Serena's US Open Win

Today I wanted to take a moment to highlight a true champion and her name is Serena Williams! She is extraordinary and I admire the true tenacity, athleticism, hard work, and dedication that Serena and her sister Venus have displayed to the world time and time again! Like everyone else, I've read about the tough road that they've had to travel in order to be two of the best tennis players ever and so every time they win I take a moment to contemplate what got them there. Often we only see people when they get to the finish line, but as we all know, there is so much that goes into succeeding before the world ever knows about it.

 

As I have watched the Williams sisters over the years all that I can think of is how lucky we all are to see not one, but two women from the same genes delight us with their amazing athleticism. We all come to the world with gifts and these ladies are sharing theirs each time they pick up a racket.

 

Sometimes when I'm reading or hearing about someone who was great at what they did throughout history in any field, I sometimes think how cool it would have been to be alive to witness their greatness firsthand. That's why I'm so grateful to have been able to see both Serena and her sister Venus play at Wimbledon in years past. When I saw Venus play, she won her match and she was amazing! Even though Venus has her challenges with her disease nowadays, she still has the heart of a champion. When we saw Serena play a couple of years back, she didn't win the match that we saw, but still, I felt so grateful to be there. In the future when they have both retired, I won't have any regrets because I saw both of them in their prime. To see someone do what they are meant to do and as an extra to see them do it well, is such a treat!

 

With her win in the US Open last night, Serena won her fourth US Open title and her fifteen Grand Slam title. She played against Victoria Azarenka and they both were incredible! Hats off to them both.

 

Over the last ten weeks or so, Serena has won Wimbledon, an Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles with her sister Venus (third Olympic doubles gold), and now she has won this US Open title once more. The statistics for Serena and Venus are astounding. Here are some photos from last night... 

 



 

 

 Above: Victoria Azarenka alongside Serena Williams

 



All photos courtesy of Getty Images

 

So there it is...my little tribute to Serena, her sister Venus, and indeed to Ms. Azarenka. Well done ladies!



In Celebration and Honor

I wanted to offer my BIG congratulations to Serena Williams today. She just won her FIFTH Australian Open title and now ties with Billie Jean King in having TWELVE grand slam titles! Wow! That is truly amazing. Her true athletic strength and determination is so inspiring to me.


Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

And also, she and her sister Venus won the Australian Open women's doubles title for the fourth time on Friday. That is amazing too! So congrats to both of them. They are truly great athletes.


Photo Credit: AP

Brit Boy and I got the chance to watch Venus Williams play at Wimbledon on Centre Court in 2008 and I'll never forget it. You can check out our experience here. What a great athlete and winner she is :)

I often shake my head at the heat the Williams sisters take for....gasp...winning ;-) Some people say it gets predictable and they get tired of seeing both of them win. Well I say, how ridiculous is that?!!!! And some of the criticisms of the sisters that I read sometimes are just vile, mean-spirited and narrow-minded and absolutely stink of sour grapes from people who have never come close to such achievements. We should all celebrate these two women and the determination, sacrifice, and inner strength it takes for them to achieve what they have so far. And I applaud their parents, for not just raising one champion, but raising two. Now that's something to be proud of.

These ladies inspire me and this is why I'm smiling today!