Wimbledon Update: 07/03/2009
Three Kastles Players and Venus Still in Hunt for Three Wimbledon Championships
Washington Kastles stars Serena Williams, Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs will all compete for Wimbledon titles this weekend, after each won a semifinal match Friday. Williams, who secured a place in the Ladies' Singles final on Thursday, won her semifinal Ladies' Doubles match with her sister Venus. The duo defeated Liezel Huber and Cara Black, 6-1, 6-2.
Rennae, one of the Kastles' new acquisitions, and partner Samantha Stosur beat Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, setting up a Kastles face-off between Serena Williams and Stubbs for the Ladies' Doubles title tomorrow afternoon.
Leander will play for his tenth Grand Slam title in the Mixed Doubles after teaming with partner Cara Black to defeat Stephen Huss and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-4, 6-4 in this morning's semifinal. Paes and Black will now go on to face Mark Knowles and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in Sunday's final.
Leander, Rennae and Venus Williams will all be at Kastles Stadium for the Kastles' home opener against the Philadelphia Freedoms this Tuesday, July 7th. Tickets for the match are going fast, as fans will be guaranteed to see at least one Wimbledon champion!
_________________________
Wimbledon Update: 07/02/2009
Defending French Open mens doubles champion Leander Paes partnered with Cara Black to defeat Andre Sa and Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-3, in the Wimbledon mixed doubles quarterfinals today.
Paes, who has won four career Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, including the 1999 and 2003 Wimbledon crowns, advances to play Stephen Huss and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the semifinals.
Serena Williams defeated Elena Demetieva in an exciting three set match, 6-7, 7-5, 8-6, to advance to her 13th career Grand Slam final and fifth final at Wimbledon. She last won the Wimbledon title in 2003.
Philadelphia Freedoms star, Venus Williams, defeated Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0 to advance to her 14th careeer Grand Slam final. On Saturday, she will face her sister Serena as she vies for her third straight Wimbledon title. Venus will be playing at Kastles Stadium for the home opener on Tuesday, July 7th.
Photos courtesy of Fred & Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA
_________________________
Wimbledon Update: 06/29/2009
Serena Williams, Rennae Stubbs and Leander Paes Advance
Washington Kastles star Serena Williams and her sister Venus continued their march toward a possible Wimbledon finals matchup yesterday, with third-seeded Venus defeating Ana Ivanovic 6-1, retire and second-seeded Serena taking down Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-1. Venus will be coming to
Washington on Opening Night as a member of the Philadelphia Freedoms on July 7
th while Serena will be coming to Kastles Stadium July 14
th to take on the Newport Beach Breakers.
The Williams sisters also defeated Zi Yan and Jie Zheng 6-0, 6-0 in ladies doubles. Next they will play the team of Anna-Lena Gronefield and Vania King in the quarterfinals. The Williams sisters are the defending ladies doubles Wimbledon champions and look for their fourth Wimbledon title and their ninth Grand Slam crown as a team.
Washington Kastles teammates Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs are also playing into the second week of Wimbledon.
Leander paired with Cara Black in the mixed doubles third round against Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza, advancing to the quarterfinals by the score of 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.
Rennae is still alive in both of her brackets as well, teaming up with Samantha Stosur in the third round of the ladies doubles tournament to defeat the pair of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo 6-3, 6-2. Rennae and Samantha will play Krisina Barros and Tathiana Garbin in the quarterfinals.
Rennae also paired with Robert Lindstedt to defeat Andrei Pavel and Monica Niculescu in the second round of mixed doubles, 6-3, 2-6, 8-6. They will face Andre Sa and Ai Sugiyama in round three.
_________________________
Wimbledon Update: 06/25/2009
Serena Williams Wins, Leander Upset at Wimbledon
Washington Kastles stars Serena Williams and Leander Paes kicked off the early rounds of Wimbledon on Monday in London, England.
Serena, the No. 2 seed in the ladies singles draw, defeated Jarmila Groth 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the tournament to advance to play Roberta Vinci.
Serena also paired with her sister Venus in the ladies doubles draw, defeating the team of Virginie Razzano and Aravane Rezai 6-3, 6-3. The Williams sisters will now play the partnership of Sabine Lisicki and Aleksandra Wozniak in round two.
This might not be the only time that the Williams sisters are on the court at the same time. Seeded on opposite sides of the bracket, they would face each other in the final if each advanced that far. Last year, Venus defeated Serena 7-5, 6-4 for her second consecutive Wimbledon championship.
The Kastles' Leander Paes and partner Lukas Dlouhy, the recently crowned French Open champions, were upset in the first round by James Blake and Mardy Fish.