Serena Serves History

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It's been a long time since I've seen Serena Williams this happy after winning a Slam title. Melbourne 2005, maybe. But she seemed more emotional and relieved for different reasons it seemed. New York 1999?

Today, she emoted pure jubilee. Four Wimbledon titles, 13 Grand Slam singles titles, surpassing Billie Jean King, and entering rarefied air. She has now defended both her Slam titles from last year, the first time in her career to defend two Slams in the same year, and only the third time she's defended a singles Slam crown at all.

Vera Zvonareva's composure held up throughout all of the first set and most of the second, and she was absolutely radiant and gracious, even through tears, after the match. Calling out the surgeon who fixed her ankle when she feared she'd never be able to play again was at once poignant and bizarre. Such is life on Centre Court at SW19. One hell of an effort from a player who's hoed through a tough, tough row.

Sometimes, players do re-invent themselves in a year.


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An Experience I Thought I'd Never Have Again

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Singer Jennifer Hudson arrives at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.

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Family members and friends aside, there are few Black women I love as much as Serena Williams.

Jennifer Hudson is one of them.

Tonight, she tore through "I Will Always Love You" as a tribute to honoree Whitney Houston on BET.

Tore through it.

With Whitney's voice now unable to deliver her masterful performance as she did back in the early 90s, I never thought I'd hear another live performance of that song that caught my breath.

Tonight, I did.

Jennifer outdid herself and gave Whitney proper respect. You can't touch that song if you can't take that song beyong the moon.

I'll see y'all when I get back to earth.

Serena Williams Wins Legendary No. 12

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It wasn't always pretty, but Serena Williams rained on Justine Henin's fairytale comeback parade to take her fifth Australian Open crown, an Open Era record.

Fighting through nerves, sticky feet, and legs heavy as wet hay, the world No. 1 picked apart Henin's game at the most crucial moments of the match for a gritty 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory on Rod Laver Arena last night.

It's the first time the American defended a Slam since Wimbledon 2003. The first to defend a title Down Under since Jennifer Capriati in 2002. And she finally broke the even-year jinx, winning a title in the first year of the decade to go with crowns in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009.

Serena has now won a Slam in three different decades, beginning with her maiden US Open title in 1999 at age seventeen.

With the victory, she claimed her 12th major title, equaling her idol Billie Jean King for sixth place on the all-time list. Serena now trails only Margaret Smith Court (24), Steffi Graf (22), Helen Wills Moody (19), Martina Navratilova (19) and Chris Evert (18).

With her five Australian Opens, she surpasses Smith Court, Graf, Monica Seles, and Evonne Goolagong for the most won in the Open Era. And she improves her overall winning percentage in Grand Slam finals to 12-3 (.800) the best among active players, woman or man.

Henin, who retired in a cloud of questions 20 months ago, was trying to repeat Kim Clijsters' comeback success by winning her first major entered, and to become the second unranked woman to win a Slam in the Open Era. (Bet I know who Clijsters was rooting for last night.) Despite Henin's run to the finals, she'll remain unranked on Monday. The WTA rankings system requires three events on the computer before spitting out a number before your name.

The Little Backhand That (Almost) Could played brilliantly in stretches and fought like she always fights, but it wasn't enough to overcome a determined defending champion. Despite being mummified with tape on her right thigh and left calf, and playing every day of the event for the last week and a half, including defending her doubles title with her big sister the day before, Serena had two practice sessions earlier in the day to get her feet moving and prepare for Henin's low slices.

In the first few games of the match, you would've never known. Serena had to serve 29 times, fight through two break points and five deuces just to hold her opening service game. She broke Henin's serve to lead 3-1 but faced another 15-40 deficit. She saved the first break point with a 119 MPH service winner.

On the second, a controversial line call denied the Belgian a break back. Henin played a great point to win the game but it had to be replayed because the linesperson called Henin's short volley out, corrected herself, but Serena chased the ball down and got her racquet on it. The crowd booed. When Serena struck another service winner to save break point, Henin cursed behind the baseline, and the crowd booed again. From thereon, it was firmly in Henin's corner.

Serena dropped the next three games to level the set and 4-4, but composed herself and broke Henin again in the ninth game to take the first set.

40 for 40 in wins Down Under after taking the first set, Serena was poised to run away with the match. Leading 3-2 in set two, she earned a break point on Henin's serve, but hit a forehand into Melbourne. After a few more deuces, Henin held on.

At 3-3, 30-0, Serena tossed in a wild double fault that landed halfway between the service line and the baseline. I gagged. So did Serena. She won a single point the rest of the set. Her feet froze, her mind wandered, and Henin took full advantage, striking line-cleaning winners off both wings from all over the court to win the set 6-3 and level the match.


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Surely the match was now Henin's to lost, right? After all, she had the advantage of opening the third set on her serve.

After both players took an extended bathroom break, Serena returned to the court composed and ready to take names. After the match, she told Mary Jo Fernandez she might not ever get another chance and had to "man up", dig in and go for it. But that's not exactly what she did.

The intensity when these two play is unrivaled and I wasn't sure who would raise her game, hold it together, and seize control of the match. Was this see-saw affair headed to 12-10 in the third?

Momentum still on her side, Henin opened the set with a strong hold at love. Serena once again had to save 15-40 on her serve to level the match. After trading three nervy breaks, Serena finally consolidated one to lead 4-2. The finish line in view, the defending champ switched tactics, adding more topspin and less pace to her shots, spreading the court with angles instead of depth. Henin had trouble creating her own pace on the higher bouncing shots and finally capitulated another break to a fiercely focused Serena who was not to be denied.

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With a strong service game, including the fastest ace of the match at 123 MPH, Serena closed out the tug of war in two hours and seven minutes. Falling on her back in victory, relief broke over her face like surf. When she finally got up to approach the net, she could hardly walk, a fortnight of fatigue on full display. Almost thought she was going to fall down again before reaching the stands and sharing celebratory hugs with her mother and sister.


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A double duty champion Down Under two years running and fifth overall, Serena the Great put out an extraordinary effort. Now that she's reached her goal of equaling King's Slam victories, she may be more relaxed on the crushed brick of Paris and finally win another crown there.

Surely, Henin will have something to say about that.


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Cross posted to The Huffington Post

Serena Williams vs. Justine Henin: Rivalry Renewed

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The Australian Open organizers couldn't have written a better script. In the first Slam final of the new decade, 11-time Slam champion Serena Williams, world No. 1 and defending champion, will face off against 7-time champ Justine Henin, the 2004 champion playing in only her second event since abruptly and mysteriously retiring from the tour as world No. 1 -- the only player in history to do so -- 20 months ago.

Serena is gunning for Slam title No. 12, which will tie her with the legendary Billie Jean King on the all-time list. Henin is going for Slam No. 8 which will tie her with Monica Seles on the all-time list and move her past Venus Williams into second place among active players behind Serena.

There's mutual respect and a few vials of bad blood. Henin will never be able to live down her infamous hand shenanigans in the Roland Garros semifinal, which ultimately cost Serena the match and a chance to defend her first Roland Garros title. And after a string of successive defeats in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in 2007, Serena virtually ran Justine off the tour with a 6-2, 6-0 beatdown in the quarterfinals of Key Biscayne in 2008.

A few weeks ago, when the Sydney draw came out, Serena and Henin were to face off in a potential second-round encounter. But Henin withdrew citing injury. She had just completed a grueling three-set final against her Belgian rival Kim Clijsters in the Brisbane final, so the tennis world would have to wait to see these mulitple Slam champions go at it.

Didn't have to wait too long. Some are calling it a dream final, others a cat fight. Based upon the player's current form, the encounter could be over in an hour. Serena's serve and return are the key. As much as Henin fights, her serve hasn't held up well throughout the fortnight. But her opponents haven't been able to fend off her aggressive return game to hold their own serves.

Serena went through four rounds without dropping serve and it wasn't until nerves overcame her at the outset of her quarterfinal encounter against Victoria Azarenka that she finally surrendered a service game. Several of them. But if she's comfortably holding serve -- she's served the most aces (53) and clocked the fastest serve (126.7 MPH) through 6 rounds -- and breaking serve at will, Henin won't win a set.

But Serena is trying to defend a Slam title for the first time since Wimbledon 2003. And while she asserted in a presser that she doesn't enter events to defend titles but to win them, I can't imagine some nervous pressure won't leaden her feet in the first few games of the match.

Henin, who recently admitted being afraid of playing Serena, could play with nothing to lose or as anxiously as she did against Elena Dementieva in the second round. Either way, her second serve is a wasteland and her penchant for double faulting at the crucial junctures of a match could be her undoing. However, if she's cracking forehand winners with that shorter backswing and earlier contact and wearing Serena down with dropshots, she could take Serena the distance.

Serena leads their career head-to-head 7-6. The American is 4-1 on hardcourts, the Belgian, 4-2 in Slams. They're tied at 2 wins apiece in event finals. Amazingly, this will be their first match in a Slam final and their first match in Melbourne.

Even though Serena has never lost a final Down Under, she's never won the title in an even year. Henin's only Australian Open title came in an even year.

ESPN will air the finals live at 3:30AM eastern standard time. Take your naps, set your alarms, prepare the popcorn and get ready for the fireworks.

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Cross posted to Huffington Post

Catching Up

SINCE the day the entire tapestry of my coming of age was ripped from the walls, not quite three weeks ago, Academy-Award winner Karl Malden passed on at 97; a 24-year-old professional tennis player died of a heart attack; a cousin died of a heart attack; a sister tried to hideaway a stolen car on our property; Michael Jackson had a televised homegoing celebration; President Obama, the First Lady, and Sasha and Malia visited Ghana and the few images of the visit I've been able to take in have stirred up more than I knew was there; Sarah Palin quit governing Alaska because she thinks she's going to be president; Serena Williams won her third Wimbledon title; Andy Roddick almost won his first; another southern Black woman with impeccable credentials has been chosen Surgeon General; Justice Sotomayor's hearing has begun; and the sun in the paradise we're creating finally came up from beneath a shelf of clouds.

Serena Williams Wins 10th Grand Slam

Cross-posted to Craig Hickman's Tennis Blog

HUBBY, who pretty much only watches tennis when walking through the living room, asked me who Serena was playing in the final. When I told him, the said, "Oh. That should be quick."

How right he was.

Dinara Safina wept.

You would too if facing the crushing onslaught of serves and forehands from the Fierce Stompin' Diva.

That was Serena Williams' second Melbourne final to the loss of only three games.

And the roof was open. Her first Melbourne title outdoors.

Double digits, baby. Double digits.

Back on top of the world.

Go on, girl.


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Related Post: Trophy Presentation Slideshow

Serena Williams Opens School In Kenya

International tennis player US's Serena Williams addresses students after opening the Serena Williams Secondary School in Matooni 161km east of Nairobi on November 14, 2008. Getty Images

KENYA sure is getting a lot of attention. Glad to see my girl doing her thing off the court as well.

Despite an unfortunate stomach injury at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, world No.3 Serena Williams still had one huge milestone to look forward to in November, as she opened a school she has co-founded in Africa. Located in Matooni, in eastern Kenya, the school was built through a partnership with tech giant Hewlett Packard and the charity Build African Schools. Williams, accompanied by her mother and younger sister, officially opened the Serena Williams Secondary School on Friday, November 14.

After arriving in Africa, Williams took a 40-minute helicopter ride to Matooni, accompanied by Kenyan Education Minister Professor Sam Ongeri, where she was greeted by thousands of fans and supporters from nearby villages. After cutting the ribbon to open the solar powered school, she attended a play put on by area children and hosted a tennis clinic. "I feel so honored to be here. Thanks so much for receiving me for my first time in Kenya," said Williams at the opening. "Education is the only way out of poverty – that’s what my parents taught us – so obviously building this school is really near and dear to me," she added.

The school, which was opened in an area that has one of the highest dropout rates in Kenya, will be mixed gender. Williams promised that she would work with the government to bring electricity to the school and to improve educational standards. "This is my first of many schools I plan to open up in Kenya," said Williams. "It’s amazing how education has uplifted the lives of many people, and have empowered them to determine their own future… It is the best achievement that I have done in my life."

She's become quite the humanitarian over the past few years.

Serena at Fashion Week

Queen of the Night

Dear Tennisgods,

Thank you for such an extraordinary tennis match last night. It was easily the best US Open women's final I've ever seen live. For a change, not one was cowed by the moment. Just to win most of the points, Serena and Jelena had to travel coast to coast, north and south, just to come back to the middle to put a ball away. I was getting tired just watching the match. So much running. 6-4, 7-5. Two sets. Over two hours. Felt like the match went to a third-set tiebreak, didn't it?

Thank you for giving the divas the energy to keep it up. Jelena surprised me with how well she played and fought and wouldn't let Serena run away with it. Perhaps she might consider focusing on the match more than her own image on the jumbo tron, but whatever works.

Thank you most of all for allowing my girl to prevail. Her focus, even when her legs froze toward the end of the second set and she couldn't keep the ball in the court, was laser sharp. She almost looked like she had a flashback to that horrible night in 2004 when that chair umpire who shall not be named lost her that quarterfinal against Jennifer Capriati. Who just happened to be there last night.

It's been a long time between drinks, and I was beginning to think you had forsaken me. But it was worth the wait. Six years since Serena won her last US Open. That's the longest stretch in the Open Era between singles titles won by a woman player at the same Slam. Five years since Serena was ranked No. 1 in the world. The longest stretch since the ranking systems began for a player to fall from and return to the top of the charts.

I've never seen her so happy after winning a Slam. She looked like she was going to jump right out of the stadium. Reminded me of her big sister after winning Wimbledon in 2005 in a great, great final. And Venus was right there channeling her energy down to the court and rooting her little sister on to victory. Her father was dancing in the aisles. Her mother wore that 1,000 watt smile from ear to ear. It was a beautiful thing.

More of this, please. I don't want to be greedy, but I wouldn't mind if Serena played well enough to end the year at No. 1, which would throw all sorts of pie in the faces of her detractors. Already Chris Evert is trying to act as though he's always supported how Serena has handled herself in her career. We know better.

Whatever happens from here on out, thanks again for such a memorable match and I look forward to more.

Love,

Craig

Williams Sisters Win Another Gold Medal in Doubles

WHAT would American tennis be without the sisters?

House of Williams

VENUS WILLIAMS joins tennis greats Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova with her fifth Wimbledon championship in the Open Era.

And she finally beat Serena Williams again in a Slam final. After losing to Serena in five Slam finals, four of them in a row, it was clearly Venus' turn to get some revenge and take another title over Serena, her first since the 2001 US Open.

This is the third time in Venus' career that she defended a Slam title. She's now tied with recently "retired" Justine Henin with seven Slams, one shy of Serena, who remains the only active player to have won all four Slams.

You can read our takes on the match in the Open Thread.









Venus followed up her singles championship victory with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in doubles alongside sister Serena over Lisa Raymond of the United States and Samantha Stosur of Australia.



Virginia Wade, my favorite commentator, said that of all the doubles matches featuring Serena and Venus that she has seen, this was the first match where they played pure doubles as a team rather than scintillating singles tennis on a doubles court.

Quite a feat only hours after the grueling emotions of a Slam singles final against each other.

This is the third time, 2000 and 2002 previously, that they've won the doubles title. All three times, one of them has also won the singles title.

If theirs isn't among the greatest stories in the history of the sport - of all sports - I don't know what is.

Like Little Black Girls

THEY DID IT. Serena and Venus Williams will meet in their seventh Grand Slam final, the first in five years on championship weekend at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

The two best grass court players of this generation.

Venus has won Wimbledon four times and been to six finals. This will be her seventh. The only player she's lost to in finals is her little sister in 2002 and 2003.

Serena has won the Venus Rosewater Dish twice and been to three finals. This will be her fourth. She lost the final to Maria Sharapova in 2004.

These two greats had to stave off two gutsy opponents in today's battles. Serena ended the dreams of Chinese wild card and unlikely semifinalist Zheng Jie who gave Serena all she could handle in the second set. Venus dismissed first-time Wimbledon semifinalist Elena Dementieva from Russia, who also put up a strong challenge in the second set.

The sisters bounced up and down like little black girls when they clinched their respective victories.

Here's to a sister Slam.

Photo of the Day

SERENA WILLIAMS and her sister and teammate Venus arrive to play against India's Sania Mirza and American Bethanie Mattek during their doubles tennis match of the 2008 Wimbledon championships at The All England Tennis Club in southwest London, on July 2, 2008. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)

Photo of the Day

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SERENA WILLIAMS wins her first match yesterday at Wimbledon.