Serena Williams

Justine Henin has been known as a great player with an unpredictable mind. If her nerves stayed in check she could beat anybody. But it's that 'if' that has prevented tennis pundits from calling her the unquestionable number one player in the world. If Serena or Venus are on their game, if Sharapova has her serve, then well ... Henin can't stand up to that.

Tonight, Justine Henin made those reservations seem a little silly. She won her seventh Grand Slam and second U.S. Open in the most dominating and convincing effort of her career.  read more »

After her stellar straight-sets semifinal victory, a reporter told Justine Henin that Venus Williams said she wasn't feeling 100 percent today.

"I'm surprised," interrupted Henin, in a deadpan voice.

This evening, Justine Henin become the first player since Martina Hingis at the 2001 Australian Open to beat both Williams sisters in one Grand Slam.  read more »

If Venus Williams goes on to win tomorrow night and then in the final, it will give the Williams sisters three of this year’s four Grand Slams -- an enormous comeback for them.

Yet, if we return to Mary Carillo’s point from two weeks ago -- that the Williams sisters haven’t lived to their potential -- here’s something that underscores it.

Serena Williams has finished only one year at number one; Venus Williams never has.  read more »

Think Serena was a little ticked off a couple nights ago? This is in the third game of the second set that was soon about to get away from her. Read Serena's lips and you be the judge.

This gem comes from The New Yorker's U.S. Open blog.

[via The Sporting Scene]

My friend Goldburn took issue with me calling last night’s loss one of Serena’s worst.

Goldburn: I don't think it was one of the worst losses of her career
me: if you consider henin is (1) a rival and (2) serena unraveled against that rival and lost to her for a 3rd time in a GS this year and (3) you don't put up a fight -- that’s pretty devastating.

(More, if you can bear it, after the jump.)  read more »

Before the last night's match, Justine Henin's coach Carlos Rodriguez said he wanted Henin pressuring Serena.

She did, and it worked: In the match, Henin converted 11 for 14 net chances.

“If I'm too far from my baseline, if I don't move forward, I have no chance to win this kind of match,” said Henin last night.  read more »

Moments after one of the worst losses of her career, Serena Williams walked into the women’s locker room sobbing.

When she met with the press 20 minutes later she was still teary-eyed. And she did not want to talk about her match.

“I really don't feel like talking about it, to be honest,” she said. “It's like I don't want to get fined. That's the only reason I came. I can't afford to pay the fines because I keep losing.”  read more »

In anticipation of tonight’s fantastically wonderful match-up of Serena Williams and Justine Henin, I’m trying something new: live-blogging from Arthur Ashe Stadium. Instant analysis!

If you feel like being a part of this bold venture, chime in in the comments section or get me on AIM at ‘Jets20012.’

8:16: One minute from the first serve and the seats here are barely filled since it took so long to kick people from the day session out. Why do they schedule these matches so poorly?

8:23: Early break! Notoriously slow starter Serena loses the first game on her serve. Think Henin is invested? Pumps her first pretty theatrically in front of Serean's face.

8:30: Monica Seles is here, sitting next to David Dinkins (?!). Also Tony Bennett is here. My friend James' take: "it really is pathetic what passes for celebrity at the open. how long before they cut to rosanna scotto"

Click 'Read More' to follow the live action!  read more »

Justine Henin came off the practice court at 5, some two hours before her much-awaited rematch against Serena Williams tonight.

I caught up with Carlos Rodriguez, her coach, and asked him about the match.

“We come here to play these type of matches,” he said. “It’s exciting and it’s difficult. It's my job to help Justine to do her best in these type of situations.”

How’d she look in practice? “She looked good but practice and the match -- there is no relation. I hope she hits the ball tonight like she hit now.”  read more »

Before the Open began, Serena Williams discussed how eager she was to take on Justine Henin, who she’s lost to at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year:  read more »

Is Serena Williams secretly injured?

After her match against Marion Bartoli, she was asked if anything was affecting her physically: “I would be the last person to tell you just in case Justine or Safina reads it, and they're like, ‘Oh, I know what to do.’”

Then her father, Richard, had this to say to me two days ago: “I think Serena can beat anyone when she’s well. Serena’s really not well. I know she’s not well. I won’t let you find out what’s wrong with her, but she’s not well.”

Let's see if Henin can figure it out.

It's time to start talking about tonight's match between Serena Williams and Justine Henin, the latest installment in what some of my favorite tennis experts consider to be the greatest rivalry going on the women's side.

“Serena-Henin is the best,” said Jon Wertheim, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. “There’s some history there. They played three times already this year -- Serena won one and saved a match point, Justine won at the majors.”  read more »

The difference between this match and the last was striking for Serena Williams. In the last, Williams entered the women’s locker room on the verge of tears. Today, she came in smiling and gave a big thumbs up.  read more »

Marion Bartoli wishes she could replay the Wimbledon Finals when she lost to Venus Williams. She said she would changed her strategy. Instead of hitting the ball in the corners, she would have hit the ball down the center of the court, preventing Venus an opportunity to get good angles on passing winners.

This morning, when she takes on two-time U.S. Open Champion Serena Williams, she’ll test out that same strategy. “I will try to hit more to her body.”  read more »

As we warned you earlier today, Serena Williams played in a nail-biter this evening and eventually beat Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 7-6 .

When she left the court this evening, she complained to a friend that she was completely frustrated. She said the same later.  

“I was upset after the match,” she said. “I didn’t feel that I played the greatest at all. I actually felt I didn’t play well at all.”  read more »

Serena Williams might have a surprising challenge later today when she plays Russian Vera Zvonareva at Ashe.

If you look at their head-to-head, Serena doesn't have her usually dominating advantage. Zvonareva beat Serena 6-2, 6-3 in Cincinnati last year and challenged her to three sets before losing in Los Angeles in 2005.

Also, Serena has said she isn't happy with her game right now, after playing for the first time since early July.

"I haven't played my best tennis at all in the first two rounds," she said. "I'm glad to have gotten through them, but I don't feel like I've been playing great."

After last night's exhilarating action, we've got some great tennis to follow up.

At 11am, Justine Henin plays at Ashe while Novak Djokovic plays at Louis Armstrong. In the afternoon, Ana Ivanovic, Tim Henman, Marion Bartoli and Serena Williams all play.

Lleyton Hewitt will play on Louis Armstrong at night, while Venus Williams and the injured Rafael Nadal play at Ashe.

Match to watch for: Mardy Fish v. Tommy Robredo at 1pm on Ashe. Fish is hot and he gets the big stage to take on the nunmber 8 player in the world. A solid chance for a major upset.

"I thought it was simply divine personally. I have gotten a lot of great compliments on it."

—Serena Williams, at a press conference this weekend, on posing for Jane magazine.

Are the Williams sisters still a major mental block for the number one player in the world?

During a press briefing on Saturday, Justine Henin explained her shocking semifinal loss at Wimbledon to the delightfully out-of-shape Marian Bartoli by saying that she may have focused too much on Serena and Venus Williams.  read more »

TV analyst and ex-pro player Mary Carillo told reporters last week she thought five years ago that the Williams sisters would dominate and forever change women's tennis.

"I was dead wrong at that," she said.

It's not a new sentiment for Carillo, who told me last year in an interview that the Williams sisters "created a Tiger-like buzz" when they started winning, but never made a Tiger Woods-like imprint on the game because "they play so seldom."

   read more »

Welcome to the New York Observer's U.S. Open blog.

For the next 14 days, Spencer Morgan and I will be in and around the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing gathering stories, game analysis and observations from the tournament.

Stay with us, and please keep in touch (as often as you like) about what we’re doing and what else you’d like to see. We’ll do our best to oblige.  read more »

• Robin at Baby Phat: "The two little girls have been props in her advertising campaigns and serve as accessories for Kimora's runway bows. A colleague noted wryly that the girls made particularly nice accessories and also could be converted into overnight bags."
• On Serena Williams at Marc Jacobs: "Allegedly her current stylist has trouble finding clothes for her because Serena's a big girl. But we figure if she stopped trying to get clothes for free and bought them herself she could get some that fit."
• On Bono at La Esquilina: "We are please to report that Bono himself was on the premises. He was wearing his sunglasses at night. He was short, which does not take away from the fact that he is handsome and talented and trying to end poverty as we know it."