Sports Then and Now

Serena Williams is back at the top of the Power Rankings.

Serena Williams reigns once again as we launch the season’s inaugural Women’s Tennis Power Rankings.  With the first major completed, the 2010 season is officially underway.

There are several questions that need to be answered in terms of the WTA rankings on the women’s side of the equation now that this year’s Australian Open is in the history books.

Questions like what effect will the return of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin have on the women’s tour?  Will Dinara Safina find her courage this year?  Will Svetlana Kuznetsova be able to defend her crown at the 2010 French Open?

Will Maria Sharapova ever tame her toss so that her serve is effective once again?  Will one of the youngsters break through and will Serena Williams loosen her grip at the top?

The Power Rankings will give you the hottest players at the moment as we keep you apprised of the latest movers and shakers on tour. Read the rest of this entry →

Enter the Sports Then and Now Trivia Contest to win tickets to the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown on March 1st.

On Monday, March 1, 2010, four of the best players in women’s professional tennis will be on one court at Madison Square Garden vying for the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup and you could be in the audience.

One lucky Sports Then and Now reader will win a pair of tickets to see Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova face off in a high-powered evening of tennis at the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown.  The format includes two single set semifinals followed by a best of three set final.

To register, click here to answer a quick trivia contest that includes questions about the four contestants as well as Billie Jean King. The winner will be selected from all entrants that correctly answer the highest number of questions. The winner will receive two tickets to the tournament, but must provide their own transportation and other accommodations in New York City.

2010 marks the second year of the BNP Paribas Showdown as Serena Williams won the inaugural event last March.

The field for 2010 is amazing as it includes the winners of the last seven majors, with each of the four participants having won at least one major during that stretch.

Serena Williams, the winner of 12 Grand Slam titles, has been the most successful of the four players in recent times as she has claimed four of the last six majors, including the last two Australian Opens.

Venus Williams, winner of seven Grand Slam titles, won the 2008 Wimbledon and was a finalist in 2009.

Kuznetsova won the 2009 French Open for her first Grand Slam title. Clijsters has two Grand Slam titles, including the 2009 U.S. Open.

Even if you don’t win the free tickets from Sports Then and Now, you can still attend this great tennis event. Tickets for the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown are currently available through Ticketmaster.  You can save $10 by typing in the promotional code: SHOWDOWN.  You can follow Madison Square Garden on Twitter and Facebook.

Richard Williams told us it would be so. And Venus predicted her greatest rival would be her sister.

I, for one, discounted all this talk, back in the day. But now it’s been 10 years! Time flies. Serena is a great champion.

So it’s time to take a look back at the years and the moments in Serena’s career.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive review, just a brush up on the times and the significance of Serena’s wins, and a comparison with past champions.

This picture is from Serena’s first appearance at Indian Wells at the age of seventeen, where she defeated Steffi Graf in three sets. It was 1999.

Remember 1999? We were all afraid of the software bug that was going to hit us at the turn of the millennium and destroy the world as we know it.

Song: It’s the End of The World as We Know It [r.e.m.]

For fun, I’ve attached a playlist to this slide show so that you can ‘listen’ in as the times roll by. You’ll need iTunes to take full advantage of that particular feature.

Read the rest of this entry →

Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams sit atop the women's tennis power rankings.

A new face at the top of the power rankings may lead many to believe Elena Dementieva’s presence is a harbinger of changes to come.

There are myriad story lines adding to excitement of the first major of the year for the women’s tour: Along with the resurrection of the tennis careers of the Belgian duo of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, there is the attempted return of Maria Sharapova.

There are also many questions about the promise yet to be realized for Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina as well as the scalability of newbies Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and big-serving Sabine Lisicki.

Add to that the staying power of the Williams sisters.

The preseason power rankings borrow a little from 2009 and a lot from 2010. Here is how they stack up early in the year…

The Top 10

1. Elena Dementieva (Last Power Ranking: NR; Current WTA Ranking: 5)

Last four tournaments: Sydney [Winner], Doha [RR 2-1], Beijing [Quarterfinalist], Tokyo [R32].

Power Ranking Points: 518

On her way to the finals in Sydney, Elena Dementieva defeated No. 2 seed Dinara Safina, No. 6 seed Victoria Azarenka, and No. 1 seed Serena Williams to collect her first tour championship of the season.

Unfortunately for Dementieva, she was drawn into the most contested quarter of the draw and can expect to meet reborn Justine Henin in round 2.  The quarter also includes No. 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 15 seed Kim Clijsters.  This quarter is jam packed with potential champions.  It will be a real test for the Russian to find herself standing in the quarterfinals.

If Dementieva gets past Henin, it will mark a major hurdle.  But it would still only be round two.  There remains a mountain of matches left to win before the finish line. If the Russian makes it there, she may retain her No. 1 power ranking at the conclusion of the Australian Open.

Read the rest of this entry →

Serena Williams will look for a repeat of her 2009 Australian Open championship.

In recent history there has never been more compelling drama promised than that offered in the 2010 Australian Open women’s draw. Consider all the possible story lines, what with the Williams sisters fit and fully engaged and Maria Sharapova back to compete hopefully at full strength once again.

Then there is the continuing saga of the “Come-back Queens”—Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin! Add to that the potential for Dinara Safina to finally find her missing courage.

For a pinch of entertainment enhance the proceedings with the ingenues Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki and you have all the ingredients for a first rate, blockbuster grand slam down under.

Rajat Jain (RJ), Marianne Bevis (MB), and JA Allen (JA) will present our analysis and predictions for the women’s draw—with the men’s draw to follow in short order.
Serena Williams’ First Quarter

As quarters go, Serena has almost a cake-walk to the quarterfinals unless she stumbles getting out of the gate. The rest seems fairly straightforward with the seeds progressing in order.
Best of the first-round matches

Urszula Radwanska vs. Serena Williams (1)

The two have met on the grass at Wimbledon where Serena won 6-4, 6-4 but Radwanska, seeded 190 at the time, played well. An early match against a seasoned opponent could prove dangerous for the No. 1 seed. (Unanimous choice.) Read the rest of this entry →

It is hard not to wonder just how great Monica Seles could have been were it not for the attack in Hamburg.

Monica Seles, a former world No. 1 tennis player, released her memoir Getting A Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My Self on April 21, 2009.

The autobiography details her bout with depression and her subsequent food addiction after being stabbed in a tennis tournament in Germany.

It also describes dealing with her father’s cancer diagnosis and eventual death, which devastated a daughter who was very close to her dad. Finally it follows her journey back to the game and her aim for a life beyond tennis.

Later on July 11, 2009, Seles was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, drawing attention to her story by a generation of tennis fans who may have missed her extraordinary rise to the top of the women’s game in the ’90s.

The Early Years

Monica Seles was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia on Dec. 2, 1973 but she became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1994. She started playing tennis when she was five years of age.

Her father, Karoly Seles, coached her and was the one who helped her develop her unique two-handed style with both the forehand and the backhand. He also contrived special moments that made the day-to-day practices fun for the little girl.

She was one of many tennis talents discovered and developed by Nick Bollettieri, training in the Bollettieri Tennis Academy for two years. Read the rest of this entry →