Serena covers SINGULAR Magazine

Serena Williams has put a profile on a Jewish singles website in a bid to get a date with a “cute” Jewish boy. The 28-year-old tennis champ says she couldn’t resist joining JDate.com, after spotting good-looking Jewish guys online. The devout Jehovah’s Witness says: “I was bored one night and saw a lot of cute guys on JDate, so I put up a profile. “I knew it would all be anonymous. “The guys won’t know who I am until they actually meet me.”

The two-time Wimbledon winner tells Singular, a Californian magazine for single people, about her love life – or lack of one. Williams reveals that her busy schedule has limited her romance options. She says: “I’m dating my tennis racquet…” Williams, who lives in Florida with her sister, fellow tennis champ Venus Williams, says: “I’ve learned to love myself these last few years. But Williams says she still hopes to marry one day. “I’m always like: ‘[Venus], we gotta get married already.’ “But Venus is cool. She’ll give me that serious look of hers and say: ‘You know what? It’s OK. And I’m not getting married – not before you anyway.’” However, all jokes aside, Williams is in no rush to marry. “I have a full life. I don’t need someone else to finish the picture.”

Source: Splash News

Serena practicing for French Open

Serena does photoshoot for "Rolling Out" Magazine

Serena is soon to be featured on the cover of "rolling out -urban style weekly" magazine. During the photo session Serena was camera-ready in the following attire: a strapless asymmetrical body dress accented with an orange skinny belt; a ruffled, retro two-piece bikini in coral, paired with turquoise jewelry; and a Grecian-inspired, floor-length jade green gown.

Serena's Signature Statement Handbags

I purchased the following bags (for my mom) from Serena's Signature Statement Collection and she absolutely loves them:

These bags can be purchased through the HSN website and are available in different colors. There are four different handbags.

Serena nominated for BET Award

Serena Williams is nominated for the Best Female Athlete Award at the 2009 BET Awards. The awards Show will be hosted by Jamie Foxx and will air June 28th from The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Other nominees in the Best Female Athlete category include: Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and Venus Williams.

Serena: Madrid 1st Round Pics

Serena out of Madrid; knee injury

MADRID (AP) -- Serena Williams withdrew from the Madrid Open on Monday citing a knee injury in a first-round match against Francesca Schiavone. The second-ranked Williams retired after losing the first set 6-4.

"I was just really hindered. My movement was hindered as a result of an injury I've been struggling with for some time," Williams said. A downcast Williams said she had made too many commitments with her schedule this year and was paying the price.

"I'm trying to compete and do my best, and it didn't work out," she said. "I didn't want to risk my chances to play Roland Garros. I wanted to do well (here), but at the end of the day I'm trying to play Paris and still trying to play singles and doubles there so I didn't really want to take that chance and be out of Roland Garros." The American 10-times grand slam winner played last month's Andalucia Tennis Championships when she had clearly not recovered from a thigh problem that hampered her in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open the previous week.

Madrid Open: 1st Round (Monday)

1st Round

[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs Francesca Schiavone (ITA)

Serena leads Head-to-Head 4-1

4th Match Of The Day on Center Court

Serena's Madrid Press Conference

Serena Williams says the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open will be critical to restoring her clay court form in the build up to the French Open later this month. The world No.2, who didn’t win a match in Marbella or Rome, said she’s felt confident during the clay court swing but acknowledged that confidence hadn’t translated into results so far. “I feel good going into this tournament but then I felt good going into Rome so I hope to do a little better here than I did there,” said Williams. “I’m happy to be here and excited to get my first win on a clay court this season.“I’ve had a heavy schedule but I wanted to try to play some clay court events and I absolutely love Spain,” she said.

Williams complimented the tournament’s organization saying, “it is a new tournament, nobody has played here before and everyone is doing the best they can do,” and said that the playing conditions suited her. “Coming from the USA I am excited about the bounce here because in Florida the courts are very different, this is a step up for me here.”

The Williams sisters currently hold three of the four Grand Slam trophies and Serena said that while she and Venus had not yet looked as far forward as the French Open, they would be keen to capture the one Major trophy currently missing from their collection. “We have not talked about Paris but obviously we want to do well there and it would be great to extend our streak,” Serena said. Seeded No.2, Williams first round opponent is Italian Francesca Schiavone whom she has beaten in four of their five career meetings, most recently last year on clay in Berlin.

Serena speaks on WTA injury policy

MADRID, May 10 (Reuters) - World number two Serena Williams hit out at the WTA Tour injuries policy on Sunday, commenting that players would be fined for pulling out of a tournament even if they were dead.
The American 10-times grand slam winner was asked why she played at last month’s Andalucia Tennis Championships when she had clearly not recovered from a thigh problem that hampered her in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open the previous week.

“Unfortunately it doesn’t matter if you’re injured, if you’re dead or if you’re alive, if you don’t play they’re going to fine you heavily,” Williams said at a news conference ahead of this week’s Madrid Open. “So I have to play whether I am injured or not. That’s just how it is so I have no choice.” Williams suffered a shock defeat to Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic in the first round in Marbella having lost heavily to Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka in Miami.

The WTA introduced a new Roadmap for 2009 designed to reduce the number of tournaments and shorten the season to make it less physically demanding on the players. Top 10 players must still compete in at least 10 of the 20 Premier events—previously known as Tier 1 and 2 tournaments — and the four grand slams and are also obliged to play the events at Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing. Justine Henin’s retirement last year at the age of 25 highlighted the problem of burnout and Russia’s Maria Sharapova has accused the ruling body of women’s tennis (WTA) of being ignorant of the players’ needs.

Men’s world number one Rafael Nadal has repeatedly complained about the congested ATP calendar and reiterated his concerns on Saturday in Madrid at the combined men’s and women’s clay event. “It’s a fact that there are too many matches but that’s the way the calendar has been set,” the Spaniard, who suffered a knee injury at the end of last season, told a news conference.

P. Bodo: Serena having trouble backing up boasts

ESPN columnist, Peter Bodo, has written an article titled "Serena having trouble backing up boasts." (Click on the link to view the article).

Serena's "Statement" sells out on HSN!

HSN Customers Embrace Serena's New 'Signature Statement' Collection Resulting in Sell-Out Debut on HSN and HSN.com

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Serena Williams can add another victory to her impressive list of accomplishments with the highly successful launch of Serena Williams Signature Statement, her new collection of fashion, accessories and jewelry on HSN and HSN.com. HSN viewers responded quickly to the stylish original designs with 25,000 pieces selling out after just 3 hours of air time during HSN's primetime debut (Thursday-Saturday morning) April 30 - May 2.

Serena Williams Signature Statement is a complete accessories collection including handbags, jewelry and apparel that ranges from $16.50 for the Signature Statement Rings of Bling Drop Earrings up to $99.95 for the Signature Statement Flowing Floral Reversible Maxi Dress. During the launch, Serena modeled her collection, told charming anecdotes about the inspiration behind each piece and took calls from elated fans from around the country. Meanwhile, viewers snapped up pieces quickly, with 80% of the items selling out immediately. One of the most popular pieces was the famous Lucky Ring Serena wears during each of her winning matches. Additionally, nearly every handbag and fashion jewelry piece was spoken for by the end of her last show on Saturday morning.

"Considering Serena's passion for fashion and the amount of energy she has devoted to this new collection it's not surprising that her debut on HSN was such a success," said Mindy Grossman, Chief Executive Officer, HSN, Inc. "She is a powerhouse both on and off the court and we can't wait to introduce new additions to the collection in the coming months." Serena will continue to introduce new items to her Signature Statement collection at HSN, with the next collection out this fall.

Not a "best-in-the-world" performance

ROME (AP)—A day after insisting she was still the best player in the world despite falling from No. 1 in the rankings, Serena Williams lost to Patty Schnyder in her first match at the Italian Open. Williams appeared to be moving with difficulty at times during her 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 loss on the clay at the Foro Italico. “We all know who the real No. 1 is,” Williams said Monday. “Quite frankly, I’m the best in the world.”

The 23-year-old Safina, who lost to Serena in the Australian Open final, said Williams is entitled to claim to be the real No. 1 because she has won 10 Grand Slam titles. “But she’s also older than me, so she has more experience than me,” Safina said. “So let’s see when I’m her age how many titles I’m going to have, and then we can say.” Williams was broken twice in the first set, which wrapped up in less than half an hour for the 30-year-old Swiss. She came back in the second set but went down 5-0 in the third. This was the first clay-court event of the season for Williams, the 2002 champion here. Schnyder, currently ranked 20th, had won both their previous matches on clay.

Rome: 2nd Round (Tuesday)

2nd Round
[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs Patty Schnyder (SUI)
Serena leads Head-to-Head 8-3
STADIO PIETRANGELI / Not before 8:30pm (2:30pm EST)
Last meeting: Stanford 2008 (Hard Court) / Serena won 6-3, 6-1

Noteworthy: Serena has only played Patty twice on clay, losing both matches in three sets.

Serena says she's "the best in the world"

Serena Williams says she's the top-ranked player, not Safina

ROME — Tennis star Serena Williams may be ranked second in the world but she believes there is no one better. The 27-year-old American was overtaken in the rankings two weeks ago by Dinara Safina, making the Russian and older sibling Marat Safin the only brother-sister duo to have been No. 1 in professional tennis.
"We all know who the real No. 1 is," Williams said Monday at the Italian Open. "Quite frankly, I'm the best in the world."

Safina has never won a Grand Slam title, losing last year's French Open final and being beaten in the Australian Open final this year by Williams. "I'm excited for her," Williams said with a smile. Safina acknowledged she is still coming to terms with her new position but insists it is well deserved. "It's still tough to realize this," Safina said. "It's not luck. Nobody gave it to me - I proved it. I played two Grand Slam finals, and last year I won four titles ... so I think I belong to this, because this doesn't come out of sky."

The 23-year-old Safina said Williams is entitled to claim to be the real No. 1 because she has won 10 Grand Slam titles. "But she's also older than me, so she has more experience than me," Safina said. "So let's see when I'm her age how many titles I'm going to have, and then we can say." Williams, the 2002 Rome champion, opens against 2005 runner-up Patty Schnyder of Switzerland on Tuesday in her first clay-court event of the season. When asked which rival poses the biggest threat, Williams said: "Probably myself. I always beat myself."

---- Article courtesy of THE CANADIAN PRESS

Williams Sisters "may" play Fed Cup Final

ROME (Reuters) - The Williams sisters hope to represent the United States in November's Fed Cup final against Italy after missing the first round and semi-final wins over Argentina and the Czech Republic. "Serena and I would both love to play," Venus Williams told a news conference on the opening day of the Italian Open in Rome. "We talked about it and we just have to stay healthy. I really hope we can both play. It'll be great for the U.S."

Serena salutes Nadal - Time Magazine's 100

Rafael Nadal has been selected as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential personalities of the past year. Serena salutes her "hero":

I have never seen such tenacity, such ambition, such fight and such honor go into every shot as when I watch Rafael Nadal. I want to be like him. The attitude he exudes the moment he walks out on the court is the attitude of a true champion. A champion whose desire to win is the same as the desire of a lion to eat. Stalking his prey with force and speed, Nadal, 22, has already become one of the game's all-time best.

What is so unusual about Rafa (which is what he likes to be called) is that unlike many of his fellow Spaniards, he can dominate on all surfaces. He has never lost a match on the French Open's clay, but he also has a Wimbledon title to his name, as well as one from the Australian Open. This year he's the only man able to go for a true Grand Slam.

What makes him so good? I think it's that he's the hardest worker. The last one to leave the court, the first to arrive. The one who falls asleep studying, the first to rise. It's not easy being a champion; you don't just wake up and — bam! — you're No. 1. It takes work, effort, desire, dedication — all qualities that Rafa has. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am far off.

Williams, whose memoir On the Line comes out in September, has won 20 Grand Slam titles.

Serena Williams still #1?

Many consider Serena Williams to (still) be the #1 player in the world. Only the computer thinks otherwise (and maybe a few haters). In a very convincing (and superbly written) article for TENNIS WEEK, ("REAL ONE: Revising WTA Rankings"), Dennis Fitzgerald gives his view on the WTA rankings system, slam-less number ones, the current "Best of 16" system (distorting and diluting), quantity vs. quality and who he considers to be the #1 player.

Serena trains at Bollettieri Academy

Serena arrived at the Nick Bollettieri Academy to begin clay court preparation for the European clay court season. Click the link to view a few images of Serena practicing.