Sunday, March 10, 2013

Jelena Jankovic


Jelena Jankovic, Number One Without a Grand Slam

Personal Life

Jelena Jankovic was born February 28, 1985, in Belgrade, Serbia. She is one of the top female tennis players in the world and former world’s number one. She was introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko at the age of 9. Her mother, Snezana, travels the world with her and is a big influence on her tennis career.
Jelena has a tremendous attitude to hard work and prove herself to be good at things she is deemed to be not talented. “If you told her she couldn’t do something, she would explode” says Chip Brooks, director of tennis at Bollettieri’s. One of her quotes is ‘I never surrender in my life, whether on or off the court …’
Despite her hard work determined attitude, she does not take herself too seriously. This is a good trait but it is not helpful if you want to dominate women’s tennis.

Professional Life

Jelena Jankovic won her first Junior National Championship at the age of 11. Following this success, she was sent to Florida where she entered Nick Bollettieri’s training academy.
As a junior she won the 2001 Australian Open becoming the junior world’s number one junior player.
In 2001 she started to play the WTA tour. She became a pro in 2002.
Jankovic has reached the singles final of the US Open (2008) and the singles semifinals of the Australian Open (2008) and the French Open (2007, 2008). In 2007, she won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with British partner Jamie Murray.
She was ranked the world’s number one player for seventeen consecutive weeks until she was overtaken by Serena Williams on February 2, 2009. She was the year-end world’s number one in 2008, the first player in the history of the WTA tour to do this without winning a single Grand Slam title.
Jelena has downplayed her inability to win a single Grand Slam Tournament stating that there are a lot of players who have won Grand Slam Tournaments but only 6 women have finished the year as world’s number one. However, she can not be regarded as a great player if she is not able to win several Grand Slam Tournaments during her career.
Although Jelena has great ground strokes, she does not have a serve that can bail her out of tight spots. Her emotional outburst causes her to lose points. She is easily distracted on court. Also, she does not take defeat too seriously which is a good characteristic in terms of sportsmanship but may reduce her desire to go all out to win matches. We will have to wait and see if Jelena Jankovic is able to win some Grand Slam Tournaments during her career. 

Caroline Wozniacki


Caroline Wozniacki: Danish Tennis Star

Caroline Wozniacki is a Danish professional tennis player … Born 11 July 1990 … Has won 6 WTA tour events … Reached 2009 US Open finals … Only Dane to reach a Grand Slam singles final … Currently ranked No. 4 … Youngest player in the top 10.

Personal Life

Began playing tennis at age 7 ... Was introduced to sports at a very young age through her family … Father played pro soccer in Poland and Denmark … Mother, Anna, played volleyball for Polish National Team … Brother, Patrik, plays pro soccer in Denmark ... Enjoys soccer, swimming, watching golf ... Hobbies include reading (especially Harry Potter books), shopping, listening to music … Favorite actor is Johnny Depp ... Admires Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf ... Favorite food is steak and potatoes … Coached by father, Piotr; also coached by Morten Christensen at National Tennis Center in Denmark.

Career Highlights

2005 Made pro debut eight days after 15th birthday.
2007 First Top 100 finish after first full season on the Tour … Made debuts at three Grand Slams, falling 1r at Roland Garros (l. to Dechy) but reaching 2r at Wimbledon (l. to Santangelo) and US Open (l. to Cornet).
2008 Breakthrough season … Highlighted by first three Tour singles titles at Stockholm (d. Dushevina), New Haven (d. Chakvetadze) and Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Kanep) … First Danish woman ever to win a Tour singles title … Reached 4r four times, at Australian Open (l. to Ivanovic), Indian Wells (l. to Kuznetsova), Miami (l. to V.Williams) and US Open (l. to Jankovic) … 3r finishes at Roland Garros (l. to Ivanovic) and Wimbledon (l. to Jankovic) … Went from outside Top 50 to inside Top 20 during season reaching No. 12 in year-end ranking … Won first Tour doubles title at Beijing (w/Medina Garrigues).
2009 Breakthrough season culminating in first Top 10 finish (at No.4) … Won three Tour singles titles at Ponte Vedra Beach (d. Vesnina), Eastbourne (d. Razzano) and New Haven (d. Vesnina) … Reached first Grand Slam final at US Open … Became first Dane, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam singles final in Open Era … Qualified for first Tour Championships and reached SF (ret. vs. S.Williams) … Caroline Wozniacki won her second Tour doubles title at Memphis (w/Azarenka).

Venus Williams


Venus Williams – First African American Number One

Venus Williams (born June 17, 1980) is a former No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won 20 Grand Slam titles: seven in women's singles (5 Wimbledon, 2 US Open), eleven in women's doubles (4 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 4 Wimbledon, 2 US Open) and two in mixed doubles (Australian Open and French Open). Venus Williams has also won 3 Olympic Gold Medals (1 Singles and 2 Doubles).

Personal Life

Coached by father Richard Williams and mother Oracene Price ... Sisters are Serena, Isha (lawyer, singer), Lyndrea (actress, singer, stylist, computer science major) and Yetunde (deceased September 14, 2003) … Venus Williams is a Jehovah's Witness, along with sisters and mother ... Launched clothing line EleVen by Venus Williams, the largest line ever launched by a female athlete … Has appeared in Oprah, CNN, CBS Late Night Show, ABC Family reality show starring herself and sister Serena, titled "Venus and Serena: For Real" … Has co-written two books with Serena, titled "How to Play Tennis" (2004) and "Serving From the Hip: 10 Rules for Living, Loving and Winning" (2005) … Reebok endorsement contract is largest ever awarded to a female athlete. …After tennis, would like to continue her careers in interior design and fashion design, and would also like to take up choreography and music production.
Has been a member of the WTA Player Council which advises the Board of Directors, for 10 years .. Is a founding ambassador for the WTA-UNESCO Gender Equality Program, which addresses worldwide gender issues … Glamour® Magazine’s "Woman of the Year" in 2005 … Four-time ESPY® winner; 3 Best Female Tennis player (’01, ’02 & ’06) and 1 Best Female Athlete (’02).

Professional Life

Accumulated a 63-0 record in USTA sectional play in Southern California by age 12.
1994 Made pro debut at 14. Beat world #50 in the first match; then lost to world No.2 Sánchez-Vicario 2-6 6-3 6-0, having led 6-2 3-1.
1997 Breakthrough season … Grand Slam debuts at Roland Garros (l. 2r) and Wimbledon (l. 1r) … reached first Grand Slam final at US Open (l to Hingis) … final between V.Williams (17) and Hingis (16) was youngest major final in Open Era … Broke into top 50 in the world for the first time finishing the year at 22.
1998 Went from outside top 20 at the start to end the year at No. 5 … Won first three tour singles titles … QF at Australian Open (l. to Davenport), Roland Garros (l. to Hingis), Wimbledon (l. to Novotna) and SF at US Open (l. to Davenport) … Served up 127mph ace vs. Pierce in Zürich (would be the fastest serve on Tour for nearly 10 years) … Won first two doubles titles, both with sister Serena … Won first two major titles in mixed doubles, at Australian Open and Roland Garros (both w/Gimelstob); S.Williams would win Wimbledon and US Open (both w/Mirnyi), completing a family mixed doubles Grand Slam.
1999 Won 6 singles titles … QF at Australian Open (l. to Davenport) and Wimbledon (l. to Graf) and SF at US Open (l. to Hingis) … Played first Tour Championships, reaching SF (l. to Hingis) … Finished the year as No. 3.
2000 Venus Williams missed the first four months with tendonitis in both wrists … QF at Roland Garros (l. to Sánchez-Vicario). Then went on a 35-match winning streak that included winning Wimbledon (d. Davenport), US Open (d. Davenport), and Olympics (d. Dementieva). Streak remains longest of the millennium … Won doubles titles at Wimbledon and Olympics (both w/S.Williams) … Year end No. 3.
2001 Defended titles at Wimbledon (d. Henin in final) and US Open (d. S.Williams) … Was first time sisters played for a Grand Slam title since the Watson sisters played in the 1884 Wimbledon final … Reached SF at Australian Open (l. to Hingis) … Won four other titles … Won Australian Open doubles title (w/S.Williams; completed a career doubles Grand Slam, one of five teams to do so) … Year end No. 3 again.

2002 Finished the year at No. 2 although held the No. 1 position several times during the year … Won 7 non-grand slam titles … Runner up at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open (l. to S.Williams in all three finals); Roland Garros and US Open finals were first all-sister finals at those events, and Wimbledon final was first since Watson sisters played for first title there in 1884) … Became first African American to attain No.1 ranking, and on June 10 were first ever siblings to rank Top 2 at same time (V.Williams No.1, S.Williams No.2) … won Wimbledon doubles title (w/S.Williams).

2003 Injury-plagued season resulting in first non-Top 10 finish since 1997 … Won only 1 title which was at Antwerp (d. Clijsters) … Runner up at 2 Grand Slams Australian Open (l. to S.Williams in their fourth straight Grand Slam final) and Wimbledon (l. to S.Williams) … won Australian Open doubles title (w/S.Williams).

2004 Strong return from injury-plagued 2003, finishing in Top 10 at No.9 … Won 2 non Grand Slam events.

2005 Another Top 10 finish (at No.10) in season highlighted by sensational run to fifth career Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon (d. Davenport in epic 2hr 45min final, longest women's final there in history) … Won one more non Grand Slam title … Struggled from injury and illness during season.

2006 Lowest finish at No 48 in 10 years after injury-marred season.

2007 Sensational comeback highlighted by Wimbledon (d. Bartoli) title and return to Top 10 (finished No. 8) … Won 2 other non Grand Slam titles … Served two 128mph serves during season (once at Roland Garros, once at US Open), bettering her own Tour record of 127mph (1998).

2008 Finished at No 6 … Won Wimbledon (d. S.Williams) and first Tour Championships (d. Zvonareva in final) … Also won Zürich … Won two Tour doubles titles (both w/S.Williams) at Wimbledon (d. Raymond/Stosur) and Olympics (d. Medina Garrigues/Ruano Pascual).

2009 Finished at No. 6 … Won Dubai and Acapulco … Runner-up at Wimbledon (l. S.Williams), Stanford, and Tour Championships (d. S.Williams in final) … Venus Williams won four of six events entered in doubles (w/S.Williams), at Australian Open, Wimbledon, Stanford and US Open (three Grand Slam doubles titles brought career tally to 10, all w/S.Williams).

2010 Venus Williams won the Australian Open doubles title (w/S.Williams; now 11-0 in Grand Slam doubles finals w/S.Williams).

Justine Henin


Justine Henin: Using Aggressive All Court Play For Outstanding Results

Introduction

Justine Henin is a professional Belgian tennis player who has had phenomenal success on the tennis court.

Personal Life

Justine Henin was born June 1, 1982 in Liège, Belgium to José Henin (father) and Françoise Rosière (mother). She has two brothers (David and Thomas) and a sister (Sarah).
Justine started to play tennis when she was 2 years old when the family moved to a house next to a tennis club. As a kid she was a very good soccer player and a brilliant student.
In 1995 when Justine was 12 years old her mother died. Shortly after her death Justine met her coach Carlos Rodriguez who has guided her tennis career ever since. After a conflict with her father regarding her tennis career and her relationships with Pierre-Yves Hardenne, Carols has been a second father figure to Justine.
Justine met Pierre-Yves Hardenne in 1999. They got married in November 2002. After the marriage Justine changed her name to Justine Henin Hardenne. Eventually the couple got divorced and Justine has changed her name back to Justine Henin.
In 2007 Justine opened two tennis camps to help kids learn the sport.

Playing Style

Justine plays mostly from the baseline. She can hit powerful, consistent, topspin forehands and backhands. Her single handed back hand, which is rare in professional tennis these days, is considered to be one of the best in the sport. She can hit top spin, slice and flat back hands with pace and accuracy. However, her forehand is considered to be even more of a weapon. Justine has a compact swing on her forehand, but can generate spin, power and placement on her forehand consistently.
Although Justine is known for her attacking tennis she is also a good defensive player when required. Her foot work and court coverage is phenomenal. She can rundown and return difficult balls in defense, and attack as soon as she gets an opening.
Justine is a complete tennis player. In addition to having great ground strokes, she also has a good powerful serve and good to exceptional volleys. Henin started to serve and volley more towards the latter part of her career.

Tennis Career

Justine Henin’s accomplishments as a professional tennis player are very impressive. She has:
  • Won 7 Grand Slam Singles Titles
    • 4 French Open Titles (2003, 2005-7)
    • 2 US Open Titles (2003, 2007)
    • 1 Australian Open Title in 2004
  • Won the Summer Olympic Gold in Singles at the 2004 Games in Athens.
  • Won the Year-End WTA Tour Championships in 2006, 2007.
  • Won 8 WTA Tier 1 Tournaments.
  • Finished the year as the World’s Number 1 Women’s Singles Player in 2003, 2006 and 2007.
  • As a junior Justine won the junior Girls Singles title at the 1997 French Open.

  • She began her professional career with a wild card entry to the Belgian Open in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour in May 1999 and became only the fifth player to win her debut WTA Tour event.

    2003 was Justine’s year in Women’s tennis. She won her first Singles Grand Slam at the French Open defeating Kim Clijsters in the finals. This was Belgium’s first Grand Slam win. Later that year she won her second Singles Grand Slam Tournament at the US Open and became the World Number 2 player behind her compatriot Kim Clijsters. The Belgians were dominating Women’s tennis at this stage. Henin won five other tournaments that year. She finished the year as the World Number 1 player for the first time.

    Justine had a good start to 2004 wining the Australian Open. But at the start of the 2004 spring clay court season her health was badly affected by a virus (cytomegalovirus) and an immune system problem. She often slept up to 18hrs a day. She decided to defend her French Open title but lost in the second round to a much lower ranked player. After months of layoffs Justine returned to competition in August to win the Summer Olympic Gold Medal for Women’s Singles in Athens, Greece, defeating Amélie Mauresmo of France in the final. This was the only Belgian Gold Medal at Athens. Henin considers this victory to be her most beautiful victory in her career.

    In 2005, the Tennis Magazine placed Justine in 31st place on its list of the 40 Greatest Players for the period 1965 through 2005. In November 2005, at the WTA Tour Championships, she was named the inaugural winner of the Whirlpool Sixth Sense Player of the Year, which honors the player who has demonstrated the most sixth sense intuition which means "heightened intelligence, unbeatable performance and pinpoint precision".

    In 2006, at the Australian Open final against the Amélie Mauresmo, Henin retired after trailing 6–1, 2–0, citing intense stomach pain caused by over-use of anti-inflammatories for a persistent shoulder injury. She was criticized by the press as she stated that she was in "peak of her fitness" and playing the "best tennis of her life" after her semifinal win over Maria Sharapova. This was only the fourth Grand Slam women's singles final to end by retirement since 1900 and the first in the open era.

    At the 2007 Wimbledon Semifinals, Henin lost to Marion Bartoli 1–6, 7–5, 6–1. Henin won the first set and was up a break in the second set at 1-0 and 4-3 but could not hold her lead. This match is described as one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history. In the year end WTA Tour Championships Henin beat Maria Sharapova in a three set match that lasted 3 hours, 24 minutes. This is the longest match in this tournament and Henin’s longest match. It is the 12th longest women’s match ever. In 2007 Justine also became the first Woman to pass the US$5 Million a year barrier in prize money. By crossing US$19 Million in overall price money, she is ranked 5th in the all time price money list.

    In the start of 2008 Justine Henin withdrew from several tournaments due to injury and fatigue. She also lost easily to several opponents.


    Retirement And Return



    On 14 May 2008 Justine announced her immediate retirement form professed tennis. This came as a surprise as she was still the World Number 1 and the favorite to win the French Open Championships she won the previous year.

    On 22 September 2009 Henin officially announced that she is returning to competitive tennis. Her intention is to play competitively till the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

    Justine Henin had a great run at the 2010 Australian Open – her first Grand Slam tournament after returning from retirement. She reached the finals losing to World #1 Serena Williams 6-4 3-6 6-2.

Anna Kournikova


Anna Kournikova: 

One of The Most Popular Tennis Players Ever

Introduction

Anna Kournikova is probably a name you came across if you have followed tennis or sports in general in the recent past. She was one of the most popular professional tennis players. At the peak of her fame her name was one of the most searched strings on Google. Her global fame was more because of her beauty and modeling than her performance on the tennis court. ESPN citing the degree of hype as compared to actual accomplishments as a singles player ranked beautiful Anna Kournikova as the 18th in its “25 Biggest Sports Flops of the Past 25 Years”.
Anna has had success in singles defeating many of the top players in the world including Lindsay Davenport, Steffi Graff, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, Arantxa Sanchez and Martina Hingis. She reached a career best ranking as Worlds Number 8 in 2000.
However, Anna’s specialty has been doubles. She has at times been ranked Worlds Number 1 in doubles with Martina Hingis. She has won two Grand Slam doubles titles at the 1999 and 2002 Australian Open partnering Hingis.
Anna’s tennis career was curtailed and ended suddenly in 2003 by serious back and spinal problems.

Personal Life

Anna was born in Moscow, Soviet Russia, on 7 June 1981 to very young parents. Father Sergei was 20 and mother Alla was 18. Sergei says "We were young and we liked the clean, physical life, so Anna was in a good environment for sport from the beginning."
Anna now resides in Miami Beach, Florida
There have been conflicting rumors about Kournikova's marital status. She has consistently refused to confirm or deny the status of her personal relationships.

Fashion Model

A lot of Anna’s fame is from her beauty and modeling. She has appeared scantily clad in several Men’s Magazines including the 2004 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was among the People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003.
Since 2006 Anna has served as one of K-Swiss' global ambassadors helping to design tennis and casual apparel for the international brand.

Life As A Tennis Pro



Anna Kournikova signed a management deal at age 10 and went to Bradenton, Florida, USA, to train at the famed Nick Bolletierri’s tennis academy.

Kournikova had a great junior career. In 1995 at age 14 she accomplished a lot. She was the youngest player ever to win the under 18 division of the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl tournament. She also won the European Championships and the Italian Open Junior tournament. Anna was crowned the ITF Junior World Champion U-18.

Anna turned pro in 1995 at the very young age of 14. She became the youngest player ever to win a Fed Cup match at 14 when she played for Russia.

In 1997 Anna reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon. She was the 2nd woman in the Open Era, next to Chris Evert, to reach the Wimbledon Semi's in her career debut.

In 1998 Anna broke into the world's top 20 for the first time at #16. At The Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida, Anna defeated four consecutive top 10 players in a four day period during a single tournament, an unprecedented achievement that no other female tennis player has accomplished to date. Later that year, broke into the top 10 for the first time in her career. Anna finished 1998 as World’s Number 13 in singles and 10 in doubles.

Although Anna had some success in the next few years in singles, she accomplished more in doubles as her game is more suitable for doubles. She is known for her foot speed, aggressive but risky relatively flat ground strokes, excellent angles, drop shots, good net play and sometimes unreliable serve. She won two doubles Grand Slam tiles in 1999 and 2002at the Australian Open partnering Martina Hingis.

Kournikova has not played on the WTA Tour since 2003. She now participates in World Team Tennis matches and tennis exhibitions to support various charitable organizations.


Philanthropy



Anna Kournikova is involved in several philanthropic activities. She works with the Boys & Girls Club of America. In partnership with the Cartoon Network, she helped launch the Get Animated campaign which encourages kids and their parents to "get up and get moving!" She is also involved in her philanthropic work with PSI, a U.S. based NGO focusing on children's health in under developed countries. Anna Kournikova is an active participant in the USO, visiting troops and their schools on military bases around the world.

Serena Williams


Serena Williams: One Of The Best in Tennis for Singles And Doubles

Introduction

Serena Williams is one of the best women tennis players in the world. You may know that she is from the USA. The 2005 Tennis Magazine ranked her as the 17th best player in 40 years.
Serena Williams has had an outstanding career on the tennis court despite having to overcome several obstacles such as growing up in a tough neighborhood, the death of her older sister by shooting, and injuries. She has won 22 Grand Slam titles including 11 singles, 9 doubles and 2 mixed doubles. She has won all four Major Grand Slam titles in both singles and doubles. This is a significant achievement. She has also won 2 Olympic Gold Medals in women’s doubles. Serena Williams has been ranked the World Number 1 on five separate occasions as of July 2009.
Serena’s achievements on the court have been well compensated. She has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history!

Personal Life

Serena was born on September 26th, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. She is one of 5 sisters. Her elder sister Venus is also a former World’s Number 1 Women’s professional tennis player.
Serena’s off the court passions include acting and fashion.
Her latest TV credit is the reality show titled “Venus and Serena For Real” where cameras follow Serena and Venus on and off the court. She has also appeared in TV shows such as “ER”, “My Wife and Kids”, “Street Time” and “The Division”. Her voice was used in “The Simpsons” and Disney’s “Higglytown Heroes”.
In fashion she was among the 10 individuals named “Fashion Trendsetters” by Vogue Magazine on a VH1/Vogue Television Special. She has founded her own clothing label named Aneres which has been featured in In Style Magazine.
Serena recently published her autobiography ‘On The Line’.

Professional Life

1995–2001: Early success

Serena Williams started playing professional tennis in September 1995. She was only 14years old. After a few years she entered the top ten world ranking for the first time in 1999 when she won several tournaments including her first Grand Slam victory at the US Open at age 17.

2002–03: "Serena Slam"

In 2002 Serena won the Italian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. She became the World Number 1 for the first time in July 2002. She was named Associated Press “Female Athlete of the Year”.
In 2003 Serena won the Australian Open (singles & doubles), NASDAQ Open, French Indoors and Wimbledon. She became only the fifth woman in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. Sadly, her dominance of the women’s sport came to an abrupt end in mid 2003 when she had to undergo surgery to repair a partial tear in a knee tendon.

2004–06: Injuries and inconsistent results

Serena Williams started playing again in 2004. Her results in 2004 were not consistent. In the beginning of 2005 she won the Australian Open, her first Grand Slam title in 18 months. In the two years that followed Serena was only able to compete in 13 events due to injuries. Her world ranking suffered as a result and she went as low as 140 in July 2006.

2007–08: Return to form

Serena returned back to form in early 2007 winning the Australian Open despite being ranked World Number 81. She also won the Sony Ericsson Open in 2007 and returned to the top 10 by the end of the year. In 2008 Serena won the US Open. Her win at the US Open made her World No 1, but she lost this ranking after 4 weeks when she lost in her first post US Open match.

2009 – World Number 1 Again

2009 was a great year for Serena. She won the Australian Open. This victory made her the World Number 1 again and also the highest earner in the history of Women’s sports. Serena also partnered with Venus to win the doubles title at this event. At the start of the clay court season Serena had a four match losing streak which is the longest in her career. This losing streak meant that she lost her World Number 1 ranking to Safina.
She came back at Wimbledon winning the Singles and Doubles titles with Venus.
At the US Open Serene lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Kim Clijsters in a controversial match. Trailing 6-4, 6-5 (15-30) Serena’s second serve was called foot fault giving Kim match point. Serena lost her temper and was abusive to the woman line judge. The referee decided to penalize a point for this outburst and a previous racket abuse violation awarding Kim victory. The Grand Slam committee eventually decided to fine her $175,000 and put her on a 2 year probation so that if she commits another violation during the next two seasons at any of the Grand Slam events she will be banned from the next US Open. Despite this controversy Serena partnered with Venus to win the Women’s doubles at the US Open.
Serena won the WTA Season Ending Championship for the second time.
She finished the year as the World Number 1 for the second time in the career. She also beat Justine Henin’s record for the most money won during a season by a Women’s tennis player. Serena earned $6,545,586 during the year.
Serena was named the Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press for 2009 and ITF World Champion in Singles and Doubles.

2010 The Success Continues

Serena won the Australian Open defeating Justine Henin in the final. This win gave her at least one Grand Slam title in 3 decades (1990s, 2000s and 2010s) a record matched only by Martina Navratilova among women and Ken Rosewall among men. With her 5th Australian Open victory Serena has won more Australian Open Women’s Singles titles than any other player. She also won the doubles title with Venus.

Rivalry With Sister

Serena Williams and her sister Venus Williams have an unique place in Women’s Tennis because the two sisters became two of the top players in the world during the same period.
They have played each other in 21 professional matches going back to 1998. Serena has won 11 of these. Their meeting at finals of the 2001 US Open was the first Grand Slam Final contested by two sisters in the Open Era. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, the sisters met in all four Grand Slam finals. This was the first time in Open Era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals.

Roger Federer


Roger Federer: 

One Of The Most Successful Tennis Careers Ever?

Roger Federer is arguably the greatest tennis player of all times. He is from Switzerland. Federer was born on August 8, 1981.
Federer’s parents are Swiss national Robert Federer and South Africa-born Lynette Durand. He was raised a Catholic. Federer is married to Miroslava "Mirka" Vavrinec. Mirka is a former Women's Tennis Association player. They married in Basel on 11 April 2009. On 23 July 2009, Mirka gave birth to twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva.
Federer is an all court player. He has text book strokes and is pleasing to watch. He has a very powerful forehand referred to by John McEnroe as "the greatest shot in our sport".
Federer holds many records in the Men’s singles game. He has won 16 Grand Slam titles which is more than any other male tennis player. Federer stands alone as the only player to appear in 23 Grand Slam semi-finals in a row as of January, 2010. He is only one of 6 players to win all four Grand Slam Tournaments during his career.
Federer’s rivalry with Rafael Nadal is considered by many critics to be the greatest in tennis history. They are the only men in open era to play each other in 7 Grand Slam finals. Their 2008 Wimbledon Finals is considered to be the greatest match of all times.