Tag Archives: Serena Williams

June 1, 2012

Williams Sisters Haven’t Met Olympic Eligibility. Should Rules be Bent to Let Them Play?

By gregcouch

(April 26, 2012)

Serena Williams traveled through Frankfurt all the way to Kiev and then to Kharkiv so she could play in the Ukraine this past weekend in a consolation match for a team she doesn’t care about on a surface that doesn’t suit her in an event she has spent years avoiding. She also had a sore ankle.

It’s the same team Venus Williams traveled to Germany with last year, the U.S. Fed Cup team, saying she was available to play even though she had no intention of playing, and was too hurt to play, anyway.

There is a game being played here. Not tennis, but politics. The U.S. Tennis Association and the Williams sisters are attempting to manipulate rules and find loopholes so the faces of the sport over the past decade can play in the Olympics.

Neither Venus nor Serena has met the requirements to be eligible for the London Olympics this summer, and neither can meet them before the games. The rules and requirements were set long ago by the International Tennis Federation, and the sisters were the ones who did not follow them. So there is a real possibility that neither will be allowed to play.

But both want to.

Please read the rest of the column at FoxSports.com

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Fed Cup, Olympics, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Williams sisters

May 31, 2012

EXCLUSIVE: Venus Williams Back From Disease, But Tells Me She Might Never Feel Normal Again

By gregcouch

 

Venus Williams

REPORTING FROM WORCESTER, MASS. (Feb. 10, 2012) – This isn’t the way the Great American Tennis Story is supposed to go. Venus Williams’ story isn’t over yet, but it looks like it’s going to have the wrong ending. You’d like for it to end with a bang, with some kind of glory. She has meant a lot to a lot of people.

“I don’t know if I will ever feel normal again,” she told me this week at the US Fed Cup victory in Worcester, Mass.

Ever?

“I don’t know if I will.”

Roughly half a year since she last played on tour, since she finally was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome and began treatments, Williams is about to try to come back.

She hopes to get into this summer’s London Olympics, but she will have to grind her way through the most physically demanding part of the season even though she doesn’t know how she will feel tomorrow.

Maybe the glory is in the way she’s fighting the disease that has stolen so much of her energy. She has changed to a vegan diet, and she says the medicines slowly are making her feel better.

But what does “normal” mean for Williams?

Please read the rest of my column in FoxSports.com here

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Fed Cup, Olympics, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Williams sisters

September 9, 2011

U.S. OPEN: Will Tennis Survive After Serena Williams?

By gregcouch

Reporting from the U.S. Open for FoxSports.com

Serena Williams

NEW YORK – The cliff is always there. The road is always going to end.

But the joy ride is just too fun to worry about it, or to do anything about it.

The Indianapolis Colts have been riding Peyton Manning for years, building everything around him. And now, suddenly, the cliff: He apparently has had neck fusion surgery and will miss the season. You’re reminded that at some point, sometime soon, the whole ride will end.

Should the Colts have done something before now to prepare?

Tiger Woods ran off the cliff, too. Golf was a thrill with him on top. Now golf is just golf again.

Serena Williams is driving perilously close to the cliff. Venus Williams, too. But Serena is so amazing in general that no one seems to notice how amazing her story has been these past two weeks at the US Open. Amazing is commonplace for her, expected.

 

Please read the rest of my column at FoxSports.com

4 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Caroline Wozniacki, No. 1, Serena Williams, US Open

August 18, 2011

Serena Williams Quits Cincy Event, Heads to Roller Coaster, Then Kardashian Wedding

By gregcouch

Serena Williams had time on her hands after pulling out of Cincy event with an injury

 

REPORTING FROM MASON, OHIO – Serena Williams just didn’t want to be here. So just before her match with Sam Stosur Wednesday, she withdrew from the Cincinnati Open with what she called a “bit of an aggravation’’ and “not feeling excellent’’ and “a little swelling’’ in her big toe.

Please.

Later, pictures of her emerged on the web sitting in a roller coaster at the amusement park a few blocks from the tennis center. She also said she would likely make it to Kim Kardashian’s wedding Saturday.

“Now that I have time, I probably will,’’ she said. “I hadn’t thought about it, so. . .’’

Williams just didn’t want to be here. Is she hurt? Sure she is. Everyone in tennis is.

But Williams made a commitment to come here, and then showed up for one match – enough to avoid being fined for breaking her commitment – and then stuck it to the tournament, stuck it to the tour, stuck it to the ticket-buying fans.

Her appearance on the roller coaster was sort of a raised middle finger. Continue reading

46 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Cincinnati Open, Serena Williams, US Open

August 15, 2011

Serena Williams Scaring Everyone on Tour Again. (Golf is Jealous)

By gregcouch

Serena Williams is dominating again

Serena Williams already has everyone on tour scared to death. Just four tournaments back after a year away with illness and injury, and Williams is already such a strong favorite to win the U.S. Open that it’s hard to think of anyone capable of beating her.

Name one. Petra Kvitova maybe? She is the young player who won Wimbledon. Caroline Wozniacki is quickly disappearing, even though she’s still ranked No. 1. Kim Clijsters’ body is falling apart, and her desire to keep up this comeback is fading. Li Na? Nah.

Think how jealous golf must be now. Williams’ comeback has been so quick and easy, everything that Tiger Woods’ comeback has not been. So the PGA Championship ended Sunday with a playoff between two guys no one had ever heard of. If people tell you today at work that they were watching the PGA Sunday, you are being punk’d.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2011-08-15/serena-williams-is-back-in-top-form-and-the-world-of-tennis-is-better-for-it#ixzz1V7xr029Q

 

2 comments   |  tags: | posted in Serena Williams, US Open

August 4, 2011

With US Open Tirade About to Make News Again, Serena Williams Hits Right Note with Ad

By gregcouch

This is good. Serena Williams’ new commercial for Wilson is funny. In fact, I like all these commercials, where Roger Federer or Venus Williams or Serena drags a couch out onto the court and serves as a psychologist for some hacker.

In this case, Serena pokes fun at herself for her threatening f-bomb-laced tirade at a line judge at the 2009 U.S. Open. It has been nearly two years, and you’d think her most embarrassing moment would be gone now, especially after all that has happened with her.

But it’s not gone. When she goes back to the Open in a few weeks, it will be her first time there since her tantrum. That’s going to be a story. That is going to be closure.

Continue reading

3 comments   |  tags: , | posted in Serena Williams, US Open

August 1, 2011

Serena Williams’ Win at Stanford: Just the Starting Line

By gregcouch

Serena Williams at Stanford

Serena Williams was always going to win another tournament. That was inevitable. So the news this weekend, when she won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, wasn’t that she had won for the first time since Wimbledon in 2010. It was seen as a finish line to her comeback from a year off with illness (blood clots in her lungs) and injury (foot surgery). But it was much more important than that.

It was the starting line.

This tournament was evidence that Williams really did feel some vulnerability, did feel a lack of invincibility.

“I was really disappointed at Wimbledon,’’ she said on ESPN after crushing Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. That’s a big tournament for me. I decided it’s time to get serious, not only at the slams, but at every other tournament as well.’’

Continue reading

2 comments   |  tags: , | posted in Serena Williams, US Open

June 28, 2011

WIMBLEDON: Desperate for a Leader, Women’s Tennis Getting Old, New Champion in Maria Sharapova

By gregcouch

Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova is about to win Wimbledon again, and take over women’s tennis. I wish I felt comfortable with how confidently I just put that.

But every sport needs someone on the mountaintop, someone you would say is the best, someone everyone wants to beat. Women’s tennis has no leader, and that’s not just about whether Caroline Wozniacki, ranked No. 1, is a real and deserving champ (She’s not).

No, this about the game not having someone that everyone either loves or hates, pulls for or against. Someone with star power, who is noticed when she walks into a room. Women’s tennis is a mish-mash. But in four days, Sharapova will change that, becoming the game’s new leader. Or maybe its old leader, renewed.

That’s what the game needs, and is going to get. I’m sure of it. Mostly.

It has been a good Wimbledon for women’s tennis, but not a great one. The game is thirsting for greatness, craving it. Missing it.

Continue reading

5 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, Williams sisters, Wimbledon

June 27, 2011

WIMBLEDON: Venus, Serena Williams Lose on Same Day at Wimby. Is Great-American Tennis Story Ending?

By gregcouch

Venus, Serena Williams

From my column in Sporting News

Serena Williams couldn’t move to the ball. Venus Williams couldn’t hit it onto the court. This was the worst day ever at Wimbledon for the Williams sisters, and maybe their worst tennis day anywhere. For the first time, they both lost on the same day at the All England Club. Is it the end of their era, the end of their Great American tennis story?

Best bet: For Venus, it is. For Serena, it probably is not. But that’s going to be up to her. It won’t be so easy anymore, and will be about what’s inside. That’s not to question Serena’s fight, but instead her desire to commit to a game after worrying about her life. A few months ago, doctors discovered blood clots in her lungs.

“I can only get better,’’ Serena said. “That can potentially be really scary, because I can only go up from here and I can just do so much more.”

That sounds great, and she surely meant it. But the truth will come on the practice courts on hot days, and in the less-important tournaments. Those haven’t been her best places over the years. And now, she’s three months from turning 30.

In the end, maybe it was too much to ask either of them to win Wimbledon again this year.

Please read the rest of the column here

 

2 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Serena Williams, US tennis, Venus Williams, Williams sisters, Wimbledon

June 26, 2011

WIMBLEDON: Serena Williams or Kim Clijsters, Who had Better Comeback? Also, Wimby Grades, More on Court 2

By gregcouch

 

Serena Williams

A few random thoughts and grades on Wimbledon.

Serena Williams is stealing the tournament. Her touching tears of joy after her first round followed by her complaints about being shoved to an outer court after her second round and then her complete domination in the third round, with this proclamation:

“Don’t bet against me.’’

The idea that this is an amazing comeback, after a year away with foot injury and then illness, is hard to argue with. But I always thought she was going to win the tournament anyway. She’s great. The rest of the tour is not. Two statements are being made here.

The question is this: Which is the more amazing comeback? Williams’ or Kim Clijsters?

Clijsters retired for a while, then had a baby, then came back. After two warmup tournaments, she won the U.S. Open. Williams had two surgeries, she said, for cut ligaments in her foot. Then, forced to sit around while she healed, blood clots formed and worked their way up into her lungs. She played one warmup tournament. Continue reading

4 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Williams sisters, Wimbledon

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