GetListy » Serena Williams

U.S. Open Women’s Tennis Champions

Bill Sullivan — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:25:31 +0000

When Kim Clijsters announced a return to competitive tennis after retiring to try motherhood, hardly anyone expected her to be more than an interesting sideshow at the 2009 United States Open championships. Instead, the 2005 winner came back to claim her title, outlasting Serena Williams.

Here’s a list of winners since 1968, the year in which the U.S. championships were opened to professionals:

2009 — Kim Clijsters

2008 — Serena Williams

2007 — Justine Henin

2006 — Maria Sharapova

2005 — Kim Clijsters

2004 — Svetlana Kuznetsova

2003 — Justine Henin-Hardenne

2002 — Serena Williams

2001 — Venus Williams

2000 — Venus Williams

1999 — Serena Williams

1998 — Lindsay Davenport

1997 — Martina Hingis

1996 — Steffi Graf

1995 — Steffi Graf

1994 — Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario

1993 — Steffi Graf

1992 — Monica Seles

1991 — Monica Seles

1990 — Gabriela Sabatini

1989 — Steffi Graf

1988 — Steffi Graf

1987 — Martina Navratilova

1986 — Martina Navratilova

1985 — Hana Mandlikova

1984 — Martina Navratilova

1983 — Martina Navratilova

1982 — Chris Evert Lloyd

1981 — Tracy Austin

1980 — Chris Evert Lloyd

1979 — Tracy Austin

1978 — Christine Marie Evert

1977 — Christine Marie Evert

1976 — Christine Marie Evert

1975 — Christine Marie Evert

1974 — Billie Jean King

1973 — Margaret Smith Court

1972 — Billie Jean King

1971 — Billie Jean King

1970 — Margaret Smith Court

1969 — Margaret Smith Court

1968 — Virginia Wade

Source: USOpen.org

Women’s Wimbledon winners

Bill Sullivan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:35:40 +0000

If you were looking to handicap the ladies’ field at Wimbledon in recent years, picking someone named Williams wasn’t a bad place to start. Americans Venus and Serena Williams have combined to win eight of the last 10 titles, including Serena’s win over Venus in the 2009 event.

Here’s a list of the champions since 2000 — a group with a decidedly Williams look:

2009 — Serena Williams, USA

2008 — Venus Williams, USA

2007 — Venus Williams, USA

2006 – Amelie Mauresmo, France

2005 — Venus Williams, USA

2004 — Maria Sharapova, Russia

2003 — Serena Williams, USA

2002 — Serena Williams, USA

2001 — Venus Williams, USA

2000 — Venus Williams, USA

Source: Wimbledon.org

All-Time women’s Grand Slam leaders

Bill Sullivan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:30:00 +0000

It isn’t Steffi Graff or Martina Navratilova. It’s not Chris Evert. And Billie Jean King doesn’t even come close.

So who’s the all-time leader among women in Grand Slam tennis championships? None other than Australia’s own Margaret Smith Court, whose best work came before the tennis boom led by King, Navratilova, Evert, and others.

Curious who else belongs on the list of tennis’ all-time greats?

Here’s the list, through Wimbledon 2009:

1. Margaret Smith Court, Australia (24)

2. Steffi Graf, Germany (22)

3. Helen Wills Moody, USA (19)

4. Chris Evert, USA (18)

T4. Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakia, USA (18)

6. Billie Jean King, USA (12)

7. Serena Williams, USA (10)

T8. Maureen Connolly, USA (9)

T8 Monica Seles, Yugoslavia/USA (9)

T10. Suzanne Lenglen, France (8)

T10. Molla Bjursdedt Mallory, USA (8)

Source: ESPN.com

Best Sibling Rivalries in Sports

Bill Sullivan — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:40:06 +0000

Before the 2008 Super Bowl, Eli Manning was best known as Peyton’s little brother. Eli wasn’t bad on his own, of course, but Peyton had a Super Bowl ring while Eli had his share of critics among New York media and Giants fans.

All that changed when the younger Manning directed a late scoring drive to end New England’s unbeaten season and give the Giants their third Super Bowl trophy. It also gave the sports world an added bonus: A legitimate sibling rivalry, even if it was between brothers who are extraordinarily close.

What are some of the other top all-in-the-family competitions in all of sports? Fox Sports set out to find out and came up with a list of 10.

Here goes, in reverse order:

10. Jason and Jarron Collins: Brothers and former Stanford stars now play for the NBA’s Jazz and Timberwolves, respectively.

9. J.D. and Stepen Drew: Play for MLB’s Red Sox and Diamondbacks.

8. Champ and Boss Bailey: Georgia natives both play for the NFL’s Denver Broncos.

7. Benji, Jose and Yadier Molina: Puerto Rican-born catching trio all have World Series rings.

6. Marc, Eric, Jordan and Jared Staal: The first three are already playing in the NHL, and the fourth is on the way.

5. Brook and Robin Lopez: Former Stanford stars were both first round picks in the last NBA draft.

4. B.J. and Justin Upton: Up and coming MLB stars with Tampa Bay and Arizona.

3. Kurt and Kyle Busch: Sibling competition has spilled over to the NASCAR circuit.

2. Peyton and Eli Manning: One family. Two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks.

1. Venus and Serena Williams: Different personalities, but similarly outstanding results.

To learn more about these athletic family affairs, and to see some photos, check out Fox Sports.

Top Paid Tennis Stars

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:03:28 +0000

Interest in tennis may have faded a bit in recent years, but there is still plenty of money to be made in whacking that ball back and forth over a net.

How about $35 million a year in prize and endorsement money? That’s what Forbes estimates as Roger Federer’s total take over the past 12 months. While Federer may have relinquished his No. 1 ranking to rival Rafael Nadal over the summer, it’s still a blowout at the bank, where Federer outearns Nadal (an estimated $18 million) by nearly 2-1.

Here’s the Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest tennis players:

1. Roger Federer: $35 million

2. Maria Sharapova: $26 million

3. Rafael Nadal: $18 million

4. Andy Roddick: $15 million

5. Venus Williams: $15 million

6. Serena Williams: $15 million

7. Justin Henin: $10 million

8. Novak Djokovic: $9.5 million

9. Ana Ivanovic: $8 million

10. James Blake: $7.5 million

To read more about these players, and to see a slideshow, visit Forbes.com.

U.S. Olympic Women’s Tennis Team

Emily Zipp — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:55:18 +0000

Three former gold medal winners and the world’s top doubles player will represent the United States in women’s tennis competition at the Beijing Olympics. The three singles players are familiar names to tennis fans: Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport. The fourth player, Liezel Huber, became a U.S. citizen in 2007 after representing her native South Africa in the 2000 games.

Serena Williams will make her second Olympic appearance having won gold in doubles in 2000 with her sister (pictured). Venus Williams and Davenport will make their third Olympic appearances and both have won gold. The sisters will compete as a doubles team, as will Davenport and Huber. The women’s coach is Zina Garrison.

The first woman to win an Olympic medal in any sport was a tennis player: Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain in 1900. The sport was first played in the Olympics in 1896, but was dropped after 1924 because of conflict over amateur vs professional competitors. It returned to the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Since then, the United States has won 15 medals in tennis, more than any other nation. They were shut out of the medals ceremonies in 2004.

A maximum of 172 players will compete in singles and doubles on 10 hard-surface courts in Beijing.

The members of the U.S. women’s team are:

Serena Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) – Age: 26, singles and doubles

Venus Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) – Age: 28, singles and doubles

Lindsay Davenport (Laguna Beach, Calif.) – Age: 32, singles and doubles

Liezel Huber (South Africa) – Age: 28, doubles

For more information on the U.S. women’s Olympic tennis team, go to their website. If you want to see all U.S. Olympic qualifiers in every sport for the Beijing games starting in August, start your search on this official U.S. Olympics page.

Career Grand Slams

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:50:38 +0000

Pete Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles, but the French Open eluded him. Roger Federer has 13 Grand Slam wins, but has been similarly futile at the French.

For all his brilliance, Bjorn Borg never won the Australian or U.S. Opens. Jimmy Connors joins the list of those left frustrated in Paris.

Winning individual Grand Slam titles is nice, but winning all four is an even higher measure of greatness. That’s probably why only 14 players — five men and nine women — can claim at least one victory in each of tennis’ four major events.

Here’s the list, with the year the player completed that “career slam.”:

MEN

– Andre Agassi, USA (1999)

– Don Budge, USA (1938)

– Roy Emerson, Australia (1964)

– Rod Laver, Australia (1962)

– Fred Perry, Great Britain (1935)

WOMEN

– Maureen Connolly, USA (1953)

– Margaret Court, Australia (1963)

– Chris Evert, USA (1982)

– Steffi Graf, Germany (1988)

– Doris Hart, USA (1954)

– Shirley Fry Irvin, USA (1957)

– Billie Jean King, USA (1972)

– Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakia/USA (1983)

– Serena Williams, USA (2003)

Source: SIVault.com