Serena Williams has certainly staked her claim at the top of the women’s’ game after reclaiming her No1 ranking from Dinara Safina after the 2009 US Open. The latter part of the season usually sees players drop their intensity and look forward to the prospect of a holiday. The Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha was more an exhibition of the consequences’ of over playing than a showcase of the best in women’s tennis.
Despite this, Serena Williams looked the freshest of the crop and came through some tough conditions with strapping on her thigh to win the singles. Elena Dementieva said after her 2-6 4-6 defeat, “She’s too good for me” Serena has accelerated her pace at the top of the women’s’ game, it’s reported, with the aid of Power Plate.
“On tour, playing back-to-back matches is tough on your body. Being ready the next day is the difference between winning or losing. If I can accelerate the recovery and healing process, I have a definite advantage. With my Power Plate®, I have that advantage,” Williams says.
Talk of Williams prowess at the Australian Open was accompanied by assurances that she will be around for a few years to come and I wonder if we will see her accelerate away from the rest of the field, or will they match the pace and keep up with her?
Womens Tennis has just got a lot worse for me. Serena Williams at the US Open was pretty much a disgrace to Womens Tennis after being defaulted from her semi-final against Kim Clijsters. Here is the incident and the after match interview. Whats your thoughts?
Andy Murray has entered the debate over the value of the tennis world rankings by questioning the Williams sisters’ interest in tournaments outside the grand slams.
The rise of Russian Dinara Safina to No 1 has raised the question of whether it is justifiable for a player without a grand slam title to be on top. Serena Williams has won three of the last four grand slam women’s singles titles, however she only stands at No. 2 in the WTA Tour standings. Men’s world No. 2 Murray, who has also still yet to win one of the four top tournaments in tennis, believes there would be little merit in raising the points on offer at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open just to ensure the winners of those events have a better chance of topping the rankings.
Murray understands why the issue is being discussed, and why there are varying views, but he is convinced the ranking systems as they stand have plenty of merit.
The Scot said:
“Do you not agree that it’s important for the top players like Serena to turn up at the other big events? “Tennis (has) an 11-month calendar. If you have ranking points which are too small for Serena to turn up at some of the smaller events, then all of a sudden the whole calendar is completely pointless and she can turn up — which is probably what she wants to do — at the four slams and play, and then not play for the rest of the year. And I think you have to be rewarded for consistency, and her consistency in slams is great, but in the other tournaments I don’t think it is.”
On Saturday after the Wimbledon womens final Serena Williams flew back to the USA to do an interview on David Letterman. It would have been nice to see the top players stick around until Sunday night and head to the Wimbledon Ball. However, here is a video of Serena on Letterman.
Serena Williams seems to think she can take over the world one little bit at a time. This time she is taking her hand to writing a TV script. Serena’s show takes some ideas from her three favourite shows “Desperate Housewives,” “Sex and the City” and “Family Guy.”
I find it a little funny how Serena thinks she is an actress, a clothing designer and now even a script writer. It will be interesting to see if any of these hobbies really pays off, but I doubt it very much.
There has been a lot of talk about grunting at this years Wimbledon. I saw on the news the other day that Nick Bollettieri mentioning that he will be providing grunting lessons at his academy after the tournament. I do think that with Maria Sharapova, Michelle Larcher de Brito, Serena Williams and others, there is just too much grunting on court at the moment.
I previously I used to grunt a little bit myself and found that it was more habit than anything, but it was always a small noise compared to Sharapova is producing these days.
So what do you think about grunting and its current situation in the game?
A few days ago we wrote about Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez who was court on camera cheating in her match with Serena Williams. Unfortunately now that video has been taken off YouTube by the French Tennis Federation. I find this an interesting move from the French Tennis Federation and I wonder if the player in question had any influence in this matter. It would be great if someone from the French Tennis Federation could explain their actions, but we tried to contact them and received obviously no response!
Robin Soderling (23) vs Nikolay Davydenko (10) = This is going to be a great match. Robin Soderling beat four time reigning champion Rafael Nadal in four sets in the previous round and Davydenko defeated Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. I think Robin will be still on a high from his last victory, so it will be interesting to see if he can keep it going. This could be a five set match with Soderling taking the first few sets then Davydenko coming back.
Andy Murray (3) vs Fernando Gonzalez (12) = Andy and Fernando have been in great for in this tournament so far and they both didnt lose a set in their fourth round matches. Murray has had quite an easy draw so far and I think Gonzalez might actually cause a big upset in this match.
Juan Martin Del Potro (5) vs Tommy Robredo (16) = Juan Martin Del Potro has been playing some great tennis and beating good opponents so far in the tournament. However, in this match he will coming up against Tommy Robredo who has a huge amount of experience on the clay courts of Roland Garros. I can see Robredo winning this match in a long five set match.
Gael Monfils (11) vs Roger Federer (2) = This is another exciting match with Roger on the back of coming from two sets to love down to win in five, while Monfils played one of his greatest matches at the French Open defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets. I think this will be Rogers match to lose.
Dinara Safina (1) vs Victoria Azarenka (9) = Azarenka had a great previous match disposing of the defending champion Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. While Safina hasn’t put a foot wrong and has been demolishing her opponents. I think the first set is going to be very tight and Azarenka really needs to win it, cause I cant see her coming back in three sets.
Dominika Cibulkova (20) vs Maria Sharapova = This is going to be a very interesting match, Maria hasnt been in the greatest of form but she has been grinding out wins. Cibulkova has been playing some good tennis, but hasnt really played a major name at this years French Open. I can see Maria winning in another three set match.
Sorana Cirstea vs Samantha Stosur (30) = Cirstea has had a great tournament so far, especially with her win in the last match at 9-7 in the third set over Jelena Jankovic. Stosur has been going through the draw very quietly. Clay is not Stosurs best surface but she has a great kick serve for a female player and I can see her demolishing Cirstea in straight sets.
Svetlana Kuznetsova (7) vs Serena Williams (2) = The girls have a great rivalry and have played some great matches over the years. I think Serena is in great form and the quick clay surface this year is suiting her game and I cant really see Kuznetsova getting into the match from the beginning.
Facing break point in the fifth game of the first set, Serena Williams hit a ball towards Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez at the net. TV replays indicate the ball hit the Spaniard on the arm and bounced back (see video). The umpire, thought that Martinez Sanchez had returned the shot with her racquet, awarded her the point and the game, and Martinez Sanchez went on to win the set.
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez CHEAT and thats the bottom line!
The Williams sisters have been having a very hard time already in Paris. Venus was very lucky to move past Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round 6-1 4-6 6-2. In the sets that Venus won she was in control, but seemed to have a huge lapse in the second set and giving away a vital break to lose the set. While at the same time sister Serena has a tough time only just scraping past Klara Zakopalova from the Czech Republic 6-3 6-7 6-4.
It is really good to see that the Williams sisters are having a tough time in the early rounds of a grand slam, it has been a long time since that has happened. I’m looking forward to seeing how they progress in singles and also in doubles.
Serena Williams seems to think she can take over the world one little bit at a time. This time she is taking her hand to writing a TV script. Serena’s show takes some ideas from her three favourite shows “Desperate Housewives,” “Sex and the City” and “Family Guy.”
