RealClearSports: Courting Success With Serena

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England — The reigning monarch of this nation is a lady, in gender and title. A queen, the queen. Women long have held positions of power, as we note from the bloody hands of Lady Macbeth. And yet the All England Lawn Championships seem an alpha male kingdom.

The guys, the big boys, Roger and Rafa, Djokovic and, most of all, Andy Murray of Scotland, a Brit, play their matches where we expect them to play their matches, either on famed if remodeled Centre Court or no less glamorous Court 1.

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© RealClearSports 2011

SF Examiner: Football is thriving, just not in the US

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Are you ready for some football? They have it here, in the papers 365 days a year — here meaning all of Great Britain, football meaning soccer. But there’s no lockout, so at least stories have substance.

Yes, Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis Championships, is in full flower — and full of strawberries and cream, priced at $4 for a small bowl anywhere on the grounds.

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Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Never count out this Williams sister

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The career began on an autumn evening 17 years ago in a tournament at the old Oakland Arena. Venus Williams doesn’t even want to think about it ending, although for a while Wednesday others did consider the possibility.

This is what happens in women’s tennis when ...

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Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Emotional Serena Finds Way to Persevere

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England — She proved she could. That's how Serena Williams viewed the win she got in the match she almost didn't play. The match that indicated she's as good as always.

The match that showed she can be as emotional as ever.

It's wrong for young people, and at 29 Serena still is young ...

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© RealClearSports 2011

Newsday (N.Y.): Serena cries after Wimbledon 1st-round win

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — She hit the winning shot, and then the moment hit Serena Williams. Sitting courtside, she cried and cried and cried.

She was back where she wanted to be, defending her Wimbledon championships of the past two years. Back where she feared she might never be.

Williams completed a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Aravane Rezai of France in her return Tuesday to the All England Club, virtually her return to tennis.

It was only her third match, all within the past week, after what Williams called "a disaster year," in which she missed nearly a year because of a severely cut foot, blood clots in her lungs that she said were life-threatening and a hematoma that had to be removed surgically.

"It definitely was so emotional for me," said Serena, at 29 the younger of the two sisters who have dominated the women's game for a decade. Serena has four Wimbledon singles titles, Venus, 31, has five. "You know throughout the last 12 months, I've been through a lot of things that's not normal. So it's been a long, arduous road. To stand up still is pretty awesome."

Williams, who is the seventh seed for this year's tournament, lost the first two games to the 24-year-old Rezai but won the next five. Asked if she were nervous before her first Grand Slam competition since beating Vera Zvonareva in last year's Wimbledon final, Williams said: "No. It was a little bit of not playing. I think I got a little tight. Not necessarily nervous."

Williams said Sunday that she injects herself with a drug called Lovenox, which combats deep vein thrombosis, before flying. She said she also has to wear "socks that aren't very attractive."

The experiences, stepping on a glass in Berlin a few days after her 2010 Wimbledon victory, and the medical diagnoses have changed Williams' perspective.

"I just learned you can never take any moment for granted," she said. "I've been doing so much just to try to appreciate every moment. When things happen, you appreciate people that are around you or may not be around. It's eye-opening as well as it makes you tougher."

Serena has won each of the four majors and a total of 13 majors overall.

"I'm hoping to play better," she said of her opener. "Now I feel like I can take a deep breath. I've been practicing better than I played today, so hopefully, I can get back to doing the right thing."

With no tears.

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/tennis/serena-cries-after-wimbledon-1st-round-win-1.2973636
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