Serena Williams back at world number one after Australian Open win.

Australian Open winner Serena Williams replaced Angelique Kerber as world number one in the latest WTA rankings released on Monday.

 

The American moved up one place courtesy of her victory in Melbourne where she got the better of sister Venus 6-4, 6-4 in the final on Saturday for a record 23rd Grand Slam title.

 

Kerber’s defence of her Australian Open crown ended with a last 16 loss to Coco Vandeweghe with the German now down to second and her American nemesis up 15 rungs to 20th.

Melbourne quarter-finalist Karolina Pliskova climbs two spots to third.

 

WTA rankings on Monday, January 30

 

1. Serena Williams (USA) 7.780 pts (+1)

2. Angelique Kerber (GER) 7.115 (-1)

3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5.270 (+2)

4. Simona Halep (ROM) 5.073

5. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 4.985 (+1)

6. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 4.915 (-3)

7. Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 4.720

8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 3.915 (+2)

10. Johanna Konta (GBR) 3.705 (-1)

11. Venus Williams (USA) 3.530 (+6)

12. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 3.415 (-1)

13. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 2.955

14. Carla Suarez (ESP) 2.625 (-2)

15. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 2.347

16. Elena Vesnina (RUS) 2.357 (+2)

17. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 2.295 (-1)

18. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 2.295 (+2)

19. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 2.161 (-5)

20. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 2.136 (+15)

Australian Open: Serena Williams Defeats Strycova To Reach Quarter-Finals.

World number two, Serena Williams, has advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open following a 7-5 6-4 win over Czech Barbora Strycova at Rod Laver Arena.

 

Williams was broken three times in the opening set and again when coasting to the finish line in the second.

 

However, she shifted up a gear when it counted to close out the match in one hour, forty six minutes.

 

Williams, bidding to win a record 23rd grand slam title in the professional era, has now notched 10 consecutive quarter-final appearances at the majors, dating back to the 2014 U.S Open.

 

On Wednesday, Serena will play Johanna Konta, who advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ekaterina Makarova at Margaret court arena.

 

Source: Channels TV

Serena Williams And Novak Djokovic Named ‘World Champions’

Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic were named the women’s and men’s players of the year by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Tuesday.

 
Both won three of the four Grand Slams in 2015 and are well clear in the world rankings.

 
Williams, who was named ‘ITF World Champion’ for the sixth time, won five titles throughout the year, finishing with a 53-3 win-loss record.

 
After winning Wimbledon in July she also held all four Grand Slam titles at the same time for the second time in her career, which she previously dubbed a ‘Serena Slam’ in contrast to a calendar Grand Slam.

 
“It means a lot to me to be named the ITF World Champion for the sixth time. I am proud to have achieved my second Serena Slam, in what has been an amazing year for me,” she said in an ITF statement.

Djokovic, who finished the year as men’s number one for the fourth time, won the award for a fifth time.
He managed a career-best 11 titles and finished with an 82-6 record.

 
He got even closer to the Grand Slam than Williams, who was beaten in the US Open semi-finals, as he only missed out on a first Roland Garros crown in the final against Stan Wawrinka.

 
“My season was the best of my career with many highlights. It inspires me even more to keep on going, and I hope to continue to play at this level in 2016,” he said.

 
India’s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis of Switzerland were named the women’s doubles champions with Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau of Romania picking up the men’s award.

Sports Illustrated Denies Photoshopping Serena Williams’s Thighs

Sports Illustrated revealed that Serena Williams was its Sportsperson of the Year, an already rarefied honor that’s made even more so by the fact that Serena is a woman.

But there is something about the cover — specifically, something about Serena’s legs. The discussion has become less about Serena’s achievement and more about whether or not SI had Photoshopped Serena’s thighs to look smaller.

Credit: Cosmopolitan

Drake? No Please… See Who Serena Williams Is Dating

Serena Williams is dating Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. “They met at a lunch,” a source reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly. “It’s new.”

Although Williams, 34, was recently linked to Drake, a second source says it was simply a “flirty friendship.” Now, the tennis pro is making love part of her routine, bringing her new guy, 32, to her workout at the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics on Saturday, Oct. 24. Says an onlooker, “He called her babe and they held hands.”

Ohanian has even been getting into her sport of choice. Says the source, “He said he’d never been into tennis until they started dating!”

Serena Williams Is Dating Alexis Ohanian, the Co-Founder of Reddit

Credit: USweekly

Drake Opens Restaurant, Serena Williams Was Present

The 28-year-old rapper had a low-key celebration for the opening of Fring’s, his new restaurant in his hometown of Toronto, and there was one very important guest.

Longtime friend and now rumored girlfriend Serena Williams was spotted entering Drizzy’s party, wearing stiletto pumps, a white skirt and denim top. Also in attendance at the opening were Jada Pinkett Smith and Jaden Smith.

No word if Drake’s restaurant will offer “filets with the truffle butter”, “scallops and glasses of Dolce,” or crab like the one he eats “out in Malibu at Nobu,” but the celeb did partner up with chef Susur Lee, of the restaurants Lee, Bent, and Luckee, and past contestant on Iron Chef and Top Chef Masters, on the venture.

Read More: eonline

Serena Williams Covers Vogue (Again) And We Couldn’t Be Happier.

Just when we thought we couldn’t love Vogue anymore, they go and put Serena Williams on their cover for the second time.

The athlete is on the April issue, which was shot by legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz. In the image, we see Williams in a navy blue Rag & Bone sheath dress, natural makeup and, of course, her gorgeous curly hair.

 

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The full article, which appears on Vogue.com, talks about Williams’ friendship with tennis champion (and competitor) Caroline Wozniacki, her plans to expand her interest in fashion beyond her current clothing line on the Home Shopping Network and how she used to hate her toned arms.

 

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Source: huffingtonpost.com

Serena Williams To Face Maria Sharapova In Australian Open final

Serena Williams will face Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final after the pair won their semi-finals in straight sets in Melbourne.

World number two Sharapova won an all-Russian contest against Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-2.

Williams, the top seed, converted her ninth match point to beat fellow American Madison Keys 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.

Britain’s Andy Murray takes on Czech Tomas Berdych in the first men’s semi-final at 08:30 GMT.

Williams, 33, capped a fine performance with a dramatic ending as she saw seven match points slip by at 5-1, before converting her ninth with an ace and a scream in the following game.

Keys, 19, matched Williams for power but not always control as the 18-time Grand Slam champion edged a tight match over one hour and 24 minutes.

The world number one, a five-time champion in Australia, recovered from 3-0 down to force a tie-break and clinched it with a big serve.

Maria Sharapova

A fired-up Williams bounced up and down in delight at the baseline, and powered on with a break at the start of the second as she began to dominate the Keys second serve.

Williams flipped a brilliant forehand winner around the net post on her way to breaking again at 4-1 and eventually closed out after that gripping seventh game.

Sharapova, the 2008 champion, had earlier needed one hour and 27 minutes to beat 10th seed Makarova for the sixth time in six meetings.

The 27-year-old coped well on serve after saving two break points in a testing 10-minute opening service game, easing into a 4-1 lead.

Makarova, 26, hinted at a comeback when she broke for 4-3 but Sharapova responded immediately and served out the set after 48 minutes.

When she hammered away a backhand for the double break at 3-0 in the second, there was no way back for Makarova

FUMBLING EAGLES, MANCHESTER IS STILL UNITED, CHELSEA CRUISE, ARSENAL’S BLIP AND THE AUSSIES

The so called Super Eagles finally met their waterloo against a depleted Ghana team. Their pretense to the semi finals of the Nations cup was finally exposed when they were shown the better way to play the game against the Ghanaians. It is a regular thing for Nigeria to get to the semi-finals of the African cup so Amodu will not come over here to tell us he has done enough to lead to South Africa. 2010. He needs to work with someone who is more technically adept and who will be ready to motivate this obviously limited footballers we deceive by calling Eagles. More on this later but I already stated my position on another article

They may be neck deep in depth but Manchester United will be at Wembley for the umpteenth time. They may not yet be backed by sort of money their neighbours can call on whenever there is a need for that but still they showed to us again, there is still only one united and only one king in Manchester and you know who it was and still is, Manchester United Football Club. Carlos Tevez scored three goals against his old club but those were not enough to deny United yet another shot at a trophy. Man U laughs last but not because they didn’t get the humour but because they chose to strike when it mattered most, at the tail end of the two legged affair when the venom of losing would sting harder on their city rivals. Wayne Rooney’s stoppage time header was enough what they needed to deny City a final appearance at any competition for 29 years. When Tevez levelled the tie at three apiece with an exquisite backheel flick in the 76th minute, his celebrations showed how much he believed the tie had been saved but aren’t United the masters of late goals? When Wayne Rooney is hot, no goal keeper can stop him, not even an inspired Shay Given
The Craig Bellamy coin incident may have taken a little shine off United victory but no one will remember that when they file out against Aston Villa next month in London. United have once more put City in their place.
Chelsea brought Birmingham back to earth after their over three months long unbeaten league run. The game ended 3 nil with Frank Lampard earning a brace after Malouda set them on the right path. That was birmingham’s first loss since losing 3-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates in October. Arsenal on their part found the bar, the post but not the back of the net as they could only manage a nil-all draw with Aston Villa. They will be hoping for a better result against Manchester United this Sunday at the Emirates . There were also wins for Everton, Blackburn .
To the Australian Open, Justine Henin will face defending champion Serena Williams in the final of the Australian Open after both women won their semi-finals in straight sets.
Williams reached her fifth Melbourne final with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1) win over China’s 16th seed Li Na.
And wildcard Henin then thrashed the unseeded Zheng Jie 6-1 6-0 in the day’s second semi-final.
Henin is playing only her second tournament since coming out of retirement after 18 months away.
And the Belgian is now one win from emulating compatriot Kim Clijsters, who won the US Open last September in her first Grand Slam event since ending her own spell out of the game.
This weekend I will love to be at the Emirates in London but that won’t happen so I will be watching Manchester United take on Arsenal at home. Y’all know what’s at stake…Have all the fun you can get, celebrate your victories BIG or small.cheers