Free Republic

Serena Williams slugged her way to a sixth Wimbledon singles title Saturday morning, completing her second so-called "Serena Slam" and positioning herself for tennis history. The 33-year-old American defeated Garbine Muguruza of Spain, 6-4, 6-4, to win her fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament, beginning with last year's U.S. Open and including this year's Australian and French open titles. She accomplished a similar sweep in 2002-2003. Williams is now poised to equal some of the greatest marks in tennis six weeks from now at the U.S. Open in New York

Posted By Roger L Simon On July 6, 2014 @ 9:24 pm In Uncategorized | 36 Comments Fans love to debate who’s the GOAT — greatest of all time — in their favorite sports. Mine are basketball and tennis and I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time surfing the ‘net reading posts evaluating the relative merits of Kobe, LeBron and Michael. I’m an L.A. guy and am naturally biased for Kobe, but I realize LeBron and Michael may have greater claims. Only Phil Jackson (aka Phil Jax) knows for sure. We’ll see next year. Nevertheless, basketball is a team game...

Last Thursday, an Obama-centric mainstream media trumpeted the creation of 288,000 jobs and the reduction in the unemployment rate from 6.3 percent to 6.1 percent. Lost in the manufactured euphoria are the sobering details: America is well on its way to becoming a nation where millions of workers can only find part-time, lower-paying jobs. On the surface, the numbers are impressive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the aforementioned 288,000 jobs gain, while the household survey reported a gain of 407,000. Yet those numbers pale in comparison to the rise in the number of voluntary and involuntary part-time jobs,...

After 77 years the wait is over for a Wimbledon champion as Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic The most painful wait in sport is over. Andy Murray won Wimbledon for himself first and Britain second, but there was no mistaking the relief that swept the country as a 77-year hoodoo was lifted on a joyous summer day.

She was in the city of kings and queens. People were sipping champagne and eating strawberries and cream. And Serena Williams had just ascended to the throne of tennis, becoming the second woman after Steffi Graf to win all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold in singles. Over the previous 63 minutes on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon, Williams had absolutely obliterated the Russian superstar Maria Sharapova. She’d death-stared down the blonde, leggy Barbie doll, sending lasers down the line, making Sharapova lunge all over the court, hitting left when Sharapova was running right, and then, with a...

Roger Federer secured a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title to dash the hopes of Andy Murray and a partisan Centre Court crowd. Federer made it 17 Grand Slam titles to his name after a two-and-a-half-year drought and matched the haul of American Pete Sampras at the All England Club. The Swiss will return to the top of the world rankings as a result of his 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 victory. For Murray, the first Briton to reach a men's singles final at Wimbledon in 74 years, it represented his fourth defeat in major finals, his pain acutely felt by a fervent...

WIMBLEDON, England For Serena Williams, the low point came in early 2011, when she spent hours laying around her home, overwhelmed by a depressing series of health scares that sent her to the hospital repeatedly and kept her away from tennis for 10 months. The high point came Saturday on Centre Court at Wimbledon, when Williams dropped down to the grass, hands covering her face. She was all the way back, a Grand Slam champion yet again. Her serve as good as there is, her grit as good as ever, Williams was dominant at the start and finish, beating Agnieszka...

Serena Williams, who had already eliminated defending Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and second-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who had won this season's first major title at the Australian Open, took down third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska on Saturday to win her fifth Wimbledon title and her career 14th major championship. Williams, who had last won a Grand Slam title here two years ago, first overpowered and then outlasted the 23-year-old Radwanska, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Radwanska was playing in her first Grand Slam final. Shortly after Williams, 30, dominated the 2010 Wimbledon championships, she had a foot injury that required surgery and then a pulmonary...

WIMBLEDON, England — Novak Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title Sunday, and he beat defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to do it. Djokovic, who was already guaranteed to take over the No. 1 ranking from the Spaniard on Monday, extended his mastery over Nadal this season with a fifth straight head-to-head victory. Djokovic assured himself of the top ranking just by reaching the final.

Tennis fans who have suffered years of headaches from the incessant grunting of top players have finally got their wish - a device that fades out the squeals. As a result of complaints about ear-piercing screams, the BBC has produced a noise-reduction programme called Wimbledon Net Mix, which allows internet users to turn down howling and increase commentary volume. Wimbledon bosses have also admitted that the grunting of top tennis stars like Maria Sharapova, whose record-breaking screams often exceed 100 decibels, do make millions unhappy and want it reduced.

Now, seven years later, she's back in the final after a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sabine Lisicki. The German got off to a 3-0 start, largely because Sharapova was serving so poorly (13 double-faults for the day), but this was her first Grand Slam final and I don't feel she was emotionally prepared for the occasion, especially with the formidable Sharapova on the other side of the net. Major credit to Lisicki for getting this far, after being such an emotional mess just last month in the French Open. Her first-serve velocity readings were only slightly less than Roger Federer's...

The Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Middleton (Kate Middleton) sizzled in a white, Alice Temperley dress, as she attended a match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London on Monday.

WIMBLEDON, England - Serena Williams swept Vera Zvonareva in straight sets Saturday to win her fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam championship, extending the Williams family dominance at the All England Club. The top-ranked and defending champion American overwhelmed the 21st-seeded Russian 6-3, 6-2 in a one-sided final that lasted just 67 minutes and showed why Williams is considered one of the greatest players of all time. Williams served nine aces, broke three times and never faced a break point in nine service games. She finished the tournament without dropping a set.

WIMBLEDON, England — As Roger Federer walked off Center Court toward his earliest July vacation in eight years, he waved and signed autographs for the crowd. But that gracious demeanor ended soon afterward, when he blamed injuries instead of crediting his opponent.Tomas Berdych, the 12th seed, had finished the unthinkable, serving out a game he called the toughest in his career, in front of the packed house that Federer calls home. Berdych defeated Federer, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. It’s amazing,” Berdych said. “To play on this stadium, to play such a great player as Roger is,...

WIMBLEDON, England – Six-time champion Roger Federer has lost to Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. The 12th-seeded Czech beat Federer 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday for the biggest victory of his career. It's the first time since 2002 that Federer has failed to reach the final. He had been bidding for a record-tying seventh Wimbledon title.

WIMBLEDON, England — Before Venus Williams started her quarterfinal here, the ranking of her opponent, Tsvetana Pironkova, seemed inconsequential. Then Yen-Hsun Lu knocked Andy Roddick from the tournament late Monday, and he shared two important things with Pironkova — a high-profile American opponent and a world ranking of 82. From this strange coincidence, sprang another upset. Before this tournament, Pironkova had won all of one match at Wimbledon in her career. On Tuesday, she captured her fifth victory this fortnight, a 6-2, 6-3 dismantling of Williams, the second-ranked player in the world. Her anticipated semifinal with Kim Clijsters, the No....

WIMBLEDON, England -- When John Isner finally won the longest match in tennis history, he collapsed on the Wimbledon grass and then summoned one last burst of energy, springing to his feet to applaud along with the crowd. The American hit a backhand winner to win the last of the match's 980 points, and he took the fifth set Thursday against Nicolas Mahut, 70-68. The first-round match took 11 hours, 5 minutes over three days, lasting so long it was suspended because of darkness -- two nights in a row. Play resumed Thursday at 59-all and continued for more than...

With all that's going on in the news today, tennis is probably not on many folks' minds, but what an incredible match ... on ESPN2 ...

Wimbledon match locked in an epic fifth-set battle is shattering records. The first-round contest between American John Isner and France's Nicolas Mahut has surpassed nine hours, with the final set itself approaching six hours. At 12:50 PDT, the set stood at 57-57. The longest match in Open-era tennis, it began Tuesday night and was suspended after four sets because of darkness. Wimbledon has no fifth-set tiebreakers. "Let it end, let it end," moaned Guardian tennis blogger Xan Brooks in blow-by-blow coverage. "It was funny when it was 16-all and it was creepy when it was 26-all. ... Will nobody run...

Wimbledon is gearing up for the opening men's and women's singles matches to begin Monday, June 21. Officials from the All England Club have taken steps to ensure the half million spectators expected to attend are told Vuvuzela's are banned. With the chorus of complaints being drowned out by the sound of the Vuvuzela's at the World Cup in South Africa, Wilmbledon organizers are determined to silence the trumpeting of horns at this year's tennis championship in England. The plastic horns which have provided a constant, irritating drone at the World Cup, have been banned from the Grand Slam tournament...