Simona Halep, Maria Sharapova and others seem set to ensure when the winner of 23 grand slams rejoins the WTA Tour it will be anything but dullWhen Serena Williams returns to tennis as expected in the new year, with a baby daughter, Alexis, in her entourage and a spring in her 36-year-old step, the remarkable American will find the game in a state of pleasing but predictable flux.There is still plenty to play for, not least the prospect of her surpassing Margaret Court as the most decorated player in the history of her sport – men’s or women’s, as Andy Murray might remind us – and, if Melbourne comes too soon for Williams to pull alongside the Australian’s tally of...
It’s not hyperbolic to say the game in the States is alive because of African American players like the Williams sisters and Sloane StephensThere’s been no shortage of anxiety over the future of American tennis over the last decade.Andy Roddick’s abrupt retirement during the 2012 US Open left the United States without an active men’s grand slam champion for the first time in 129 years, since the inception of what then was called the US National Championships. And while Venus and Serena Williams have combined for 30 major singles championship, 121 WTA titles and 173 finals appearances – and counting – the hand-wringing over their successor on the women’s side persisted. Related: Sloane Stephens’ win over Madison Keys warms hearts...
The Romanian gave great entertainment in his day, but he has crossed a line with his abuse of Johanna Konta, Anne Keothavong and Serena WilliamsIt is 45 years since Centre Court at Wimbledon rose to applaud the charismatic entertainer that was Ilie Nastase, loser of a memorable five-set final against the American Stan Smith. After the Romanian’s appalling behaviour in Constanta this weekend during Great Britain’s Fed Cup tie against the home team he coaches, it is unlikely a British audience will ever again give him such rapturous acclaim.When the 70-year-old Nastase reduced Johanna Konta to tears in the second set of her match against Sorana Cirstea on Saturday by calling her, “a fucking bitch” he transformed a mere sporting...
Straight out of the notorious Los Angeles neighbourhood of Compton, the incomparable sister act show yet again that they dominate women’s tennisThere is by now a numbing effect to the decades‑long dominance of Serena Williams, who on Saturday captured the Australian Open championship for a seventh time to eclipse Steffi Graf’s record for major titles in the Open era, all but silencing the few stubborn holdouts who referred to the record book to deny that she is the best there has ever been. Related: Australian Open 2017: day 13 – women's singles final - in pictures Related: What the Williams sisters mean in America today | Derrick Clifton Continue reading...
In an uncertain era, the success of Venus and Serena tells a story of the greatness that already exists in the United StatesIt was to be Serena’s day. But the impact of an all-Williams final at the Australian Open cannot be overstated.Before Serena’s victory over Venus in Melbourne, the 23rd major title of her glittering career, the last time the two sisters went head-to-head in a grand slam final was at Wimbledon in 2009. Serena bested Venus in a tough two-set match. At the time, the sisters had won multiple titles in their already storied careers, which began with family practice sessions on the dilapidated courts of Compton. Related: It’s not all bad news – we’ve got Venus, Serena, Roger...