2011 Williams Watch-Big Sis And Little Sis Are Going To Play Some Tennis

Can I call it or what?    When I penned my last Williams watch post concerning the French Open  I had this to say about the prospects of seeing my favorite tennis playing siblings take the court this season: 

'If I had to guess when the Williams sisters plan on making their return to the tennis world, I'd circle June 20 on the calendar.    That's the starting date for their favorite Grand Slam tournament, 'Williams'-don'.    TransGriot   May 17, 2011

Read it and weep tennis world.  Playtime in the women's tennis world is over.  Break out the strawberries and cream, Serena and Venus are coming back.. 

Serena hasn't played since stepping on glass at a Munich restaurant four days after winning the 2010 'Williams'-don tournament and slicing two tendons in her foot.   She underwent two surgeries on that foot, and then was hospitalized in February for a hematoma in her stomach an a pulmonary embolism. 

Her ranking has slid to number 25 in the world since then, but knowing her it won't take her long to get back into the Top Ten.  . 

Venus hasn't played since injuring her hip during the 2011 Australian Open, but is on track to play at Wimbledon as well. 

I call The Championships 'Williams-don because out of all the Grand Slam tournaments, this is the one they have throughly dominated.   They have won nine of the last eleven singles titles and played each other four times for the Venus (Williams) Rosewater Dish.      


They are set to play the Eastbourne grass court tournament that precedes the start of Wimbledon, which begins on June 20-July 3.

2011 Williams Watch-Big Sis and Little Sis Withdraw From French Open

The Williams haters are probably happy about this, but my favorite tennis playing siblings will not be participating in the tennis proceedings over the next two weeks in Paris..

Big Sis and Little Sis have withdrawn from the 2011 French Open which was starting today.    It's the first time since 2003 that neither Serena or Venus will grace Stade Roland Garros with their presence.    Serena just returned to practicing on a regular basis last month after a foot injury and later a serious blood clot blew up the remainder of her 2010 season and took her out of the Australian Open. 

Venus hasn't played since she injured her hip during the 2011 Australian Open

If I had to guess when the Williams sisters plan on making their return to the tennis world, I'd circle June 20 on the calendar.    That's the starting date for their favorite Grand Slam tournament, Williams-don.

Oh by the way tennis world, the venue for next year's Olympic tennis tournament is the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

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.

2010 US Open Williams Watch-Venus Moves To Semis

it's been a struggle at times, but Big Sis has battled her way through this 201 US without her sister by her side. The doubles teams of the tennis world are breathing a sigh of relief until Little Sis' foot heals.

She got one step closer to her first US Open final since 2002 by beating 2010 French Open champ and sixth seeded Francesca Schiavione of Italy in a hard fought 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 quarterfinal match.

While her serve has been shaky for most of this tournament, she still hasn't dropped a set in advancing to her first US open semifinal since 2007.

Number 3 seeded Big Sis will take on number two seed Kim Clijsters in the semis, who survived a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 three set quarterfinal tussle with number seven seeded Aussie Samantha Stosur.

Here's hoping Big Sis has a better result against Clijsters than Serena did last year.

2010 US Open Williams Watch-Venus Upholding The Family Honor

Serena had to pull out of this year's US Open due to surgery to repair lacerated tendons on her foot. It's up to Big Sis to uphold Williams family honor as the number 3 seed.

Venus hasn't dropped a set yet as she attempts to win her first US open singles title since 2001. She beat Luxembourg's Mandy Minella 6-2, 6-1 in her first round match. In the second round she struggled with Canada's Rebecca Marino and was forced to a first set tiebreaker before prevailing 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

In her third round match with Roberta Vinci of Italy she took her out in straight sets as well 6-4, 6-1 to set up a fourth round matchup with Israel's Shahar Peer.

She beat Peer 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 to face 2010 French Open champ Francesca Schiavione of Italy in the quarterfinals. Number 2 seeded Kim Clijsters is lurking on her side of the draw along with Samantha Stosur of Australia and Russia's Elena Dementieva.

Here's hoping she's the last woman standing at the end of the week in Flushing Meadow.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Serena Repeats!

6-3, 6-2. Take that Williams haters.

Serena Williams started the 2k10's the same way she and Big Sis started the last decade. She took only 67 minutes to beat down Russia's Vera Zvonareva for her third straight Wimbledon Ladies' singles title, fourth overall, and 13th for her career.

She now ranks 6th overall for Grand Slam singles title wins, passing Billie Jean King on the all time list.

Next target is Chris Evert with 18.

Little Sis won another Venus (and Serena) Rosewater Dish without dropping a set and by serving a Wimbledon record 88 aces. She had only eight in her demolition of Zvonareva, who was in her first Grand Slam final.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Serena In Finals

The haters aren't happy, but for the tenth time in eleven years, there will be a Williams sister in the Wimbledon Ladies' singles final on Saturday.

The Number One seed took out Petra Kvitova in straight sets 7-6(7-5), 6-2 to return to the final for the third straight year. She is seeking her fourth Wimbledon title and her 13th overall. All three of her previous Wimbledon titles were won against Venus in 2002, 2003 and 2009.

Serena will get a chance to exact revenge against Russia's Vera Zvonareva, who with Elena Vesnina upset her and Big Sis in the Ladies' doubles quarterfinals.

I hope she does. I was less than thrilled with the haters posting on the Wimbledon website following their quarterfinal doubles loss and posted my own comment.

I guess they'll be wearing their pointed hoods Saturday as they root for the latest Great Eastern European Tennis Glamazon Hope to attempt to derail a Williams sister from picking up another Venus and Serena Rosewater Dish.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Upset In Doubles-Out KKKome The Haters

The World Number One and Number one tournament seeded doubles team were upset by Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 3-6, 4-6. It was the first doubles loss for the Williams' sisters at Wimbledon since 2003 and Venus is totally out of the tournament.

It also killed their chance to complete a calendar year doubles Grand Slam by taking this tournament.

And the haters are celebrating.

From the Wimbledon website.

Great day of tennis... Would be nice, if serena loses her semi....Tired of seeing physical overpowering on others.. Thangs, United States, 30 June 15:50

Comments like 'Williams sisters make womens tennis interesting' are actually funny. I suppose if you call two wanna-be fashion designers, arrogance and verbally abusing linesman interesting - Well OK. Nothing more boring in tennis than a Williams final. Looking forward to Saturday ! Steve, Great Britain, 30 June 13:07

Hurray for Zvonerera and Vesinina's win. Much needed. Now we need someone to knock Serena out of the singles. Its time for new names on the trophies. Williams, Williams and Williams all the time is SO BORING. Well done girls you deserved your win Janice K, Great Britain, 30 June 9:11

Terribly happy that they are out from the womens double & for venus defeat. Waiting for the next william... __I don't enjoy their game at all & they don't bring anything good to the sport. S.W needs anger management and V.W needs to accept that when someone beats them - it means they were better then them! Hard work! Hanna S, Great Britain, 30 June 13:16

If the Williamses were blond haired blue eyed white girls from the 'burbs or Eastern European glamazons, none of these haters would be bitching about their dominance of the world tennis rankings, or the way they have owned 'Williams'don during the last decade.

But since they're from Compton...

Now you know why I want the Williams sisters to win every damn major tournament they enter, because of bigoted and borderline racist sentiments expressed like this.

If you haters are tired of seeing the Williams sisters scoop up every Grand Slam title in sight, then their competitors need to step up the level of their play to compete with and beat them. Right now the only players in the women's tennis world capable of beating a Williams sister are themselves.

It's up to Serena to uphold Williams family honor in her semifinal against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Frankly, after seeing that BS on the Wimbledon website, I hope Serena wins her next two matches and I see her on Saturday holding the Venus and Serena Rosewater Dish aloft for the third year in a row.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Big Sis Out

While Little Sis was busy beating China's Li Na in straight sets, Big Sis handed a straight set Christmas gift 2-6,3-6 loss to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.

"I just didn't get enough balls in today," she admitted. "I had a lot of opportunities and a lot of short balls but I just seemed to hit each one out. Obviously she played well but I don't think I did anything right today."

Yeah, 29 unforced errors will pave the way for a loss big time. It also means for the first time in three years there will be no all-Williams Ladies' singles final.

Meanwhile Little Sis was cruising to the semifinals with a 7-5, 6-3 straight set victory and a semifinal meeting with the Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova.

She'll face the winner of the Vera Zvonareva-Tsvetana Pironkova match. Zvonareva ousted Kim Clijsters in three sets to punch her ticket to the Ladies' singles semis.

Venus isn't done at Wimbledon yet. She can still collect a check and trophy in the doubles competition. She and Serena are still cruising through the Wimbledon Ladies' doubles competition and face the Russian duo of Elena Vesina and Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-On To The Quarterfinals

In their only meeting at Wimbledon until today, Maria Sharapova upset Serena Williams for the 2004 Wimbledon Ladies' singles title.

Things are much different now as they faced each other once again on Centre Court in the fourth round of this year's tournament.

It took Little Sis an hour and 35 minutes, three saved set points, 19 aces and 31 winners, but she eventually subdued the 16th seed Sharapova 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 and move on to a quarterfinal matchup with China's Li Na.

If Serena gets past Li Na, she would take on the winner of the Petra Kvitova-Kala Kanepi match. Kvitova upset third seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in straight sets while Estonia's Kanepi is a qualifier on a little bit of a giant killing roll herself.

Number 2 seeded Big Sis was busy on the other side of the bracket subduing Australia's Jarmila Groth in a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) straight set victory to advance to a quarterfinal round match with Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.

If Big Sis gets past her, she'd have a tougher semifinal match to get through. She would have to take on the winner of the Kim Clijsters-Vera Zvonareva match.

The Williams sisters are moving on to the quarterfinals in the Ladies' doubles competition as well after beating Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.

The Number one doubles seeds and World number one's have yet to drop a set in this 2010 Ladies' doubles tournament.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-On To The Fourth Round

My favorite tennis playing sisters are still alive and on track to meet in the Wimbledon Ladies' singles Finals for the third straight year.

Defending champ and number one seed Serena beat Slovakia's Dominika Cibulková in straight sets 6-0, 7-5 to move on to a fourth round meeting with 2004 Wimbledon Champ Maria Sharapova.

On the other side of the bracket, Venus beat Russia's Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-2 to move on to her fourth round match with Australia's Jarmila Groth.

The number one world ranked Williams sisters are kicking butt and taking names in doubles as well. They moved on to the third round of the 2010 Ladies' doubles competition by dispatching Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland and Tathiana Garbin of Italy 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) to move on to the third round with Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Busy Day

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II made her first Wimbledon visit in 33 years and met the current Queen of Wimbledon's Ladies' singles, Serena Williams amongst other current Wimbledon champions.

While John Isner was going through his record breaking Survivor: Wimbledon three day five set first round match with France's Nicholas Mahut that started on Tuesday and ended with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 win on Thursday, it seemed like Serena was trying to set the record for fastest tennis match played.

She headed to Court No. 2 and dispatched Russia's Anna Chakvetadze 6-0, 6-1 in 49 minutes to move on to the third round.

Chakvetadze was once ranked Number 5 in the world, but her ranking has cratered to Number 118. This match basically let her know how far she has to go to get back to playing upper echelon tennis.

The first set took Little Sis only 23 minutes, and 26 minutes later Serena was headed to the clubhouse with a straight set victory and passage to a third round meeting with Slovakia's Dominika Cibulková.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Little Sis Moves On

Number one tournament seed Serena Williams opened the defense of her Wimbledon championship with an opening round match on Centre Court versus Portugal's Michelle Larcher de Brito.

It took her an hour and three minutes to cruise to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Larcher de Brito. She served 15 aces enroute to the win and extended her streak of first round Grand Slam wins to an impressive 43-0

Little Sis faces Russia's Anna Chakvetadze in the second round.

She teams up with Big Sis to open the defense of their doubles title with an opening round match versus fellow American Julie Ditty and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Big Sis' Successful Opening

Venus turned 30 on June 17 and gave herself a belated birthday present today by successfully navigating her opening round match with Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios.

The five time Wimbledon champ handled her business in straight sets. She took 5-0 leads in each set before cruising to a 6-3, 6-2 victory to reach the second round.

Big Sis is now 47-3 over her career in opening matches at Grand Slam tournaments.

Venus has played in eight of the past 10 Wimbledon finals, and won the 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008 Ladies' singles championship.

Her second round singles opponent will be Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Checking Out The Draw

The draw for The Championships as 'Williams'-don is referred to across The Pond took place Friday and we now know two things.

The first is that Big Sis and Little Sis are on opposite sides of the Ladies' Singles bracket (thank God). If both win all their matches, they could meet in the Ladies' singles finals for the third consecutive year.

2004 Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova is in Serena's section of the draw and they could potentially meet in the third round. She also has Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters on her side of the draw as well.

Venus has 2010 French Open Champ Francesca Schiavone on her side of the Ladies' singles draw with a possible meeting in the quarterfinals.

The road to Serena's fourth Ladies' single championship starts with Number one seeded Little Sis playing Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal.

Number two seeded Big Sis starts her quest for her sixth Wimbledon title with an opening round match against Paraguay's Rossana de los Ríos.

In the Ladies' doubles the Williams sisters are seeded Number one and will open their defense of their doubles title against the duo of fellow American Julie Ditty and the Czech Republic's Renata Voráčová.

If they capture this title, they would only need to win the US Open doubles crown to complete the calendar year doubles Grand Slam.

2010 Wimbledon Williams Watch-Break Out The Strawberries And Cream

Wimbledon is steeped in traditions. People eat strawberries and cream and drink Pimms spritzers during matches. Players wear white tennis outfits and watch the Number one and two seeded Williams sisters beat down everybody on their way to the Wimbledon Ladies' singles and Ladies' doubles titles.

Out of all the Grand Slam tournaments, it's the one my favorite tennis playing sisters have thoroughly dominated. Serena is the defending champion, she and Big Sis have played each other in the singles championship match two straight years and are the defending Wimbledon doubles champs.

Their domination in the last decade was so thorough the All England Lawn Tennis And Croquet Club should consider renaming the Ladies' Singles championship trophy the Venus and Serena Williams Rosewater Dish.

The only years during the 2k's that someone other than a Williams has won the Ladies' singles at Wimbledon is 2004 and 2006. Maria Sharapova's straight set finals win ended Serena's bid for a threepeat. In 2006 Serena was injured and didn't play in the tournament and Venus was eliminated in the third round by Jelena Jankovic.

They come into 'Williams'-don not only shooting for a Ladies' singles championship match threepeat, they are the number one world ranked doubles team and halfway to completing a doubles Grand Slam.

In singles Serena also holds the world Number One ranking while Big Sis is the World Number Two. The Williams sisters not surprisingly are seeded Numbers one and two in Ladies' singles, and number one in Ladies' doubles.

And bad news for the rest of the world, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is the venue for the 2012 Olympic tennis competition.

London OOC, y'all may want to consider mailing the Olympic singles and doubles tennis gold medals to the Williams sisters now after you create them.

Looking forward to the start of 'Williams'-don. The draw for both the Ladies' Singles and Ladies' doubles will take place on June 18, and I'll have a better idea about who is impeding their progress to a third straight finals appearance on that date.

Strawberries and cream anyone?

2010 French Open Williams Watch-Serena And Venus Take Doubles Title

Who said the Williams sisters couldn't play on clay or win at Stade Roland Garros?

While the frustration continues in the French Open women's singles tournament, my fave tennis playing sisters business trip to Paris wasn't a total loss.

Team Williams will be taking home their first French Open doubles title since 1999 after efficiently spanking the doubles tandem of the Czech Republic's Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.

Venus and Serena Williams keep making tennis history as well. It's their fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title and 12th overall, and they are only the third doubles duo to accomplish that feat. Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver did so in 1983-84, and Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva did it in 1992-93.

With the win they not only captured the number one world ranking in doubles, they are halfway to achieving a calendar year doubles Grand Slam.

The Williams sisters won six Grand Slam doubles titles from 1999-2003. After a five year lull, they began playing doubles regularly again as part of their preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Since taking the doubles gold in Beijing, they've won six of eight majors and bad news for the rest of the women's doubles teams out there, Team Williams is planning to continue playing the doubles majors through the 2012 Summer Olympics.

FYI, the tennis venue for the London Games is 'Williams'-don.

Next stop for the Williams sisters, a hop across the channel to London for their favorite tournament, Wimbledon.

2010 French Open Williams Watch-Little Sis Ousted In Quarters

The Williams haters are jumping for joy now that Number one seeded Little Sis was beaten in the quarterfinals by Australia's Samantha Stosur 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-8.

She had a match point in the third set that sailed an inch wide, and Stosur capitalized on it to break serve for a 7-6 lead. She then closed out the match with three service winners to hand Serena her first Grand Slam tournament loss since last year's US Open semifinal.

Serena was trying to reach her first French Open singles final since 2003 and was trying for a calendar year Grand Slam.

Oh well, Williams-don starts June 21. Serena is not only defending champion, she and Big Sis are the defending doubles champs.

Serena dusted herself off after her loss and joined Big Sis an hour later for a hard fought 2 hour three set win over American Liezel Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the French Open doubles final for the first time since 1999.

Number one seeded Team Williams will face the team of the Czech Republic's Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia, who upset the Number 2 seeds Maria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain in three sets to get to this French Open doubles finals.

With their semifinals win, the Williams sisters are now the Number one ranked doubles team in the world irregardless of the results of the doubles final.

Serena is also the first player since Kim Clijsters accomplished the feat in 2003 to hold Number one world rankings simultaneously in singles and doubles.

Should Team Williams be successful in capturing the French Open doubles title, they would be halfway to completing a doubles Grand Slam.

2010 French Open Williams Watch-Little Sis In Quarters

World Number 1 ranked Serena Williams not surprisingly is the lone American woman standing in the singles competition at the 2010 French Open.

She began her second week in Paris as the French Open's Number one seed by stepping onto Court Philippe Chatrier and taking out Israel's Shahar Peer in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to move on to the quarterfinals.

She will face Aussie Samantha Stosur, a 2009 French Open semifinalist who upset four time French Open champ Justine Henin 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 over on Court Suzanne Lenglen to end Henin's French Open win streak.

Meanwhile, the Williams express hasn't dropped a set as they roll through the 2010 Roland Garros doubles competition. They moved on to the doubles semifinal with a 6-2, 6-3 straight set demolition over the duo of Maria Kirilenko of Russia and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

Team Williams faces fellow American Liezel Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain. Garrigues along with Virginia Ruano won last year's French Open doubles title.

Here's hoping that the Williams sisters make it to their first French Open doubles final since 1999.

2010 French Open Williams Watch-Big Sis Out In Singles

We have one less Williams sister playing tennis in the Roland Garros women's singles draw.

Number Two seeded Big Sis was upset by Russia's Nadia Petrova 4-6, 3-6 to put Venus' attempt to win her first French Open singles title to a screeching halt.

She's still playing tennis in Paris, but it will only be doubles with Serena until hopefully June 3.

Venus did get a little redemption by teaming with Little Sis to beat the Czech Republic's duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

Team Williams moves on to the quarterfinals in their bid to win their first French Open doubles title since 1999. They will take on the duo of Maria Kirilenko of Russia and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

Speaking of Little Sis, Serena's quest to win her first French Open singles title since 2002 is still alive.

She plays her fourth round match against Israel's Shahar Peer. If she gets past Peer, she gets the winner of the Justine Henin-Samantha Stosur match.