REPORTING FROM THE LONDON OLYMPICS

LONDON, ENGLAND – The Queen of England was coming to Wimbledon for the first time in 33 years, and it was a special moment that Serena Williams opened up for. She was a little giddy and a lot respectful about the chance to curtsy for the Queen on Centre Court.

“I’m definitely going to work on it a little more,’’ Williams said. “I’m trying to tone down my wrist action. But my curtsy is really fun. It’s something that she’ll definitely never forget, if I ever get a chance to meet her.’’

That was two years ago, and when the big day came, Wimbledon officials placed Williams out on Court 2, where the Queen wouldn’t see her. Instead, Serena was on a court of the people, not a high-dollar show court. Williams never complained, but instead stayed after the match and signed autographs for kids who couldn’t normally see her.

So let’s be a little careful about how far we go with Williams’ little victory dance Saturday on Centre Court, in front of royalty, after winning the Olympic gold medal. She beat Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 in maybe the greatest match of her career, and surely the most dominant week. The Great American Tennis Story, from Compton to Centre Court, had her own crowning moment.

And instead of a curtsy, she did a Crip Walk on Centre Court. It’s a hip-hop street dance move, done by gang members over dead bodies. It was started in Compton by gang members. But it has, to some extent, begun to break into pop culture, though MTV once declined to show any videos that included the walk.

So was that a cocky endzone dance from Williams? Payback for stiffing her in front of the Queen? Or maybe rubbing it in to Sharapova, the stereotypical white tennis ideal – tall, blonde, thin and beautiful – who gets more endorsement money than Williams despite lesser accomplishments? Or maybe it was a raised middle finger at the tennis world for all Serena has been through over the years?

Well, it’s possible that it was any one, or all of those things. But I think mostly, it was just Williams’ celebrating the way Williams’ celebrates, acting out of joy, and not in-your-face. It was not an intentional snub. It was unplanned.

It’s impossible to say for sure, though. And this just shows how the disconnect between the Williams sisters and tennis, and certainly tennis’ history, strangely lives on uncomfortably.

“It was just me,’’ Williams said. “I love to dance. I didn’t know what else to do. I was so happy, and next thing I know, I started dancing and moving. I didn’t plan it. It just happened.’’

She shouldn’t have done it. She should have known better. Her own sister was murdered, and a crip member pleaded no contest. While plenty of the tennis media, and probably nearly everyone at Wimbledon, didn’t know what she had done, it’s hard to believe that Williams didn’t know.

It still seemed to be just a joyful celebration after winning a gold medal. And I think it was without purpose.

Look, this isn’t easy. It’s uncomfortable, and the pieces still don’t all fit right. But that’s not the Williams’ sisters fault. It’s tennis’ fault.

The Williams sisters are the solution.

Venus and Serena Williams have dominated Wimbledon for a decade. It is the seat of tennis history, all parts good and bad. It should be a perfect fit by now.

There was no worse sign of manners than when Williams was pushed off to Court 2. I think Williams’ crip walk was not a conscious thing on her part, but an accidental release.

A conscious thing was for Williams to practice her curtsy. A conscious thing was for Wimbledon to put her on Court 2 when the Queen was coming.

That moment two years ago moved me. In fact, even when the Queen was involved in the Olympics Opening Ceremony 10 days ago, on Twitter I snarked (is that a verb?) that they had asked Serena to do her athletes’ march not into the Olympic Stadium but instead at Court 2.

Serena has not been perfect. We all saw her go nuts to a line judge at the U.S. Open, threatening and dropping f-bombs. And then it took her a few days to apologize, pressured into it by her handlers. Later, she all-but recanted her apology anyway, saying she had been right all along. It’s hard to remember a time when Williams said she was wrong about anything.

At one point Saturday, she told reporters that she wouldn’t say what the name of her dance move was, that it was inappropriate. That, presumably, meant that she knew what it was. Then, she told a reporter that she hadn’t done it before and didn’t know where it came from.

So sometimes her stories don’t quite add up.

But Venus and Serena are changing the tennis world. Improving it. They won gold in doubles Sunday at Wimbledon, a day after Serena beat Sharapova. That’s two gold medals for the Great American Tennis Story in one weekend.

Tennis owes them one perfect curtsy.

REPORTING FROM THE LONDON OLYMPICS

WIMBLEDON (Aug. 1) – It’s getting hard to watch Andy Roddick play tennis. You can’t figure out what his spot is anymore. What his role is. Is he the great American tennis star? No. Well, sort of, maybe.

He isn’t going to win another major or get anywhere near the mountaintop again, but he’s still the only men’s player to be a star in U.S. pop culture, married to Brooklyn Decker, swimsuit model. Can he win a big match? Maybe one. He’s not coming, he’s not going. He hasn’t stayed too long, but it’s hard to know what he’s staying for. Maybe he just likes it.

But he’s sort of just suspended there, killing time. And it could go on, uncomfortably, for a while.

“I feel like it’s extremes with me right now,’’ he said after getting crushed Tuesday by Novak Djokovic in the Olympics at Wimbledon. It was 6-2, 6-1 in 54 minutes. “If I win one, it’s like Career Appreciation Day. Then if I lose one, it’s like we should take him out in the field and shoot him in the head.’’

Roddick is going to be a great TV analyst. That’s where he can mean the most to U.S. tennis now, if he brings his sharpness and his brutal honesty with him. You might not know it, but privately he is thoughtful about all sorts of issues. His sarcasm and meltdowns can become selling points for TV, too.

Please read the rest of my column at FoxSports.com

Top: Hope Solo, Lolo Jones; Bottom: Serena Williams, Venus Williams

REPORTING FROM THE LONDON OLYMPICS

LONDON (July 31) — Serena Williams is smart enough to figure this out, experienced enough to hear warning sirens. With her unfiltered thoughts, she has inspired people at times, embarrassed herself at times. She has traveled the world, lived in public half her life. She’s 30 years old.

So despite having nearly 3 million followers, Williams, the sports world’s Queen of Twitter, recognizes that this isn’t the time to start talking off the top of her head.

“I’ve been really careful about saying things in social media,’’ she said Monday when I asked her about athletes getting kicked out of the Olympics for racist and insensitive tweets. “I haven’t been on my account too much. I would be devastated if I got kicked out of the Olympics.’’

These are already the Twitter Games. The Solo/Lolo Show has dominated US Olympics talk. Soccer player Hope Solo went on a Twitter rant against Brandi Chastain. Hurdler Lolo Jones made an insensitive joke on Twitter about the US and guns.

And on Monday, a second athlete — neither are Americans — was kicked out of the Olympics for racist comments on Twitter. Should athletes be kicked out of the Olympics for racist tweets?

Please read the rest of my column at FoxSports.com

REPORTING FROM WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND – It’s not that Roger Federer is great, but that his greatness keeps going and going and going. He doesn’t get hurt because he floats above the court. He doesn’t give in. He doesn’t get old. And it’s amazing that he has never had enough.

He’s greedy about winning. It’s like he has an insatiable tennis libido or something.

Federer won Wimbledon on Sunday, beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. The key numbers are these: 17, 7 and 1. It was his 17th major championship, adding to his record. It was his record-tying (with Pete Sampras) seventh Wimbledon win.

And now, Federer jumps over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — two guys who had bypassed him — in the rankings. Roger Federer is No. 1 again.

“I knew how close I was for the last few years, and some people didn’t quite see that, maybe out of different reasons,’’ he said. “But I knew, and I think the belief got me to victory today.’’

As he held the championship cup, his first major in 2½ years, he said this: “Feels nice. Like it’s never left me.’’

Oh, it left him. Federer needed this championship badly.

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REPORTING FROM WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND – This was not just more of the same for Serena Williams, another Wimbledon, another championship. No, what’s lost is that this was a great comeback story for her.

Two years ago, she won Wimbledon and seemed unbeatable. Since then, she had been beaten down. A foot injury followed by life-threatening blood clots in her lungs. Then, lost confidence followed by lost composure.

She dropped to her back on the court in joy, then climbed into the stands and hugged her dad and her mom and sister Venus, as well as her other sisters. Then she broke into tears while publicly thanking friends and family who were with her in the hospital day after day.

“There was a moment, I just remember, I was on the couch and I didn’t leave the whole day, for two days,’’ she said later. “I was praying, like `I can’t take any more. I’ve endured enough.’ Let me be able to get through this. I was just so tired at that point.

“I had a tube in my stomach and it was draining constantly. Gosh, I mean, right before that I had the blood clot. I had lung problems. You know, then I had two foot surgeries. It was a lot. It was a lot. I felt like I didn’t do anything to bring on that.’

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REPORTING FROM WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND — Everyone deserves one last run, and this is Roger Federer’s. The gods and the weather and the schedule and even Wimbledon’s Centre Court roof have lined up for him. The opponents have all-but fallen down, and the guy he can’t beat, Rafael Nadal, cleared out early by losing to a nobody.

It’s the right time and the right place, and now Federer is giving his career the right tribute. He beat No. 1 ranked Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Friday to advance to the Wimbledon final.

“Obviously, I’m ecstatic, and so happy,’’ Federer said as he left the court. “I played a great match today. I was able to maybe step it up, get a little lucky maybe.’’

Yes, both. Skill, luck. Magic, too. This is what happens sometimes when these superstars have another run. They wring out another moment.

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REPORTING FROM WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND - A month ago, Serena Williams was crying on the court during her first-round loss at the French Open, looking old and devastated. A few days ago, her game still off, she was seeking advice from her sister, Venus, who talked about staying positive.

On Thursday, Serena was the greatest player in the world again, with a serve that is the greatest, most dominating shot the women’s game ever has seen. She beat No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-6 (6) to reach the final at Wimbledon. She’ll have to beat Agnieszka Radwanska on Saturday to win her fifth Wimbledon title.

And it should happen. If there is any “should” anymore about Williams.

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REPORTING FROM WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND – If you still believe in the Olympic spirit, then you know it hasn’t been entirely hijacked by corporations and commercials and made-for-TV and shoe-company showdowns. You know it can have meaning bigger than gold, about cultures coming together, about celebrating the best of humanity.

Sania Mirza understands. And when three male tennis players from India were bickering, looking small and refusing to play with each other in the Olympics, Mirza was offered up as the solution, placed in what amounted to an arranged tennis marriage for the Olympics.

But the All India Tennis Association messed with the wrong woman.

Calling the arrangement “blatant humiliation of Indian womanhood,’’ Mirza courageously, gracefully and very publicly wrote a letter that served as a public statement and a reminder of the values of the Olympics.

“As an Indian woman belonging to the 21st century, what I find disillusioning is the humiliating manner in which I was put up as a bait to try and pacify one of the disgruntled stalwarts of Indian tennis,’’ she wrote. “While I feel honored and privileged to have been chosen to partner Leander (Paes), the manner and timing of the announcement wreaks of male chauvinism …’’

Mirza was the only one given real reason not to play. Yet she’s also the only one who didn’t threaten to pull out.

Here’s what happened:

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REPORTING FROM WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND — If you’ve never seen Venus and Serena Williams play doubles together, it is a beautiful thing. There is something about the body language, the togetherness, the love. But on Wednesday at Wimbledon, it was painful. They had two long matches in one day, when Serena would have been better off resting, as her singles semifinal would be coming the next day.

She was there for her sister, and that was nice, but it was also the uncomfortable part. They won both matches, but Serena was carrying Venus. It was Venus double-faulting, double-faulting, double-faulting. Three times in a row. The opponents trying to hit everything to Venus, who was missing easy volleys close to the net. Venus not moving well.

Earlier in the tournament, her tournament, Venus looked even worse while losing in the first round of singles.

Who wants to remember Venus Williams like this? Thirty-two years old, fighting Sjogren’s syndrome, which steals her energy, and struggling on the court.

“Am I struggling?” she said uncharacteristically defensive after losing her singles match. “Am I? I don’t know. Tell me what the struggle is.”

To win matches, someone said.

“I don’t know. I just want you to be clear,” she replied. “If you say I’m struggling, tell me how I should do better, you know? I feel like I am a great player. I am a great player.”

How does a great athlete know when it’s time to say when? That question is up with Andy Roddick, too. Roddick and Venus have been two of the three faces of American tennis (with Serena) for the past decade. Both are in decline.

Are both in denial?

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REPORTING FROM WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND – Serena Williams never quite lets us in.

Her news conferences and interviews are acts. So when she throws a tantrum or breaks down crying or, better yet, plays doubles with her sister, Venus, and interacts in such a loving way, it is so different and revealing.

Something has been wrong with her lately, and it’s hard to know what it is. But she was awful at the French Open and was overly emotional during her early matches at Wimbledon, pumping her fist and screaming “Come on!”even after her opponent would miss a simple shot. She was winning close matches but not playing well.

On Tuesday, in the quarterfinals against defending Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, Williams sat between games with a dazed look in her eyes, held her hands up and took slow, deep breaths. She was calming herself as a routine.

It would end up as the best big match she has played since last year’s US Open, when she was still in her 20s. Williams beat Kvitova 6-3, 7-5, and it was the old Williams, dominant with the serve, powerful.

Still not moving particularly well, but whatever — Williams is two wins from her fifth Wimbledon title.

Please read the rest of my column at FoxSports.com