Court Seven at the Oz Open ... the city nearby
Reporters were scuffling about to discover when, if ever, the Sisters were both beaten on the same day. Venus was out of the Aussie Open, having blown leads while losing to the Chinese Li Na after a strong start, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5. Hard to believe.
Serena, the reigning champ, sporting more bandages than a first aid station, was falling apart against Viktoria Azarenka, down a set and 0-4. The presumed Sisterly semis was not to be. So when was the last time they took a double hit in a major? Go back six years to the French quarter-finals when Venus was downed by the champ-to-be, Anastasia Myskina, and Serena fell to Jennifer Capriati. continue reading »
January 27 2010 | Australian Open | No Comments »
President of Tennis channel, Ken Solomon with Bud
Before Venus and Serena came along, the most celebrated tennis player by the name of Williams was a Philadelphian: Richard Norris Williams, II. Quite a handle, but he preferred that his pals call him Dick.
Dick almost didn’t make it much past his 21st birthday because he happened to be riding on a steamship called the Titanic that didn’t make it past the interruption of its maiden voyage in 1912. Intrepidly he dived into the chilling North Atlantic, swam to a collapsed lifeboat, hung on for 6 hours until picked up by the rescuing Carpathia, then thawed out by painfully walking the deck. continue reading »
June 30 2009 | Wimbledon | 1 Comment »
MELBOURNE – Rafa Nadal, who has come here as the man to beat, says he likes this city (even though he hasn’t won the title here in four tries). “It is big but calm. Very clean,” he says. It is.
Venus Williams says she likes to drive all over town. Even on the left side of the road, which doesn’t faze her. Gets lost all the time, but works her way back to familiar territory. However, Serena says, “They” – presumably her mother – “won’t let me drive here. I had a bad experience that I won’t talk about.”
Venus did have an accident here, however – a second round collision with a new Spanish model named Carla Suarez Navarro. Even though Venus had a match point, Carla ran through that stop sign to win, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. This kid is one to watch, particularly on clay – but the blue pavement here didn’t faze her.
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January 25 2009 | Australian Open | 3 Comments »
