2011 Williams Watch-Venus Out Of Aussie Open

While Big Sis manged to gut out a three set victory over Sandra Zahlavova despite the injury she suffered in the first set of that match, 48 hours wasn't enough for her to recover from it.

Seven points into the first set of her match with Germany's Andrea Petkovic and trailing 0-1 she was forced to default due to that injury to the muscle that flexes the hip and spinal column. 

.“The last 48 hours, I just did as much pain management as I could,” Venus said. “A lot of times when you play, you get that adrenaline and that blocks pain. I just didn’t get enough of that today. I was hoping for some magic that I could recover.” 

It ended a remarkable streak over her career in which she had never defaulted in a Grand Slam match in addition to ending another quest for her first Australian Open singles title.

Get well Big Sis and hope we see you and Little Sis playing some Grand Slam tennis before the year is out.

2011 Williams Watch-Venus Guts It Out To 3rd Round

Venus began her quest for her first Australian Open singles title with a straight set 6-4, 6-3 win over Sara Errani of Italy and faced 97th ranked Sandra Zahlavova in the second round at Rod Laver Arena.. 

But Zahlavova surprisingly pushed Venus around in that first set helped along by 23 unforced errors and some double faults by Venus to take the first set in a 8-6 tiebreaker.   On set point Big Sis suffered an upper calf injury and took a timeout to get it treated.

When Big Sis came back out of that locker room she opened up a can of Williams whoop azz and blitzed Zahlavova to take the second set 6-0.

The third set was fairly even until Venus broke her to take a 4-3 lead and eventually close out the final set with a 6-4 win and hobble into the third round.

6-7(6-8), 6-0, 6-4.  Big Sis can exhale and get the trainer working on that calf until she faces the winner of the Anne Keothavong- Andrea Petkovic match.
 

2011 Williams Watch-Serena's Out Of The Australian Open

I can say two things for certain as the 2011 Australian Open gets underway.  Serena Williams will not threepeat as its women's singles champion  and the Williams sisters will not repeat as the Australian Open women's doubles champs.

That's because Little Sis is still sidelined with a foot injury that has been slow to heal and will be watching Big Sis from the stands as the action gets underway Down Under at Melbourne Park.

She cut her foot on some broken glass while leaving a Munich restaurant July 7 and the foot required surgery.   She missed the 2010 US Open as a result and is now out of the Australian Open as well.

Venus is still there to represent the Williams family tennis dynasty and keep the Australian Open singles title in the family

But it won't be easy for number five world ranked Big Sis.   She's seeded fourth in this tournament and has current world number one ranked Caroline Wozniacki, Li Na, Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin on her side of the draw just for starters.

However, this is the one Grand Slam tournament that Venus hasn't won in her career, and the only time she was an Australian Open finalist she lost to Little Sis in 2003.     She made it to the quarterfinals before bowing out last year.

So it will be interesting to see what Big Sis does in this 2011 edition of the Australian Open, and I'm hoping that Little Sis will eventually show up, play some tennis and regain her Number One ranking..

Team USA Women 2010 FIBA Worlds-On To The Quarters

Number one FIBA ranked Team USA faced off for the top seed in Group E today against defending FIBA champion Australia in Ostrava with much at stake.

The winner would not only stay unbeaten in this 2010 FIBA world championship tournament, they would clinch Group E and the number one seed heading into the knockout round quarterfinals.

Thanks to a 51-33 first half powered by Diana Taurasi's team high 24 points, Team USA moved to 6-0 and clinched the top spot in Group E by beating the Opals 83-75.

Sylvia Fowles added 15 points to go with her six rebounds and Tina Charles contributed 14 points to help the Team USA cause and extend their record against Australia in FIBA competition to 9-0.

Team USA moves on to Karlovy Vary and their day off needing only three more wins to achieve their ultimate goal of capturing the 2010 FIBA World championship.and that coveted qualifying spot in the 2012 London Games basketball tournament.

After the break Team USA kicks off quarterfinal play October 1 against Korea.  They would take on the winner of the France-Spain game in the semifinal should they defeat Korea.   Meanwhile the Opals face the homestanding Czech Republic and the survivor of the Belarus-Russia quarterfinal..

This may not be the last time we play the Opals, and if things break the way everyone expects, the next time Team USA and Australia clash, the FIBA title could be on the line.