Larry Brown Sports » Search Results » serena williams

Is that an Ice Pack Down Caroline Wozniacki’s Skirt?

Larry Brown — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:22:18 +0000

Caroline Wozniacki was the runner up at the U.S. Open last year and is currently ranked fourth in the world. She rolled in her opening round match at the Australian Open on Tuesday, 6-4 6-2 over Aleksandra Wozniak. With the score at 5-2 in the final set, there was a side change and Wozniacki took a breather to rest up. She received an ice pack from the ball person and elected to place it in quite a curious place. Check it out and apologies for the grainy cell phone video:

Wozniacki is one of the up-and-coming players on tour so who am I to question her cooling off methods? Or maybe she was just suffering the same fate as Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon last year. Incidentally, Jankovic also gave fans a little peep show last year which is something Serena Williams did in her first round match too. Maybe someone should remind these ladies there are video cameras all over the place and they should be more careful. Or maybe they’re so focused on the match they don’t care.

Video: Serena Williams Goes Crazy/Tirade at End of Kim Clijsters Match

Larry Brown — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:14:13 +0000

The ending to the Serena Williams/Kim Clijsters match at the U.S. Open Saturday night was certainly a strange one. Down 5-6 and 15-30 in the second set, Serena faulted and then was called for a foot fault on her second serve. The foot fault gave Clijsters the point, making it 15-40 and double match point. Since the foot fault was so ill-timed, Serena Williams went off on the line judge who called the fault. The tirade was apparently so harsh that the chair judge docked Williams a point, thereby giving Clijsters the match. Wow. Check out the video of Serena Williams’ tirade:

Now this wasn’t an isolated incident in the match — Serena lost her temper after losing the first set and she smashed her racket, receiving a code violation warning in the process. Even though Serena was in the wrong in that situation, she also clearly foot faulted on that serve but was never called. To me there’s no doubt that both parties were in the wrong here. Serena was obviously high strung throughout the match, upset she was losing, and displayed poor sportsmanship. But Serena (as well as many others) was foot faulting most of the match and how often was she called for it? Calling it in that situation is extremely ticky-tacky. It’s like in football — half the time the defense lines up offsides but they never get flagged. Imagine that being called on a 4th a 1 to decide the game.

As far as Serena’s behavior, it was totally inappropriate and she really crossed the line with the ref, but didn’t tennis let Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe get away with berating refs for years? Heck, don’t they celebrate them for it now? Seems somewhat hypocritical to me. Both the judge and Serena were out of line in this one. Also, here’s the broken racket video:

Video: Pete Sampras Congrats Roger Federer in Nike Commercial

Larry Brown — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:33:02 +0000

From showing up at Wimbledon to watch Roger Federer in person, to calling him the greatest ever after Roger tied him by winning the French Open, Pete Sampras has been quite gracious in losing his standing as the player who won the most grand slam events. In fact, Nike rolled out the red carpet in their commercial congratulating Roger Federer for winning his record 15th grand slam:

Yes, that’s John McEnroe, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and the rest of your friends at Nike congratulating Fed on the record. That’s a pretty sweet cast to assemble but I guess it’s easy when they’re all pulling in paychecks from the swoosh. Oh yeah, and what does Tiger have to say now that Roger’s passed him up?

Venus, Serena Dropped the Ball with Shahar Pe’er in Dubai

Larry Brown — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 11:05:17 +0000

Earlier this week the Barclays Dubai WTA tournament didn’t let Israeli player Shahar Pe’er play in the tournament. Specifically the United Arab Emirates did not allow her a visa into the country citing security issues because she’s Jewish. The WTA considered canceling the tournament but determined it wouldn’t be fair to all the other players who had already arrived in Dubai and were prepared to play. They also threatened not to return to Dubai next year. Since then, the UAE has said they will grant a visa to Andy Ram, an Israeli male, so he can participate in the men’s tournament next week. I’m particularly perturbed that more tennis players didn’t stand up for Pe’er and threaten to boycott the tournament for their blatantly discriminatory practice. I’m also upset with Venus Williams and Serena Williams for not stepping up when the opportunity presented itself. Here was Venus’ reasoning:

“I have to look at the bigger picture. The big picture is that Shahar Peer didn’t get a chance to play, but making an immediate decision we also have to look at sponsors, fans and everyone who has invested a lot in the tournament.
…
There are so many other people involved. Sponsors are important to us,” Williams said. “We wouldn’t be here without sponsors and we can’t let them down. Whatever we do, we need to do as a team – players, sponsors, tour and whoever – and not all break off in one direction. We are team players.”

What disappoints me is that in a time when Venus had a chance to step up and make a statement against what she knows is wrong, she decided to recite the company line and cite economical reasons. The reason I single out the Williams sisters is because they are two of the biggest names on the tour and because they have experienced racial discrimination in their lives. If anyone would know how badly Pe’er feels and how important it is to speak up at a time like this, I would think it would be them. Moreover, from what I could tell, they were the only American women (and certainly by far the most prominent if there were others) in the tournament, representing a country that stands for equal rights and democracy. If ever there was a time to take a stand, this was it. It’s a shame that they and the other women didn’t speak up.

Serena Williams Still Bitter Over Treatment from U.S. Open Umpires

Chris Buchanan — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:10:25 +0000

Serena Williams has won two U.S. Open titles in her career, as well as six other majors. She’s a dominant force in the sport, and seems to play well on hard courts like those in Melbourne and New York. And according to Serena, she probably could have won more at Flushing:

“One year I really ran into a lot of bad luck where I got the worst calls possible. Honestly, I couldn’t even hit a shot because I was so nervous they would call every ball out. That really wasn’t my fault. I probably would have won that year, and I was gonna win that year. Unfortunately it didn’t work out.”

Man, do you hear Raiders still bitching about the tuck rule loss to the Pats, or Miami players about losing to Ohio State? I really haven’t too much. Perhaps just another example of Serena being a poor sport. Or maybe the reporter was just being vindictive towards Serena. Did her comments necessitate the headline it generated? Maybe not — but it certainly is the one that piques the most interest.

All-Hottest Olympians at Beijing Team

Larry Brown — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:01:37 +0000

By popular demand, we have the All-Hottest Olympians Team. Usually they have the all-tournament teams and stuff, but athletic prowess is not exactly what concerns us in this instance. After all, what else are the Summer Games good for? Anyway, Jimmy Traina at SI Extra Mustard gave us plenty of excellent choices and provided some inspiration for this carefully selected group. Same with Brahsome who put together a hottest 11 Olympians list, and FanIQ’s Olympians that posed in Playboy.

LERYN FRANCO – Javelin, Paraguay, With Leather favorite

ANA IVANOVIC – Tennis, Serbia, LBS favorite

ALICIA SACRAMONE – Gymnast, U.S., Instant Internet Celeb

JACQUELINE CARVALHO – Volleyball, Brazil, wish she played Beach

SERENA WILLIAMS – Tennis, U.S., Bootylicious

HANNA-MARIA SEPPALA – Swimmer, Finland

HONORABLE MENTION ALL HOT OLYMPICS TEAM

BIBA GOLIC – Table Tennis, Serbia, Hottie in Cleats

HOPE SOLO – Soccer, U.S., Wants to play Brazil

LOLO JONES – Track, U.S., Best abs in the games?

I do have to say, I think Jacqueline Carvalho might be my favorite. She’s awesome. Not sure if her team’s any good, but she sure is.

Ana Ivanovic Gets Her First Grand Slam

Larry Brown — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:14:21 +0000

I pretty much had this up and ready to go for the last few days, I was just waiting to sub in a few details like the score she won by. Pretty much everything broke perfectly for Ana Ivanovic to win the French Open title this year, her first major win. First it was the news of Justine Henin retiring, then Maria Sharapova went out early, and the Williams sisters made their exits in the 3rd round leaving the draw wide open for Ana’s taking. Ivanovic capitalized and won the tournament without dropping a set, her first major win. It was great to see Ana get the win especially after the way she performed in her last two finals appearances; she got crushed by Henin last year in the French Open finals, and was handled easily at the Australian by Sharapova. Best part is that the win coincides with Ana’s rise to No. 1 in the world — she’ll have the top ranking when the new ones come out next week.

Now, onto important matters. With a Grand Slam win her pocket and the No. 1 ranking to come, where does this place Ana on the list of hottest top-ranked tennis players of all-time? I say she takes the top spot amongst the No. 1’s easily. After the jump, I have some of her competition …

Maria Sharapova has held the top spot on the WTA tour on four different occasions for a combined total of 17 weeks. She proved she wasn’t just an Anna Kournikova clone by claiming the top spot, not to mention a Wimbledon, U.S., and Australian Open title.

Now just a housewife, there was a time when Mrs. Agassi was a hot, single tennis player. She held the top spot for a record 186 weeks between ‘87-’91, and then got it back later in ‘91 and held it on and off to ‘96 (thanks to the Seles stabbing). Graf held the top spot for a record 377 weeks in her career.

There hasn’t been a centerfold of Jennifer Capriati, probably because she was too young to pose when she was actually good looking. After her drug days she returned to the sport bloated and her game was never quite as good as it was when she was young. From late ‘01-early ‘02, Capriati held the top spot for 17 weeks.

Serena steamed things up when she posed nude for a magazine shoot recently. Sporting perhaps the most athletic build and curviest body to grace a tennis court, Serena grabbed the top spot in the Summer of ‘02, and held it for over a year straight for a solid 57 weeks. While her interest in the sport wanes, she’s still a top player and looker in the game.

As I said before, there’s really no competition. Ana Ivanovic is the best looking tennis player to also be the top player in the world. That’s a pretty hard combination to beat. Simply put, she’s got it all. Here’s to many more weeks at #1 to come.

Ashley Harkleroad Posing in Playboy

Larry Brown — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:09:55 +0000

I bet when the P.R. reps over at Playboy were discussing the matter of how they would handle the announcement that Harkleroad was going to appear in the August issue of the magazine, they were thinking that releasing the news the day before the French Open — one of tennis’ majors — would be the perfect time. Might as well go on the attack while tennis is fresh in everyone’s mind and while ESPN is pushing their coverage of it. I’ll bet in their meetings they never really considered how this would go over if their star made a dubious first-round exit in the grand slam event. Of course, that’s usually how things work out, isn’t it?

So yeah, Harkleroad lost badly to Serena Williams in the first round of the French, and really hasn’t made much of a name for herself as a tennis player. She’s currently ranked around 61st in the world right now — nowhere near even what Kournikova was. And you know what, when it comes to all the possibilities we could have had from female tennis players posing in Playboy, I’ll go with the Bob Uecker, “Frankly, I think we got hosed on that one.” Like Harkleroad’s OK I guess, but she wouldn’t have me running to the newsstand. And she’s not even that good at her sport. I’m kinda scratching my head on this one. And not to mention, think about all the different places Playboy’s efforts could be better focused.

Richard Williams Hates the White Man

Larry Brown — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:13:07 +0000

This might initially appear to you as a headline written for immediate shock value. Au contraire, it is merely representative of Richard Willams’ thoughts. Richard Williams, for those of you unfamiliar with him, is the father of Venus and Serena Williams. He is no stranger to racial issues in tennis, nor is his daughter, Serena. But You Been Blinded points out that Richard Williams was exceptionally caustic in his comments about the white man recently. As he told the Deccan Herald:

Tennis is a prejudice game. Well, I’m Black and I’m prejudiced, very prejudiced. I’ll be always prejudiced as the White man. The White man hated me all my life and I hate him. That’s no secret. I’m not even an American, it just so happens that I was born in America. People are prejudiced in tennis. I don’t think Venus or Serena was ever accepted by tennis. They never will be. But if you get some little White no good trasher in America like Tracy Austin or Chris Evert who cannot hit the ball, they will claim this is great.

Must we revisit this subject again? It’s not my place to discuss how Richard Williams has been treated his entire life — I don’t have a clue. But I do know that any time a person says “I hate ___,” they’re putting themselves on thin ice. It also doesn’t help when you’re talking about most of the population either. Man, talk about going waaaay off the deep board here. Sheesh.

The Venus and Serena Williams Era of Dominance Is Over

Larry Brown — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:29:41 +0000

The recent grand slam results for each of them speak loudly, starting with the quarterfinal exit by both Venus and Serena at the Australian Open. The sisters are still top 10 players who can go far in the tournaments, but it’s no longer a lock that at least one sister will reach the finals, or even semifinals of a grand slam event. Venus Williams expressed the same sentiment in her post-match comments following her quarterfinal loss to Ana Ivanovic. As Venus said, she and Serena are playing at a good level, it’s just that the competition is improving (and surpassing them, I believe). It’s also a matter of the two women being past their peaks, which is typically at a much younger age for women in tennis than men.

Usually at a grand slam event, one of them goes far, if not both. If one goes out early, at least the other goes farther, like to the semis or finals. I’m not saying that they should be pulling titles left and right — that is unreasonable. The reality of the situation is that there are several good, young players in the game today who can knock either one out. No, I’m not completely writing the sisters off here, but I will say it without a doubt, this Australian Open marked the definite end of dominance by the Williams sisters. I think I’m being fair when I say I’ll give them one more grand slam title between the two of them for the rest of their careers.

Larry Brown Sports » Search Results » serena williams

Is that an Ice Pack Down Caroline Wozniacki’s Skirt?

Video: Serena Williams Goes Crazy/Tirade at End of Kim Clijsters Match

Related posts

Video: Pete Sampras Congrats Roger Federer in Nike Commercial

Related posts

Venus, Serena Dropped the Ball with Shahar Pe’er in Dubai

Related posts

Serena Williams Still Bitter Over Treatment from U.S. Open Umpires

Related posts

All-Hottest Olympians at Beijing Team

Related posts

Ana Ivanovic Gets Her First Grand Slam

Related posts

Ashley Harkleroad Posing in Playboy

Related posts

Richard Williams Hates the White Man

Related posts

The Venus and Serena Williams Era of Dominance Is Over

Related posts