Serena Williams has pounded her chief rivals in consecutive tournaments, making her the heavy favorite at the French. (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
ROME — Serena Williams solidified her status as the overwhelming favorite for the French Open by defeating Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the Italian Open on Sunday. Williams extended her winning streak to a career-high 24 and capped a dominant week in which she didn’t drop a set, lost no more than four games in any of her five matches and dished out three 6-0 sets en route to her 51st career title and fourth in a row.
Williams hit winners on 41 of the 74 points she won Sunday and committed 19 unforced errors in a remarkable offensive display against the world No. 3. The 31-year-old American won the title here for the first time since 2002, the same year she won her first and only French Only title. That’s a pretty good omen.
Sloane Stephens won her first-round match at the Italian Open on Tuesday. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
ROME — Sloane Stephens said Tuesday that she never expected her controversial comments about Serena Williams to be printed.
In the May 13 issue of ESPN The Magazine, Stephens questioned Williams’ authenticity and dispelled the idea that the two were close. But Stephens, 20, said she was under the impression that she was speaking off the record to author Marin Cogan.
“We were eating pizza!” Stephens said, emphasizing that the casual context of her meeting with the reporter made her believe that the late-March interview in Florida had yet to begin. “I understood the fact that those things weren’t going to be written in the article and I was just saying whatever. The person who wrote it just kind of took that and ran with it. That’s what they’re going to do.
“I’m really disappointed in the lady who wrote it,” Stephens said after defeating Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open. “It wasn’t a good reflection and it’s not what I meant. That’s why I had to talk to Serena about it because it was not good at all.”
Serena Williams has won 19 matches in a row entering the Italian Open. (Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
ROME — Serena Williams has won three consecutive tournaments and 19 matches in a row after defeating Maria Sharapova at the Madrid Open on Sunday to claim her first red clay title since 2002. Last year, Williams rode a 17-match winning streak into the Italian Open semifinals before withdrawing from her match against Li Na because of a back injury. She went on to lose to Virginie Razzano in the first round of the French Open.
“I feel definitely different this year,” Williams told reporters here Monday as she prepares to try to win the Italian Open for the first time in 11 years. “I feel more calm. Last year I was really happy and feeling really good about it. I just feel more calm and poised [this year].”
“I don’t really know. I don’t have many thoughts,” Williams told reporters in Spain after defeating Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of the Madrid Open, answering the one question posed to her about Stephens. “I’m a big Sloane Stephens fan and always have been. I’ve always said that I think she can be the best in the world. I’ll always continue to think that and always be rooting for her.
“So I really just always wish her — and anyone, really, especially from America — the best. We don’t have that many American players, so it’s always exciting to see so many young players doing so well.”
Maria Sharapova didn’t take sides in Serena vs. Sloane, but says she’s not out to make friends with her on-court rivals. (Daniel Maurer/AP)
Maria Sharapova extended her clay winning streak to 17 matches with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round of the Madrid Open on Monday. After the match, she was asked about one of the stories dominating the tennis headlines: Sloane Stephens’ controversial comments (made in March) in ESPN The Magazine lashing out at Serena Williams for unfollowing her on Twitter, deleting her from BlackBerry Messenger and otherwise not speaking to her after Stephens beat her at the Australian Open.
While she seems to appreciate Stephens’ willingness to speak out, Sharapova told Tennis Panorama News that she doesn’t go out of her way to make friends in the locker room either. To paraphrase the the old adage: She’s not here to make friends; she’s here to win.
“I think everyone knows this is my job here. When I’m on the courts or when I’m on the court playing, I’m a competitor and I want to beat every single person whether they’re in the locker room or across the net.
“So I’m not the one to strike up a conversation about the weather and know that in the next few minutes I have to go and try to win a tennis match. I’m a pretty competitive girl. I say my hellos, but I’m not sending any players flowers as well.
“So it was nice to see that she spoke honestly about it. I think people have different perceptions of different athletes. It’s nice that someone spoke up about how they feel.”
Sloan Stephens has seen her relationship with Serena Williams fall apart since the Australian Open. (Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images)
In an interview in the May 13 issue of ESPN The Magazine, Sloane Stephens reveals that her relationship with Serena Williams has completely deteriorated since Stephens beat Williams at the Australian Open in January.
Here’s a snippet from Marin Cogan’s story:
“She’s not said one word to me, not spoken to me, not said hi, not looked my way, not been in the same room with me since I played her in Australia,” Stephens says emphatically. “And that should tell everyone something, how she went from saying all these nice things about me to unfollowing me on Twitter.”
Her mom tries to slow her down, but Sloane is insistent. “Like, seriously! People should know. They think she’s so friendly and she’s so this and she’s so that — no, that’s not reality! You don’t unfollow someone on Twitter, delete them off of BlackBerry Messenger. I mean, what for? Why?”
In their 24th career matchup, Serena Williams beat Venus for her sixth straight win over her sister. (Stephen Morton/AP)
CHARLESTON, S.C. — In the most lopsided scoreline of their 24 career encounters, Serena Williams bested older sister Venus in the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup, winning 6-2, 6-1 to advance to her third straight final of the season. She’ll face off Sunday against a resurgent Jelena Jankovic, who defeated surprise Swiss semifinalist Stefanie Voegele 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 to make her second final here in Charleston.
The first semifinal between Venus and Serena—which helped draw over 9,400 fans, the largest attendance of any session in the history of the tournament—fell flat of the hype, as the match was one-way traffic for Serena. The two haven’t faced each other since the WTA Championships in 2009, and the match was a microcosm of where they are in their respective careers. Serena is the No. 1 player in the world and coming off a big title at the Sony Open last week. Venus, on the other hand, is still dealing with health and injury issues that stem from Sjogren’s syndrome, which haven’t allowed her to train and prepare for tournaments as well as she’d like.
Venus has been impressive in Charleston, but will get her biggest test from her sister in the semifinals. (Mic Smith/AP)
CHARLESTON, S.C. — After a historic day that saw both Serena and Venus Williams do double-duty to play and win two matches — rain delayed their third-round matches on Thursday — the two will face off for the 24th time in their careers in the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup. Venus opened play with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Varvara Lepchenko and came back again to defeat 18-year-old Madison Keys 6-4, 6-4 to advance to her second semifinal of the year. Serena followed her lead, striking 34 winners on her way to beating Mallory Burdette 6-4, 6-2, and then defeated 6th seed Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-1 in a rematch of last year’s final.
It’s been almost four years since Venus and Serena last faced off in the final of the WTA Championships in 2009, where Serena won 6-2, 7-6 to extend her slight lead in their head-to-head to 13-10. Due to their sisterly bond and familiarity, their matches have historically been tense, awkward affairs with each struggling to bring their best.
“I don’t love playing her,” Serena said. “If I win, I’m not super excited, and if I lose I’m really not excited.”
Video highlights from their last match in Doha in 2009:
Serena may not be excited but the tennis-watching public has always tuned in for the sisterly duel. When Venus and Serena met in a Slam final for the first time in their careers at the 2001 U.S. Open final, the tournament shifted its schedule to accomodate CBS’s request for the match to take place in primetime. That marked the first time the final of a Slam had ever been aired in primetime. Venus won that final 6-4, 6-2, but Serena would win their next five Slam final meetings. Their matches have rarely been blowouts, with 17 of their 23 matches going to either a tiebreak or a full three sets.
“I think we just both want to win,” Venus explained, chalking up the tense nature of their matches as one borne from mutual respect. “I think we just both have so much respect for each other’s game that makes it probably a little tougher because you know you’re not going to get an easy win. You know you have to really just be on your game and play well every single time. So I think that’s probably the toughest part.”
For Serena, it’s simply an issue of familiarity. “It’s difficult because we know each other,” she said. “I know where she’s going to serve. She knows where I’m going to serve. And I know her patterns and she knows mine. She probably knows mine better than I do.”
It’s hard to ignore the fact that the two, separated by just 14 months in age, are in different places in their careers these days. Serena is obviously in the midst of a late career resurgence, having taken over the No. 1 ranking from Victoria Azarenka in February and winning last week’s Sony Open in Miami. The defending champion here, she has yet to drop a set heading into the semifinal. Venus on the other hand admits that she’s still struggling with some inflammation in her back that forced her to withdraw from Miami last week and hasn’t allowed her to serve at 100 percent this week. Without the ability to serve at her best, Venus will have a tough time defending her serve against her kid sister’s aggressive returning.
Asked if she tried to keep her injury problems a secret from Serena after she saw the draw, Venus shook her head and laughed. “I think everybody knows about that.” Nevertheless, Serena says she’ll have to play her best.
“She’s [the] toughest opponent I’ve ever played, and I think she’s beaten me the most of any player, I think. We’ll see how it goes.”
Serena Williams has posted a sterling 11-2 career record against Maria Sharapova, whom she will face for the Sony Open title. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
It’s yet another week of proven stability in the WTA’s upper echelons, as it’ll be No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Sony Open final. Serena Williams played her best match of the season in dismissing Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals on Thursday to set up yet another showdown with Maria Sharapova, who rolled past Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-1 earlier in the day.
Serena leads the head-to-head 11-2 and is aiming to become the oldest champion at the Sony Open by winning her second title of the year. Here’s what to expect from the final.
• How do you solve a problem like Maria? Just ask Serena: CBS has television rights for Saturday’s final, and the network will undoubtedly hype the match. On one hand, it’s understandable: Williams and Sharapova are the two biggest names in the game; they’re No. 1 and No. 2, respectively; and their fan bases are both vocal and quickly mobilized. But the fact remains that Sharapova hasn’t beaten Williams in almost nine years, her last win coming at the WTA Championships in 2004. Since then, it’s been beatdown after beatdown for Sharapova, and she hasn’t shown any recent signs that she can turn the trend around.
Williams collapsed to the court with an ankle injury in her first-round win at the Australian Open and then appeared to aggravate it in doubles the day before her quarterfinal match with Sloane Stephens.
In that 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to Stephens, Williams called a medical timeout due to back spasms, possibly brought on by overcompensating from the ankle injury.
“I’ve had a tough two weeks between the ankle, which is like this big every day, and my back,” Williams said after the Stephens loss Wednesday.
