Category — Tennis

Tennis legend “Rocket” Rod Laver made the rounds before Sunday’s Diamondbacks-Padres encounter in San Diego. Even the sometimes grumpy Kirk Gibson loosened up. Below, Laver poses with Arizona GM Kevin Towers and Gibby.

The look on Sloane Stephens’ face immediately after she upset Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Tuesday night was priceless. So was her game.
Though Serena had a tough time navigating the rough waters with a back injury, something she said she injured before the match and tweaked in the 2nd set, give the 19-year-old Stephens credit. She had to survive some rocky moments in the match herself, particularly early on to prevail 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Stephens will meet No. 1 Victoria Azarenka tonight with the winner earning a trip to the final. No 1 is giving her chance to win against Azarenka. Regardless, Stephens has added her name to the tennis landscape.

While many are predicting a Maria Sharapova-Serena Williams clash for the title, the Australian Open has more drama before we reach that point. Thank Sloan Stephens for that since she will meet her mentor Serena in tomorrow’s quarterfinals. Sharapova advanced to the semis with a win over Ekaterina Makarova. On the other side of the bracket, we believe Sloan is in over her head, but we like her refreshing approach. She didn’t shy away from wanting to play Serena last night when asked by the talking heads on ESPN.

My favorite tennis tournament kicked off tonight with Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams all prevailing in their 1st-round matches at the Australian Open. Of course Serena is the favorite on the women’s side. And unless someone has an answer for her, she will probably have her way and capture another title. We’re betting on it. But before we crown homegirl plenty of matches are to be played.
The tournament continues through Jan. 26. ESPN and the Tennis Channel are broadcasting coverage.

I love the 1st 2 lines: “I liked Venus better. Not that you had to pick one, in a John vs. Paul sort of way.”
Serena Williams is playing her best tennis. She smoking the opposition at the U.S. Open like Marley smoked trees. Writer Brian Phillips pens a good read about Serena’s current play and how she and Venus were perceived when they 1st rocked the lilly-white tennis world. As much as I like it, I wonder what if a black writer had written something similar and the outrage it would have produced.
Grantland.com

Didn’t know they still sold Mores.
For years, plenty of folks, many of them media types, made fun of Richard Williams. How could this guy, from Compton no less, teach his girls to become the best in the world in the lilly-white world of professional tennis? Well, we know the rest of the story.
Recommended reading: Howard Bryant’s piece on Richard and his daughters, Serena and Venus, as the U.S. Open kicks off. Richard is finally getting the last laugh.
ESPN The Magazine

Now if we could only get some of these same writers to scream for a little diversity in their sports departments. Or even better, how about making some noise about how gang violence impacts those communities Serena grew up in? Oh the silence is deafening.
After beating Maria Sharapova like a drum for a gold medal in women’s tennis, Serena Williams became the talk of the universe for performing the “Crip Walk” after her victory. Twitter is all a flutter, with journalists, fans and others clashing about whether it was appropriate or not.
An all-white cast of reporters greeted (and we use that term loosely) Williams after the dance, asking her what the hell she was doing. A bunch of readers, many of them African Americans, are greeting (again, we use that term loosely) and asking some of those same white journalists what the hell are they writing and what’s up with all the fuss.
For some reason, I don’t think we’ve heard the end of this.

With royalty looking on, Roger Federer sealed his 7th Wimbledon title with a kiss and a defeat of Andy Murray, who carried the hopes of England with him.
Sporting News

With Serena capturing the women’s singles crown at Wimbledon today, 10 of the last 13 titles have been won by the Williams’ sisters. That doesn’t include the pair’s double championships.
Serena bounced back after a devasting early elimination in the French Open to defeat Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 for the championship.

We couldn’t even get through the opening round of Wimbledon without it claiming a big fish. Venus Williams was smoked today by Russian Elena Vesnina, 6-1, 6-3.
N.Y. Times