Serena and Venus Williams, the top seeds at Roland Garros, have won the 2010 French Open, defeating 12th seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
The Williams sisters are now the number 1 doubles team in the world, and are halfway through a 2010 effort to win the Grand Slam.
They actually won what some are calling the Sister Slam (ala the Serena Slam) as they have won 4 Majors in a row. If they win the real Grand Slam in doubles then they will have won 6 majors in a row. What an accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteSunny, yes it is a great accomplishment. I read their press conference afterwards and it would seem that they were influenced to start playing more doubles after training for the Olympics in 2008. Since then they realised how much they enjoyed it and decided to start paying more attention to it, they have done exceptionally well. It is good to see and I am hoping that their playing will bring more interest from the media and fans in doubles. I have to admit that every time that they play doubles I am interested in seeing them and it has got me interested in seeing more doubles during tournament play.
ReplyDeleteJust musing here, but I've wondered from time to time whether--in the future--when Venus and Serena retire from singles play, they will continue to play doubles. They could probably play for a long time!
ReplyDeleteYes, Diane, I have thought about that also. Just like Davenport coming back. Not to undermine Davenport's decision but I think it would have been interesting if she originally just came back in doubles. I think if we have more people turning to doubles, especially well known singles players, it will help the interest in doubles. And I think that the more doubles the Williams play the more others will have to figure them out to beat them. To help raise the level of play by other players is a true testament of a champion. I love doubles. I know this is a women's blog, but I have thought the same about Federer. Other players are beating him now,not just because of his age but because he has forced them to come up with other options to beat him. That is a service to the game. He would do good to go to doubles at some time also. I know there is nothing to make up for losing. But I hope when the Williams look back in singles or maybe doubles, that they realize that every time they were beaten, it was because they set the bar, the level for others to aspire to and it is to their credit in a weird way, if someone else does learn from them which unfortunately may lead to a loss. Sorry if I got off track a little
ReplyDeleteOh, I don't think you're off-track. I agree with you. Only two teams beat the Williams sisters last year, and those were--for obvious reasons--really great matches. As for Fed--you may be on to something. Playing doubles might sharpen something in him. It may also be helpful for some top singles players to try doubles on surfaces that are more difficult for them.
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