Serena Williams demolished Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 en route to winning the Olympic gold medal and securing a career golden slam.

Williams stamped her authority on the competition from the outset and lost just 17 games through the course of the competition. The impressive gold medal match victory leaves her on a 17 match-winning streak since her shocking first round exit at the French Open.

The 63 minute final saw the American drop just one game against Sharapova, and was the most comprehensive Olympic women’s single win.

She joins Germany’s Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi of the United States and Spain’s Rafael Nadal as the only players to have won all four Grand Slams and Olympic gold in singles.

“Oh my gosh, I got the gold. I’ve never played better. Playing against someone like Maria you have to be at your best. I knew that, so it was like I had nothing to lose,” said Williams.

“I never expected gold in singles. I was so happy with my doubles golds [in Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008].

“I thought, ‘If my career’s over I have my gold medal and now I have everything.’

“I have singles, doubles, actually everything there is to win in tennis. Where do I go from here?”

Silver medal winner, Sharapova said: ”Serena played some incredible tennis, with the form she was in during Wimbledon and afterwards.

“With every match she has played she has played great, she has improved and become better, and that showed today.”

Williams teamed up with sister Venus to win the doubles gold medal in a similar fashion, with the pair not dropping a set in the concurrent competition.

She hopes to continue her form into the final part of the season as she attempts to win her 15^th grand slam singles title at the US Open in a few weeks time.

In the bronze medal match, Victoria Azerenka beat Maria Kirilenko to secure her first Olympic medal.

Azerenka went on to win the mixed gold with partner Max Mirnyi leaving her and Williams with two medals each.

Image Courtesy of   Neale Cousland / Shutterstock.com

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Image Courtesy of  Neale Cousland / Shutterstock.com

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So far, this year’s Wimbledon doesn’t come with much surprise. There were only a few upsets in the first week of tournament: Robin Soderling’s loss to a young Australian, Bernard Tomic, and the 2011 French Open Champion, Na Li being defeated by Sabine Lisicki.

PS: I don’t consider Roddick’s loss an upset because he has not done so well lately in the Grand Slams.

I have to admit that the women’s game is gaining quality. Looking at the draw, I see possibility of a new champion being crowned. True, as I said before, you cannot count the Williams Sisters out. Instead, what I’m positive about is even if both of them go through to the final round, they would face tough challenges on the way. On the top draw, not only I see Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova, there is also Sabine Lisicki – who according to my dad, is a “dark horse” and can pose thread to Serena’s run. Why? She consistently serves extremely fast, at about 123 mph, possesses good movement, and is now packed with confidence. If Sharapova meets Wozniacki in the quarterfinals, I see Wozniacki coming off with a slight edge, though should be a close game. Can Sharapova win that matchup? Sure, if she brings her A game, play good defense, and of course, serving well. As for Serena’s section, I would really love to see her play against Liciski in the quarterfinals. With this many good players, it’s simply hard to predict who will come out as a finalist from the top draw.

Now, in the bottom draw, there are Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Petra Kvitova who are the main contenders. Though I have not seen Kvitova plays that many times, from what I see she is able to hit the ball hard and flat. If both Venus and Kvitova win in the round of 16, they will meet in the quarterfinals. From what I heard from a few tennis experts, they all said that Venus looks the best so far. We’ll see.

On the Men’s side, the great Roger Federer should go all the way to at least the Semi where he could potentially meet Novak Djokovic. Personally, it feels as if this is a guaranteed since both players are playing great and should be able to knock off their opponents in the next two rounds. Rafael Nadal, on the other hand, will face Juan Martin del Potro in the round of 16 which certainly, isn’t an easy task. Whoever this one goes to, I don’t see the match being won in 3 sets. It should be a close match. If Nadal can go through del Potro, the rest shouldn’t be too hard for him, not until he gets to the final.

This second week should be packed with good quality actions. I do hope for a new winner, for both Men’s and Women’s, even though I am a big fan of Nadal and Sharapova. The truth is, it’s a little harder on the Men’s side where you got Federer. If you ask me, I don’t think there’s going to be a rematch of Serena and Venus in the final. But how about one sister? Maybe.

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For years, Wimbledon has been well dominated by the previous Champions. It has been only a few times during the past ten years that a new player would break in to win it all. Look at the Williams Sisters, together they won nine out of the eleven women’s single titles since the year 2000, five from Venus and four from the younger sibling, Serena. On the men’s side, the story plays out similarly: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal together won eight consecutive titles since 2003.

Wimbledon, being a grass court tournament, gives Federer a huge advantage. He plays so well on this surface that some even nicknamed Wimbledon “Federer’s Backyard” as a result of winning the total of six titles in the last 8 years.

Coming back to this year’s Men Draw, the top guns include Federer, Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Many have been talking about how Andy Murray would finally clinch the prestigious Wimbledon title this year, as he was talked about last year and the year before. Personally, I’m not quite sure if he will do it simply because he hasn’t done so well in the deep round against the top three players in the Grand Slams. True, there are days when he plays unbelievably well but in the end, I feel that he still lacks consistency and the readiness to fight in the highest stages. The truth is it’s not easy to take the trophy away from the main men. For the last 18 Grand Slams, the only players aside from Nadal and Federer able to win the titles include just Marat Safin (Australian Open 2005), Juan Martin del Potro (US Open 2009), and Novak Djokovic ( Australian Open 2008, 2011)

On the women’s side, things are up in the air. The Williams Sisters who have not played for months as a result of their injuries, just can’t be counted out. The veteran players have never stopped wanting it and their ability to find a way to come back in any matches making them dangerous contenders, especially in the Grand Slam stage. Meanwhile Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonerava, and Li Na are among this year’s women contenders.

Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon Champion, have been playing pretty well. The great thing about Sharapova is she always goes for it, hitting every shot as if she has nothing to lose. If she can get rid of her double fault problems, she will surely be dangerous in the field. Wozniacki, on the other hand, has been doing great in the past year with multiple wins in smaller tournaments. In my opinion, the only factor preventing her from winning a Grand Slam is her mental toughness, because no doubt, she has a great game, defensively and offensively. She needs to bring what makes her so successful in these tournament to the more important tournament like Wimbledon. As for Li Na, she has been to the deep round of Wimbledon before and coming off with a win from Roland Garros might give her an extra motivation to win another title. Lastly Zvonerava, who also played very well on grass, should advance to at least a quarterfinal since she is in the bottom draw, which is less competitive than the top section containing Serena, Sharapova, Woznizcki, and Li.

At this point, I’m really excited to see which female player will be crowned this year’s Champion. As much as I praise and root for Serena to win, coming back from a serious illness, I would also like to see the title being won by the new face.

My father always says “In tennis, clinching a grand slam title is not just about having an incredible game, it also has a lot to do with how tough you can stay throughout the match physically and mentally”. He has his point.

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