Serena Williams ended her 11-month title drought by defeating Patty Schnyder 7-5, 6-3 in a hard fought, error-strewn final at the Bangalore Open. It followed her gutsy 3rd set tiebreak win over sister Venus Williams in a 2 hour, 10 minute semi-final that was not broadcast in the United States.The Pacific Life Open starts in Indian Wells, California on Monday with both men and women competing. Neither Williams Sister will play that tournament due to an ugly incident from years ago. Following that, Serena will be defending her title Sony Ericsson Open starting March 24th.
Also on Monday, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras are playing a sold-out exhibition match at Madison Square Garden at 430pm PDT (730pm EDT) that will be broadcast on The Tennis Channel.
Whew, after 11 months of not winning one, this is a sweet victory, and, after her record with Schynder, even sweeter. And, I love the fact that they still won't be in Indian Wells, although, I will as usual, and, I'll never forget, this is where I met them for the first time face to face the firstyear they played there.
ReplyDeleteToo bad a handful of drunken, and, sober racists chased them away from a great event.
Too bad the sisters cannot overlook the incident from around five years, maybe more, ago and rejoin a most enjoyable tournament, and the second-most attended tournament in America. They have way more fans that attend the tournament than the few idiots that chased them away.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to "overlook" the sting of racism that they felt, but, with their Pop's having growing up in the South and having endured it daily, I can see why he has made it clear to them that its not a welcome venue for his daughters, which is sad, but, I don't blame them, I blame the tournament for not coming out and letting everyone who shows up know that racist epithets will not be allowed. And, at this point in their careers, they don't need Indian Wells at all, and, thier real fans are the ones who miss out, although, the Indian Wells planners have seldom reached out to the fans of the W's.
ReplyDeleteThis W fan will go as I have for years, but, now, its just to see the men, as none of the women excite me, although, I might take in a Lindsay match, who I adore.