VENUS AND SERENA: ACES
http://archives.michronicleonline.com/articlelive/articles/4014/1/VENUS-AND-SERENA-ACES/Page1.html
By Leland Stein
Published on 07/17/2009
With the U.S. Open Tennis Championships on the horizon, Venus and
Serena Williams have firmly repositioned themselves as the two best women’s players in the world...
 Venus and Serena Williams have each competed in 14 Grand Slam title events. No other active player on the WTA Tour has competed in more than four. Photo– Gary Montgomery |
With the U.S. Open Tennis Championships on the horizon, Venus and
Serena Williams have firmly repositioned themselves as the two best women’s players in the world...
WILLIAMS SISTERS HOLDING THE BEST HAND IN WOMEN'S TENNIS
With the U.S. Open Tennis Championships on the horizon, Venus and
Serena Williams have firmly repositioned themselves as the two best
women’s players in the world.
Over the Fourth of July weekend at Wimbledon, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, playing for the men’s singles title, put on a classic tennis duel that many are calling one of the best ever.
In beating Roddick in five sets, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14, Federer
earned his record 15th Grand Slam title, moving ahead of one of my favorite tennis stars of all time, Pete Sampras.
Although the men did their thing, my admiration, respect and appreciation
for the two Williams sisters just keeps on growing.
I met the two when they were little girls with beads in their hair and their
father and manager, Richard, were teaching and showing them tapes on
how to play tennis.
My brethren in the press conference that day lambasted Richard for being arrogant and wacky. They all agreed that he should turn his daughters over to real tennis professionals if he ever expected them to really compete at the national level.
Well, I love saying that Richard was right.
While too many in tennis lore start out on the WTA Tour as very young
teens playing every event, history has seen that most of them flame out as
quickly as they ascended to tennis’ elite level.
I was elated watching history being made again as Venus, 29, and Serena,
27, disposed of all opposition at Wimbledon to meet each other again in
the final.
Serena beat her older sister, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, in 87 minutes to capture her
third Wimbledon title at the grasssurfaced Centre Court of the All England
Club. Ironically, all three of Serena’s Wimbledon singles titles have come against Venus in the final.
Perhaps what made Serena’s third Wimbledon title all the more impressive
was it came on the heels of her semifinal victory over Russia’s Elena
Dementieva, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist. With Dementieva playing
for match point in the third set, Serena fought off her opponent and battled back to defeat the Russian, 6-7, 7-5, 8-6
The Williams-Dementieva match took two hours, 49 minutes, and was the longest women’s semifinal at Wimbledon in the era of Open tennis. It was also, by all accounts, the finest women’s match at the 2009 Championships
– some said it was the best women’s match ever.
Serena now has won 11 Grand Slam singles titles overall, thus proving right another of Richard’s predictions. Furthermore, she has won three of the last four Grand Slam tournaments – the U.S. Open, the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Her only misstep was the French Open at Roland Garros.
“I’m really disappointed because I think this is the year I could have done it, and I didn’t,” Serena told reporters about not winning the French Open. “I honestly had the biggest chance to win all four than I’ve ever had in my career.”
Over the last five Grand Slam tournaments, Serena has an astonishing
31-2 record. Her only setbacks were a straight-set loss to Venus in last
year’s Wimbledon final, and a threeset loss to eventual champion Svetlana
Kuznetsova in the French Open quarterfinals.
Wimbledon was the 14th Grand Slam final for each Williams sister; no other active woman has participated in more than four. Serena is 11-3 in
such matches; Venus fell to 7-7, with all but one defeat coming against her
sister.
The remarkable thing about the Williams sisters is that Richard’s determination to withhold his daughters from some tournaments when they were at a young age has proven to be a smart move.
Players like Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Amelie
Mauresmo, Elena Likhovtseva, Kim Clijsters, Mary Pierce, Ana Ivanović,
Maria Sharapova and Jelena Janković, just to name a few, have all been at or near the top of the rankings during Serena’s and Venus’ reign. Most are
no longer on the Tour while the Williamses are still perched at the top of
the tennis world.
To highlight their dominance, Venus and Serena also won the 2009
Wimbledon doubles title. I think it is safe to say that it is unlikely two African American sisters will achieve and accomplish as much in tennis at the level Venus and Serena Williams has. At least not in my lifetime.
Serena Williams have firmly repositioned themselves as the two best
women’s players in the world.
Over the Fourth of July weekend at Wimbledon, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, playing for the men’s singles title, put on a classic tennis duel that many are calling one of the best ever.
In beating Roddick in five sets, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14, Federer
earned his record 15th Grand Slam title, moving ahead of one of my favorite tennis stars of all time, Pete Sampras.
Although the men did their thing, my admiration, respect and appreciation
for the two Williams sisters just keeps on growing.
I met the two when they were little girls with beads in their hair and their
father and manager, Richard, were teaching and showing them tapes on
how to play tennis.
My brethren in the press conference that day lambasted Richard for being arrogant and wacky. They all agreed that he should turn his daughters over to real tennis professionals if he ever expected them to really compete at the national level.
Well, I love saying that Richard was right.
While too many in tennis lore start out on the WTA Tour as very young
teens playing every event, history has seen that most of them flame out as
quickly as they ascended to tennis’ elite level.
I was elated watching history being made again as Venus, 29, and Serena,
27, disposed of all opposition at Wimbledon to meet each other again in
the final.
Serena beat her older sister, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, in 87 minutes to capture her
third Wimbledon title at the grasssurfaced Centre Court of the All England
Club. Ironically, all three of Serena’s Wimbledon singles titles have come against Venus in the final.
Perhaps what made Serena’s third Wimbledon title all the more impressive
was it came on the heels of her semifinal victory over Russia’s Elena
Dementieva, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist. With Dementieva playing
for match point in the third set, Serena fought off her opponent and battled back to defeat the Russian, 6-7, 7-5, 8-6
The Williams-Dementieva match took two hours, 49 minutes, and was the longest women’s semifinal at Wimbledon in the era of Open tennis. It was also, by all accounts, the finest women’s match at the 2009 Championships
– some said it was the best women’s match ever.
Serena now has won 11 Grand Slam singles titles overall, thus proving right another of Richard’s predictions. Furthermore, she has won three of the last four Grand Slam tournaments – the U.S. Open, the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Her only misstep was the French Open at Roland Garros.
“I’m really disappointed because I think this is the year I could have done it, and I didn’t,” Serena told reporters about not winning the French Open. “I honestly had the biggest chance to win all four than I’ve ever had in my career.”
Over the last five Grand Slam tournaments, Serena has an astonishing
31-2 record. Her only setbacks were a straight-set loss to Venus in last
year’s Wimbledon final, and a threeset loss to eventual champion Svetlana
Kuznetsova in the French Open quarterfinals.
Wimbledon was the 14th Grand Slam final for each Williams sister; no other active woman has participated in more than four. Serena is 11-3 in
such matches; Venus fell to 7-7, with all but one defeat coming against her
sister.
The remarkable thing about the Williams sisters is that Richard’s determination to withhold his daughters from some tournaments when they were at a young age has proven to be a smart move.
Players like Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Amelie
Mauresmo, Elena Likhovtseva, Kim Clijsters, Mary Pierce, Ana Ivanović,
Maria Sharapova and Jelena Janković, just to name a few, have all been at or near the top of the rankings during Serena’s and Venus’ reign. Most are
no longer on the Tour while the Williamses are still perched at the top of
the tennis world.
To highlight their dominance, Venus and Serena also won the 2009
Wimbledon doubles title. I think it is safe to say that it is unlikely two African American sisters will achieve and accomplish as much in tennis at the level Venus and Serena Williams has. At least not in my lifetime.