Roger Federer and Venus Williams claimed the Wimbledon crowns.

Venus defeated Davenport in a 3 set battle. It is nice to see Venus back at the top of her game. She had not won a Slam for years. She will hopefully continue on her winning ways. As far as Davenport, it would have been nice to see her win the tournament. It is very unlikely that she will come back for another Wimbledon. The bells of retirement are ringing... Well deserved retirement I should add! Lindsey exceeded many expectations and definitely surprised a lot of people by getting in shape and rising to the #1 spot in the world for years in and out. A nice career indeed!

Roger Federer has won a 3rd consecutive Wimbledon. Will he go on and beat Pete's record? Only time will tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. When his game is on, he is untouchable. It is a bit sad for Andy. Great tournament and definitely props for reaching the finals, but that is probably not enough in his book. Will Roddick ever solve the Federer mystery? I don't think so. He doesn't have enough weapons and variety in his game. The big serve is not enough to defeat Federer. He will have to developer more weapons over the years, because as it stands, Federer's best is near perfection.

I am looking forward to the next Grand Slam. Maybe I will get to watch some of it this time around .

Peace Out!

• Venus Williams beat Maria Sharapova: GREAT! Nice to see Venus playing like the good old days. Maria, you won last year. You can deal .
• Amelie Mauresmo VS Lindsey Davenport: SO SAD! Will Amelie pursue her trends of choking, or will she turn it around and come back from a 5-3 deficit to win it? She caught a HUGE break with the rain delay. Although it would be nice to see Davenport win it all. It would represent a nice retirement present.

Men:

•  Andy Roddick VS Thomans Johanson: Gotta love Roddick on that one. I am surprised to see him make it this far in the tournament. He must be serving BOMBS!
• Lleyton Hewitt VS Roger Federer: Talk about a classic! Federer is just above everyone at the moment. But you never know what the fighting Hewitt will come up with. I wish I could catch that match .

The French Open is over and I missed all of it. I even missed both finals . Oh well, next year I guess!

Justine Henin won the women's title. Not too surprising, since she was dominating the tour before her injuries. It's nice to see her back healthy and playing well. It is a little sad for her country woman Kim Clijsters. She is also coming back from injuries. Unlike Justine, Kim has never won a Grand Slam. She's really due for one. She has my vote (and cheers) for Wimbledon! A disappointing performance from Venus Williams again this year. Will she ever return to her dominant form? It is hard to tell. Confidence is fragile and hard to re-acquire! And props to Mary Pierce: at 30 years old, she fared well in home soil. Congrats Mary for reaching the final!

Rafael Nadal won the men's title. The kid is just unbelievable. He dealt with everything smoothly for two weeks. He took out Gasquet and Federer amongst other players. He kept it cool and went all the way. Definitely impressive! We will see how he does at Wimbledon. And for the American fans, let's hope that Andy Roddick can bounce back. He was extremely disappointed with his early exit (it looked like he was crying at the press conference ) at the French. Wimbledon will be a challenge, but his big serve should help him out quite a bit. I am also hoping Andre Agassi can play well. If he doesn't make it through a few rounds, don't expect him to stick around the tour for too long. That would be quite a loss for the ATP! As far as Federer? Well he was due to lose at some point!

I should point out that my favorite soccer player, Zinedine Zidane, was a guest at the award ceremony (see picture below). And I missed that too! 

Peace Out!

If you are a tennis fan, be sure to check out Jin's Space. You will find everything from pictures, news and results about the WTA Tour.

Definitely a great Space to check out for tennis heads like myself . I found it by doing a site search on Google. Geez, why didn't I do this sooner? Let me go find some more neat Spaces!

One of the greatest slams of the year is under way: the French Open! I have been to Roland Garros a long time ago and it is truly a magical place. This is an exciting time of the year for me: I get to watch tons of great tennis on TV . How often does that happen!

Here are some things to watch out for at the tournament this year:

Men:

• Rafael Nadal: This kid is truly amazing. At only 18 years old, he has proven to be the real deal. He is coming off an 18 match winning streak on clay and is a heavy favorite to win the tournament. He is one of the greatest competitors on the tour. Watch out for the fighting lefty! He plays aggressively and can generate tremendous racquet speed from both sides. But most importantly, he fights for every point as if it was a life or death matter. He is kind of like a Rocky for tennis. The only downside: He is young and might lack the experience needed to make it through 2 gruelling weeks at the French. And by the way, this kid is impressively fit: his biceps are HUGE (see picture below)! What do they feed teenagers in Spain?
• Roger Federer: This guy is in a league of his own: he can do it all. He nearly missed the "Grand Slam" last year, falling short at the French. Expect great things this year. He has had good clay court season and when Roger plays at his best, he is untouchable.
• Richard Gasquet: The youngster from France is carrying the hopes of an entire nation on his shoulders. He is coming off a break through clay court season (with a big win over Roger Federer) and is riding a high wave at the moment. If he can control his nerves, utilize the home crowd and make it past the fiery Nadal, expect him to be around in week 2.
• Andy Roddick: He is seeded #2, but that's purely on paper. Roddick is not comfortable on clay, and it has shown in the past couple of years. He does not have the patience to win on the red dirt. Switching from Reebok to Lacoste might get him some French supporters, but don't expect him to be in the tournament too long.
• James Blake: It is nice to see James back on the tour! One of the nicest and smartest (he attended Harvard) players around, he is coming back from a serious back injury, as well as personal problems (death of his father). He is just enjoying being able to play tennis again. He is not a serious contender in the tournament, but it's nice to see him back: Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!
• Marat Safin: Always exciting to watch. He mooned the crowd last year! If he can keep a good head on his shoulders, he could be a real threat. We just have to wait and see which Safin shows up this year.
• Always watch out for clay court savvies: Carlos Moya, David Nalbandian, JC Ferrero, Gaston Gaudio (last year's surprise winner), Guillermo Coria...

Women:

• Kim Clijsters: Kim is a coming off a long injury break. Despite her knee, wrist, [add whatever injury you want here], she is coming off a good showing in the clay court season. Kim is one great player to have not won a Grand Slam yet. She is hungry for one! Despite the injuries and personal issues (cancelled her engagement to Lleyton Hewitt, who shortly after that become engaged to an Aussie actress, she then dated a Belgian model and broke up not too long ago...), expect Kim to do great things at the French. She has a great game and is a great thinker on the court. If she can build up her confidence and stay healthy, expect to see her around in week 2.
• Justine Henin: Just like her Belgian countrywomen, Justine is coming off an extended break (due to a virus). She has had a good clay court season as well and is in full blown confidence. If she can keep her nerves to a cool and fully utilize the great game variation that she has, watch out for her on week 2. The only concern in her case: What kind of physical shape is she in?
• Venus Wiilliams: You can never discard the Williams sisters. With Serena not attending the tournament this year, expect Venus to take over. She is not playing great right now, but that is something that she can build on over the two weeks. If she can keep those unforced errors to a low and gain some confidence along the way, she could be a threat.
• Lindsay Davenport: Lindsay has been on the tour for a while. Many are calling it quits for her. She is a tremendous competitor who can always do great things. Even though the red clay might not suit her game very well, her powerful game is always dangerous.
• Maria Sharapova: The Russian diva attracts more photographs then any other players on the tour. Gee, I wonder why? Her game is fairly straightforward: hit hard from both sides. If she can add a little variation and smartness to her game, she could go far in the tournament.
• Amelie Mauresmo: Amelie Amelie Amelie: When will you win a "Grand Slam"! Along with Kim, she is one of those good players never to win a slam. She is carrying the hopes of the entire French nation on her shoulders. She has added Yannick Noah to her entourage and has been playing consistently well. Her problem? Mental! She lacks confidence and often cracks (chokes) under pressure. I really hope she can keep it cool this year and let her natural talent speak!

One match to watch out for in the next few days is the "Rafael Nadal VS Richard Gasquet" battle. The fiery fighting Spaniard against the natural Frenchmen. The French crowd is impatiently waiting for this one!

And then again, the great thing about tennis and competition in general is unpredictability!

A lot is happening in Canadian sports this week. Nice change, since we are still mourning the loss of the NHL season . Some highlights:

• Rick Nash could be suspended? Come on ref, he barely touched the guy ! That would suck! There goes our World Championship hopes...
• Perdita Felicien back on top! Good, I almost cried when she FELL at the Olympics...
• Steve Nash named NBA MVP! Who said Canadians couldn't play basketball ? First Canadian ever to win the honor. Good job!

Peace Out!

If you are wondering why I am up so late, my sleep schedule is a bit messed up at the moment, but that's beyond the point. Anyways, I read this nice and inspirational story on "hokiesports" and I thought I would share:

"At 27 years of age, Stith certainly isn't typical of the thousands of other graduates who will be wearing caps and gowns at the stadium. But he'll be sharing their joy. And happy tears will be flowing down the cheeks of his family members and his girlfriend, who will be in the stadium cheering as Stith's name is called one more time over the P.A. system in the stadium.

Stith left Virginia Tech following his junior season and was picked in the seventh round of the 2000 NFL Draft by Jacksonville. He played three seasons in the NFL before retiring after recurring knee injuries.

Read More..."

Moral of the story:

1. Congrats Shyrone!
2. College athletes, FINISH your degrees! Unless you are as good as Michael Vick. Then I am sure a multi million dollar contract doesn't hurt...

Peace Out!

While attending College, I played tennis for the Virginia Tech Hokies. One of the perks of being a Collegiate athlete is to have the opportunity to attend the end of the year All Sports Athlete Banquet. It is an occasion to group all the athletes into one big room, eat some good food, receive awards and watch the All Sports Video! This is also a special event for Seniors: you receive your watch, your ring and for most seniors, you attend your last "official" event as a Hokie!

Back to the video. It is shown on a huge wide screen display during the banquet. What's in it? Basically a recap of the athletic year. It usually also involves a tribute to the graduating Seniors. I have kept all 4 videos from my College days (they were given to me as "TAPES"... hmm... I don't even have a tape player).

I happen to know the Video Guru responsible for this year's All Sports Video. Rudy did a great job, and I wanted to showcase his work on my Blog! What does the video contain? Well the Hokies had a GREAT athletic season this year. You will find footage of:

• The Football Team became ACC Champions in its inaugural season.
• The Men's Basketball Team defeated Duke.
• Thrower Spyridion Jullien became the first Hokie to ever win an NCAA Championship.
• And more...

If you are a sports fan, a Hokie fan or just curious, definitely check out the video!

Congrats Hokies for an exceptional athletic year, and to all the Seniors, FAREWELL!

Peace Out!