as “Miss” or “Mrs” by umpires during games.

American teen Oudin upsets Jankovic at Wimbledon

About now is when Wimbledon get’s interesting.

And to prove the point, American teenager Melanie Oudin pulled off the biggest upset of the first week today, beating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-2.

The No. 6-seeded Jankovic, who was last year’s U.S. Open runner-up, struggled with the heat and was plagued by erratic groundstrokes, while the 17-year-old Oudin played with poise down the stretch and swept the final three games.

Oudin arrived in London with an 0-2 record in Grand Slam matches, and she had to win three qualifying matches to make Wimbledon’s main draw for the first time. She’s ranked 124th and will crack the top 100 for the first time after the tournament.

Playing on Court 3, she wore down Jankovic in an arduous first set. Oudin failed to convert four set points, committing an unforced error each time, but when the 66-minute set ended, it was Jankovic who appeared on the ropes.
A trainer and doctor came on court to check Jankovic. She rested on a towel while being treated, and after several minutes sat up while ice was applied to her neck.

Jankovic played on, but the match turned when Oudin overcame a 5-4 deficit in the second set. She repeatedly won points with drop shots, punctuating winners with shouts of «Come on!» The teenager smacked a forehand winner on the final point, then raised her arms in celebration.

Meanwhile, five-time champion Venus Williams joined Oudin in the round of 16 by beating the 34th ranked Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-4. The two played only once before, when Suarez Navarro upset Williams in the second round at the Australian Open in January.

Williams, whose younger sister Serena reached the round of 16 by winning Friday, meets 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic for a berth in the quarterfinals. Ivanovic advanced by defeating French Open semifinalist Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-2.

Williams is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three consecutive titles at the All England Club. The No. 3-seeded Williams is bidding for her sixth Wimbledon championship overall.

Fifteen year old Laura Robson handed Wimbledon wild card

Britain’s 15-year-old junior Wimbledon champion Laura Robson will be the youngest player to appear in the women’s tournament since Martina Hingis in 1995 after the All England Club announced they had given her a wild card.

When the  grass-court grand slam begins on June 22, the Londoner will be 15 years, 152 days old, and she will be the twelfth youngest competitor since the professional era began in 1968. Robson, who was born in Melbourne and moved to Britain when she was six, currently divides her time between training and homework.

Robson is ranked 482nd in the world, well below the Lawn Tennis Association’s wild card cut-off point of 250th, but was given a slot via a clause that allows juniors in under “exceptional circumstances.” Her name was expected among the wild cards, as a reward for winning last summer’s junior tournament.

Jennifer Capriati, Steffi Graf, Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger and Hingis are among those on the short list of players to have appeared at Wimbledon at a younger age.  Four girl junior champions have gone on to win the main title in the history of Wimbledon. Martina Hingis – who was the youngest at 13 in 1994 – and Amelie Mauresmo are the only two to have done so since 1960.

The All England Club’s decision to award a wild card to another teen girl may cause controversy during the tournament. Michelle Larcher de Brito, a 16-year-old from Portugual, has arguably the loudest grunt in the history of tennis. When Larcher de Brito played at the French Open, an opponent complained to the umpire about the noise on the other side of the net. Larcher de Brito was later booed by the crowd.

Other women’s wild cards were given to American Alexa Glatch, and Britain’s Elena Baltacha, Katie O’Brien, Mel South and Georgie Stoop. Robson and Stoop have a wild card into the doubles.

Venus flies to fifth Wimbledon title

July 5, 2008 – Venus Williams beat sister Serena 7-5, 6-4 Saturday to win her fifth Wimbledon title and seventh Grand Slam championship.

It was Venus’ first win over her younger sibling in a Grand Slam final since the 2001 U.S. Open, and evened their career record at 8-8.  More

Sister Act: All Williams final at Wimbledon

July 3, 2008 – It’s no surprise that Wimbledon 2008 has turned into the Williams show. Venus and Serena won in straight sets to set up their third all-sister Wimbledon final and seventh Grand Slam championship matchup.

Not content with final berths in the singles, sisters Venus and Serena are through to the last four of the ladies’ doubles as well.

In Ladies’ Singles, defending champion and four-time winner Venus beat Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6 (3), then two-time champ Serena overcame two rain delays and served 14 aces to down China’s Zheng Jie 6-2, 7-6 (5).

It will be the first all-Williams final at any tournament since 2003, when Serena beat her older sister in the Wimbledon title match for the second year in a row.

Serena holds an 8-7 career edge over Venus, including 5-1 in Grand Slam finals. Since Venus won the U.S. Open in 2001, Serena has won five straight of their major finals.

“She’s a tough opponent,” Serena said. “I think she’ll be the toughest person I’ve played. I’m excited.”

Said Venus: “It’s every Williams for themself.”

Their father, Richard Williams, said he would fly back to the United States on Friday and doesn’t plan to watch a single point of the final on television. The reason? He can’t bear to watch his daughters playing against each other.

The rest of us can catch the final on Saturday, July 5th. Whoever wins, it’ll be proof that someone from the other side of Atlantic can hit a decent forehand or, in Venus’s case, hit a 127 mph serve.

It’s wild at Wimbledon

June 30, 2008 – Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic and No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova were both ousted in the fourth round Monday, leaving Wimbledon without any of the top four women in the quarterfinals for the first time.

With top-seeded Ana Ivanovic and No. 3 Maria Sharapova eliminated last week, none of the top four women reached the quarterfinals – the first time that’s happened at Wimbledon and also the first time at any Grand Slam tournament in the 40-year history of the Open era.

Meanwhile, the Williams sisters moved closer to another Wimbledon final. Venus and Serena found themselves playing back to back Monday on  Court 2, known as the “Graveyard of Champions” based on the record number of upsets played on there.

While Roger Federer glided to victory on Centre Court, and Rafael Nadal played on Court 1, the Williams sisters were relegated to a less than stellar venue. Was the slight on purpose? Officials say no – schedules were based on other factors.

However, there are no replay reviews on Court 2, where the scoreboard is manually operated. Spectators can hear players muttering to themselves, and the soundtrack for matches also includes cheering from other courts and noise from the nearby dining area for players.

The Williams sisters might be glad to know the days are numbered for the Graveyard of Champions. As part of a project to renovate the outer courts, a new Court 2 opens next year, while the Graveyard will become Court 3 in 2009— meaning fewer marquee matches—and will eventually be torn down.

Even after Venus and Serena spent the day at the Graveyard, their title hopes remained very much alive. They’re defying the trend in a women’s tournament that, by one measure, ranks as the most upset-filled on record.  If the Graveyard can’t stop them, what will?  Which one will prevail?

In the meantime, Venus has been assigned to the Court 1 stadium Tuesday. Serena is to play on Centre Court, where fans may find them both Saturday.

Venus serves a rocket

June 29, 2008 - One swing from completing her week’s work, Venus Williams toed the baseline, bounced the ball, gave it a toss and delivered yet another blistering serve at Wimbledon. The ace bounced off the Court 1 backstop as Williams closed out her third round match and bid another foe farewell.

The scoreboard said 127 mph, the fastest women’s serve ever recorded at Wimbledon. The scoreboard also had Williams winning 6-1, 7-5 over qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. The defending champion was not even aware that her 11th ace had broken the tournament’s fastest serve record.

Four-time champion Venus cruises into the round of 16, along with her sister Serena.

With No. 1-ranked Ana Ivanovic and No. 2 Maria Sharapova eliminated, and with No. 3 Jelena Jankovic limping to victory Saturday, prospects look good for an all-Williams final next weekend. It would be their first meeting in a Grand Slam final since Serena beat Venus for the 2003 Wimbledon title.

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