Jon Wertheim: Serena is the game's greatest ever

Check out Jon Wertheim's "Tennis Mailbag" where he declares Serena to be the Greatest Ever!

Foot injury sidelines Serena for WTT

The 13-time Grand Slam singles champ said she cut her foot on some glass in between Wimbledon and her Friday morning flight from Belgium to the states. She made the trip to the Glens Falls Civic Center anyway, taking in the entire 3 1/2-hour World Team Tennis match from the Kastles' bench. "After Wimbledon, I look forward to coming home and coming to cities I never get to come to and seeing fans I never see," said Williams, who received a raucous ovation from the crowd.

Williams was scheduled to face five-time Grand Slam singles champion and Buzz player Martina Hingis in the women's singles match. Hingis said she was disappointed that she would not face Williams, whom Sports Illustrated recently ranked as the best female tennis player of all-time. "But, on the other hand I'm a little bit relieved," Hingis said with a laugh. "I'm sure she would (compete) if she could."

"I didn't even know I was going to play her," Williams said. "It would've been fun. We've had so many wonderful matches." With Wimbledon champion Serena Williams on the sideline watching, the Washington Kastles were still able to rally past the NY Buzz 20-12. Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs paced the Kastles winning 2 doubles matches apiece. The Buzz effort was highlight by 5-time Slam winner Martina Hingis who blanked Serena's replacement Angela Haynes 5-0.

Serena took part in a pre-match press conference. She also made an appearance at the sponsor party and she spent 45 minutes after the match signing autographs for kids. It's obviously disappointing," Williams said. "I'm a big supporter of team tennis, so I'm still glad to be here."

Clijsters tops Serena in exhibition in Brussels

A world record tennis crowd watched Kim Clijsters defeat Wimbledon champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2 in an exhibition in Brussels. The crowd of 35,681 at King Baudouin Stadium on Thursday surpassed the previous record of 30,472 set in 1973 at the Houston Astrodome in the Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

Clijsters was originally scheduled to play Belgian Justine Henin, but Henin withdrew after injuring her elbow at Wimbledon. Top-ranked Williams agreed to replace Henin despite a foot injury. The match was umpired by tennis great Martina Navratilova. French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone, was also in attendance.

Serena participates in Best of Belgium exhibition

On Thursday, July 8, 2010, Serena takes on Kim Clijsters at the King Baudouin Stadium in an exhibition match. The 'Best of Belgium' should have been a tennis match between the country's biggest tennis stars Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, but Henin had to pull out after an injury. Serena Williams will replace her, but Henin will still be there as a spectator. The game is now called 'Best of Belgium versus Best of the World'.

The event will also offer a musical program of Belgian top artists. The contest celebrates the start of the Belgian presidency of the European Union (July 1st to December 31, 2010). The game will also try to break the world record for the highest number of spectators at a tennis match. The current record is 30,472 spectators in a match played by Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in the Houston Astrodome in 1973.

www.sport.be/bestofbelgium

Serena inducted into California Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Serena Williams on being inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

Serena Williams - 4-Time Wimbledon Champion

Serena covers Sports Illustrated!

Serena graces the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. It is not too often that a woman covers S.I. I love the title of the article: Serena Williams: Love Her, Hate Her - She's The Best Ever. I could not have said it better myself. CONGRATULATIONS SERENA!!

Serena featured in Harper's Bazaar

Serena is featured in Harper's Bazaar. Check out the article written by Laura Brown, "Serena's Glam Slam." Topics of discussion: Serena's "new body," her eating and exercise habits, her smile, the breakup with Common and gearing up for the summer.

(photos by: William Klein)

2010 Wimbledon Final - Video Highlights

2010 Wimbledon Champion - Serena Williams

Serena Williams arrives with the winners trophy at the Wimbledon Championships 2010 Winners Ball at the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel on July 4, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

2010 Wimbledon Champions: Rafael and Serena

Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal smile as they take pictures with their winners trophies at the Wimbledon Championships 2010 Winners Ball at the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel on July 4, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Serena Williams: Wimbledon Champion

Wimbledon Champion
(2002, 2003, 2009, 2010)

Queen of Aces - Gatorade congratulates Serena

Martina and Mary Jo on Serena

"At the rate she’s going, she certainly may catch me and Chris and Helen Wills Moody and who knows, maybe even Steffi (in reference to total Grand Slam titles),” Navratilova said. “She’s just head and shoulders above everybody else, and those are pretty broad shoulders she’s got.”

Navratilova called Serena's serve the best she has ever seen, which is saying something. U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez concurred.

"Impeccable, just impressive, once again, the way she's able to dominate with the best [serve] we've ever seen in tennis," Fernandez said. "It's very hard for someone to compete [against her], time in, time out. "Not so much that it's the biggest. It's the best, it's got the speed when she needs it, and the spin when she needs it. She can slice it, kick it and hit into the body.

Serena, who has won five of the last eight Grand Slams, moved ahead of Billie Jean King into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time list of women’s Grand Slam champions with 13, the most of any active woman player. Williams also has five Australian Opens, three U.S. Opens and one French Open.

2010 Wimbledon Champion - Serena Williams

For the fourth time in her career, Serena has won a Grand Slam without dropping a set, having previously accomplished this feat at Wimbledon in 2002, the U.S. Open in 2002 and the U.S. Open in 2008.

Serena wins 4th Wimbledon title!

Serena Williams has won her fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam championship by sweeping Vera Zvonareva in straight sets in a one-sided final that lasted just 67 minutes and showed why Williams is considered one of the greatest players of all time. The top-ranked and defending champion American beat the 12th-seeded Russian 6-3, 6-2 to extend the Williams family dominance at the All England Club.

Williams won 31 of 33 points when her first serve was good. She hit her fastest serve—122 mph—for an ace in the final game. She finished the tournament with a record 89 aces. Williams also won all 14 points when she came to the net, and had 29 winners to only nine for Zvonareva. Williams served nine aces, broke three times and never faced a break point. She finished the tournament without dropping a set.

Williams (who improved her record to 13-3 in Grand Slam finals) added to the Wimbledon titles she won in 2002, 2003 and 2009. This was the first time she defeated someone other than her sister Venus in the final. The Williams sisters have now won nine of the last 11 Wimbledon titles.

This win ensured Williams moved ahead of Billie Jean King, with 13 Grand Slam titles (the most of any active woman player) to go sixth on the all-time list. "This one is very special. Billie Jean, I got you," Williams told her compatriot who was watching on from the Royal Box. Williams graciously congratulated Zvonareva, who played in her first Grand Slam final and was the second-lowest ranked women’s finalist ever at Wimbledon.

“Everyone should give her a big round of applause,” Williams said. "I'd like to congratulate Vera, she has been through so much and she defines what a champion and never giving up means." Williams won what the media termed the "Serena Slam," taking four major titles in a row in a noncalendar year. And she is the only player in this generation to even come close.

Countering Serena's Serve

Serena possesses the best serve we have ever witnessed in women's tennis - it is as simple as that. She has only dropped three service games in the tournament thus far, so for opponents it is quite an achievement to get into a tie-break let alone win a set. Coming into the final, Serena has served 80 aces (a record for a woman at Wimbledon) - six more than Andy Murray - 50 more than her nearest statistical rival --sister Venus - and 57 more than Zvonareva. Her fastest serve was hit at an astounding 125mph, which is only one mile an hour slower than Rafael Nadal's fastest serve in his quarter-final encounter with Robin Soderling.

So far, she has won 87% of the points when her first serve has gone in, a proportion way ahead of any of her rivals, and 10% better than her opponent in the final, Vera Zvonareva. However, the Russian has been returning exceptionally well over the course of the last couple of weeks, having won 98 points in total when having to deal with opponents' first serves compared with Serena's 83.

And she has done even better when she has had the chance to pounce on a second serve, winning 136 points all told, compared to Serena's 127. So that is the challenge that the Russian faces: will she be able to deal with Serena's serve well enough to become competitive? The one thing you simply have to do when up against a big server is take care of business on your own serve and Zvonareva's has been her Achilles heel throughout her career. She still occasionally has trouble controlling her ball toss when she gets really nervous, and that obviously has to be a consideration given the enormity of the occasion.

Serena has so much experience to draw upon at this level whereas it will be Vera's first major final, so nerves are bound to inhibit the Russian to some degree, and the end result will depend on just how well she is able to hold her nerve.

There is plenty of history between these two as they have met six times previously, and Serena has won five of those clashes (the exception was in Cincinnati back in 2006), so that will give the American even more confidence.

There is no question that it is a huge ask for anybody to beat Serena on any surface other than clay at the Grand Slams, and for Vera to spring a surprise she has to hope that her opponent gets out of the wrong side of the bed and serves extremely poorly. She also has to then play the match of her life and hold her nerve when it gets really matters, otherwise it is surely Serena who will eventually prevail given her far superior firepower and experience at the highest level.

Article from www.wimbledon.org

Wimbledon: FINAL (Saturday)

FINAL

[1] Serena Williams (USA) vs. [21] Vera Zvonareva (RUS)

Serena leads Head-To-Head 5-1
1st Match of the Day
Center Court

Serena advances to 3rd straight Wimbledon Final

WIMBLEDON, England -- Everything about Serena Williams' game is big: her forehand, backhand -- and, especially, the searing serve.

But on the rare occasions when her powerful, slashing strokes are matched, she has a fail-safe device that sustains her through periods of vulnerability. It's something she rarely gets credit for, but is an essential part of what makes her the greatest women's champion of her generation.

With Petra Kvitova, a fearless 20-year-old from the Czech Repubic, crowding the baseline and take some outrageous cuts at the ball, Serena fell back and operated in scrambling mode, chipping off-balance backhands and blooping forehands. She survived and advanced to a first-set tiebreaker, when her serve finally came alive.

In the end, Serena prevailed 7-6 (5), 6-2 to advance to Saturday's final, where she will face Vera Zvonareva. In the first semifinal, Zvonareva dropped the first set but rallied to defeat Tsventana Pionkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Serena has beaten Zvonareva five of six times in their head-to-head matches.

"It definitely wasn't easy," Serena said afterward. "I didn't expect to get this far after I played in the beginning of the tournament. I just felt off." However, Serena's serve this fortnight has been historically huge. And though her ace and speed numbers were down on Thursday -- there was talk that her right shoulder (taped in Wednesday's doubles match) was bothering her -- her serve constantly bailed her out. For the record, she had seven aces against Kvitova, and her six-match total (80) has already exceeded the Wimbledon record she set last year.

Ultimately, this match was about experience. Serena has fashioned a grass-court record of 58-7. Kvitova, an unorthodox lefty, is now 5-5. "I will have to stay aggressive no matter what and not to let her dominate," Zvonareva said. "Because when Serena dominates, she's very difficult to play. I will try to fight for every point, and I think try to make it difficult for her on every point."

For Serena, the Wimbledon final is more like an old, favorite sweater. Ten of the past 11 Wimbledon finals have featured at least one Williams sister; four of them have seen Serena and Venus play each other. Serena, seeking her fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam singles championship, will be a prohibitive favorite against Zvonareva. She has yet to drop a set here -- and, well, she's Serena Williams.

At the age of 28 -- the same as Roger Federer -- she is still in a major groove; a victory over Zvonareva would give her five Grand Slam singles titles in the past eight, going back to the 2008 U.S. Open. Three other players -- Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kim Clijsters and Francesca Schiavone -- are all next in line, with one.

Article by: Greg Garber (ESPN.com)