Yes, They Can

Of course I couldn't not mention the fact that Venus and Serena (you know their names) played an awesome quarterfinal last night. I don't have much to add here except to say that while it sucks that they had to play so early, I am SO proud of these girls. I'm just now watching the match (how did I live without DVR for so long?) and I can't help but wonder if Venus didn't throw this match. I say that because they are dead even in their head-to-head matches in Grand Slams and in the other tournaments, it's just a bit unbelievable that she's spraying shots and losing so many points on her own serve, especially since she was pretty much in control of the whole match - Serena only won three more points than her sister. But it's not totally unbelievable, so I'll cut Venus some slack. It has to be tough playing someone who knows you that well. It was tough for me to compete against my friends (especially when they cheated!) so I can imagine it's worse to play your sister.

For those who have been watching tennis for a while, you know how much the commentators hated on these girls before they'd ever played a professional tournament. I LOVED hearing Tracy Austin and John McEnroe have no choice but to gush over how great they are and how far they've come - from Compton to the biggest stage in the world - especially since they, along with Chrissy Evert, were the sisters' main detractors in the days of yore. And say what you want about their effort level, their dedication to the game, but these are the definition of awesome, and they are looking rather nice in their "old age" (by tennis standards). The career of an athlete is a blip on the radar of life compared to the career length of the typical 9 to 5'er. I'm all for working what you have while you have it.

So congratulations to both of these ladies. They've certainly earned it.