Women's tennis after the US Open has been interesting for me because Venus and Serena are actually playing in several small events. They haven't played in this many small tournaments in years.

After winning the tournament in Korea last week, I am surprised Venus is playing again this week in Tokyo. If she stays healthy, there really isn't anyone left in the draw who can challenge her for the title.

Serena is playing in the more competitive tournament of the week in Stuttgart. The top half of the draw is heavier than Serena's half. Serena won her first match 6-0, 6-0. Serena should do well because the tournament is indoors and Serena probably feels like she needs to redeem herself from her pitiful performance at the US Open against Henin. Since they are on opposite sides of the draw, Serena may get a chance for revenge if she and Henin make it to the final.

Venus wasn't entered in Tokyo but reports say they called her. How much do you think that appearance fee is?

Serena will have to get through Chaka or Ana and then possibly the Kooz before meeting anyone in the final...Henin will likely have to face Jelena first...

Will Justine get "lucky" again with Serena?

Double bagel Go Serena. She rarely hands out double bagels because either she starts slow and has a game here or there where she just plays like total crap. Nice to see.

does anyone know about how much the top gals make in appearance fees? Or even an educated guess? For superstars like Venus, Serena, or Maria, it must be a whopper

When was the last time both sisters played the same week at different tournaments?

Anyway, Venus is the WTA Tour website's guest blogger this week! You can get more insight into her here. From initial entries, she appears to be a chatty blogger.

Officially, there are no appearance fees in the WTA. The players are showered with extravagant gifts, however, and often their sponsors give them bonuses for attending particular events, but in theory there aren't supposed to be any cash payments.

Molik seems to be playing well here for a strech. She got to the semis last week (I think) and now she has won her second round in Tokyo...if anyone deserves a good solid couple of months, it's Molik.

That Stuttgart draw is crazy! It's nice to see so many competetive matches in the early rounds. It's almost like looking at an ATP draw sheet. I mean, Michaella Kraijeck had to qualify to play this tournament and she was in the low 30's at the time the entries were due...when's the last time that's happened on the WTA tour.

Is anyone else reading Venus's WTA blog this week? I'm enjoying it immensely. She talks about everything going on in her life. Here is today's entry:

Friday, October 5, 2007

Hey everybody,

I didn't have the greatest start to the day. First of all, I woke up to my mom pounding on the door like it was the police - I thought something bad happened or maybe I slept through something and it wasn't either of those! Although I'm never really on time for anything. I only wake up on the nick of time and rush to everything - to breakfast, to the courts - and I'm normally running late. I should have packed my bag last night, too, because when I got out to the courts in the morning I realized I'd forgotten half of my outfit in the hotel room. I'll usually bring two full outfits just in case something goes wrong but all I had today was one skirt. Fortunately, I had a white, sleeveless warm-up shirt with the EleVen logo on the back so I wore that, and nobody really noticed... Pretty smooth!

My match was challenging, what can I say? My opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, got a couple of breaks but I got them back, and she got a lot of balls back too. I had to conquer a really good opponent today. She fell and twisted her ankle at one point but she got back up and everything seemed to be fine after that. And she was still tough. What was working for me today was my will to win, to just hit the ball and play every point. As a professional I should be able to do that, right?

I was thinking of going to the Imperial Palace this afternoon, but my mom told me I should go back to the hotel and that was the end of it! So I ended up not going anywhere I wanted to. I guess I could have gone if I really wanted to, but I was tired so I saw it as an opportunity to get some of my work done. What am I working on... well, I finished my swimsuit drawings yesterday and today I have been finishing up quick sketches of my children's wear ideas. Now I'm thinking about my board concepts and have started on those. I'm really getting into it.

I started a new book today and someone has already died. But, it's much better than the other book because I'm sure not everyone dies. One person dying I can deal with! It's called "The Righteous Men" by Sam Bourne. I didn't pick it for any particular reason, I just pick 'em as I see 'em and just hope for the best. I was in the airport and saw this one and decided I would try to read it.

Tonight I'm just going to keep working on this - I've been doing work for four hours now which is an improvement from me, so I'm very excited. I'm just going to take it from here. I'm not caught up, though. I slacked off a lot this week and last week in Korea so I'm going to have to punish myself on the next plane ride by doing some more. Usually I like to sleep on the plane, but not this time...

I'm flying to Bangkok on Sunday for another week in a row of tennis. Usually I injure myself or can't play this many weeks in a row for some reason, and this is just awesome for me. I've been really careful lately to not get injured. At night tomorrow we may go out, maybe find some more karaoke... my favorite song from when we went last week was definitely "Call Me" by Blondie - it's totally in my key (I sing pretty high) - but we did everything from Guns N' Roses to 4 Non Blondes to Nirvana, Tears for Fears, Ciara, just everything. My mother LOVES Nickelback so when "This Is How You Remind Me" came on she was so happy. She's a great singer, actually. Isha likes R&B. The funny part was that last week my calves were hurting but I didn't care at the karaoke, I just got up and danced, even though I'd just had an ice bath... probably not the best decision from me. But oh well. I hope we don't have too much fun tomorrow, because ultimately, I have another tournament coming up. I have to be serious and keep my energy. It will hopefully be another five matches and another final - we'll see!

I also wanted to set something straight. People have been reading the blog and have been telling me I've said this, I've said that... and in one of the first ones I said I was like one of those girls who sits with the guys and can't get a boyfriend; I just want to say I actually do have a boyfriend now and we have great times, and I am one of those girls that has a chance to get one!! People asked about eating the cow tongue too - I'm really trying not to think about that one anymore! But it's nice to know you guys are reading my blog this week - it's nice to know you guys are really feeling it.

I'm hoping to just relax tonight here, just eating some grapes (purple), really just getting rested for tomorrow morning's final. I'm playing Virginie Razzano for the title. I think she's a very good player. She played so well against me in San Diego. It'll be important for me to play aggressively, and just take it to her - that will definitely be on the agenda.

I'll talk to you all again tomorrow night!

xxx

Venus

I've been reading it and it is great. Not great in a hilarious Tursunov way, but great in that it really does give you a sense of her as a person. Surprising too. Who knew Venus was a karaoke queen or would have guessed that her favorite TV show was the Golden Girls? I almost wonder if she's pulling our legs.

I thought it was interesting what she said about Serena as well. I wonder why she was asleep at 10 am--must have been up practicing tennis all night.

I see Serena just lost to Kuznetsova; I wonder what the excuse de jour will be.

Serena just lost to Kuznetsova in Stuttgart 3-6, 3-6.

Serena's serve stats were horrible.

On the other hand, Kuznetsova's serve stats were really good.

It is not often that someone can "outserve" Serena in a match.

In a mild upset, the finally healthy Tatiana Golovin seems to be putting together a bit of a run, disposing of Kuznetsova. Of course, her next opponent will be Justine who disposed of Jankovic in yet another close match and hasn't lost a set since Wimbledon.

A big day for the French, with Pauline Parmentier making the final in Tashkent and Razzano shocking Venus in Tokyo.

Wow - that's a sweet win for Razzano - Virginie has always had a beautiful game when on song (very gifted shotmaker, and can hit with excellent variety), but has not (thus far) sustained her ability to think clearly and select the right choices on court. Kudos for her autumnal breakthrough...

Didn't see the SF's today at Stuttgart... but surprised at the Kooz losing so easily to Golovin - I caught Svetlana beating Serena yesterday, and she played a truly fine match and out-scored Williams in all areas of the court. Kuz served with particular applomb, I think she only lost 5 or 6 first serve points all match. Perhaps there was a bit of a letdown after the high of scoring a first win over Serena...

B

Congrats to Justine for a tough win over Golovin in the final. She lost the first set at 2 and came back to win. Wish I had seen it. The press isn't even going into details. Oh well. She certainly is doing well. Can't even remember the last time she lost a tournament. Wimbledon?

They showed the match on the Tennis Channel. Golovin has potential, but thus far she only seems to hit her peaks during off-season events like the fall indoors ones and the spring US clay tournaments. Maybe working with Wilander will help her raise her game. She has more angles than a lot of the power shot players. But she doesn't have Justine's variety. No one on tour does at the moment.

They also showed some of the ATP event in Tokyo, and David "Pics" Ferrer continues to improve in a way that is going to make him a real wild card factor at the Shanghai Masters. I'll be surprised if he doesn't knock off some higher-ranked players there. In fact, his loss to Djokovic at the US Open was a real squandered opportunity because he'd beaten Djokovic before.

In Tokyo, Pics fended off the Karlovic serve fairly easily in the semis and then completely dismantled Gasquet in the final, 6-1 6-2. It was all over in less than an hour. Gasquet has a showier backhand, but it was useless against Ferrer's. Ferrer's down the line backhand is really dangerous now -- one of the best shots in the game.

Dedric, thanks for putting up that Venus post. Karaoke and the Golden Girls? I knew Venus was my kind of lady.

As a postscript to her match, Venus not only blogged after the final she lost, but then she followed it up with a blog entry today, even though her blogging duties have been fulfilled. I haven't seen this happen before. Usually when someone loses they have a short blog entry and that's that. But, Venus is still her cheerful self.

Here are her final two posts:

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Hey everyone,

Unfortunately, I lost to Razzano in the final today. She managed to play really well at all the right moments, so congratulations to her. I wasn't tired - I was feeling pretty fit. It's a very good win. She's having a great year. I was having a problem with my right hip - it started in the first set, and finally in the third set I had to take a medical timeout to get taped or something. I kept playing though, because I really wanted to win. I fought hard. She was just playing really well.

Anyway it's past midnight and I really need to get some sleep, because I fly out to Bangkok in the morning. But I'll try my best to talk to you all from there...

xxx

Venus

-----

Monday, October 8, 2007

Hello from Bangkok!

Let me continue where I left off... First of all, of course I was disappointed I lost in the Tokyo final, but you can always learn from your losses and fight for your next win. That's pretty much my attitude and so I'm just focused on playing my best here in Bangkok, and hopefully winning another title. That's the goal.

After the final, we all just went out and enjoyed Tokyo. Obviously we went to karaoke, and obviously I did "Call Me" by Blondie - I'm a huge Blondie fan. I didn't last too long that night because I was so tired from the final. I had a few songs and that was it for me. I guess we're making going to karaoke a tradition when we're in Asia... and there's some in this hotel, which could be dangerous! I have some pictures from the other night, and I've attached one of us in front of the Tokyo Tower; it looks pretty cool. We were typical tourists that night!

Sorry for leaving you guys hanging yesterday. We were travelling pretty much all day and I was sleeping quite a while. I even got mad at Isha because she woke me up asking if I wanted to eat. Everybody who knows me knows that I'd choose sleep over eating. Everybody's banging on my door, trying to get into my room. I think I'll be doing some of that back to them soon so they can see how it feels! I just don't answer the door. People can text or e-mail me, and if I'm not there I am not getting up. Even at home I don't answer my door. I like my sleep!

Oh, I do have to tell you all I switched books. It's called Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones. It's a little fairy tale - it's great, it's happy and a lot of fun things are happening. It's helping me recover from that Ruins book! I left that one in Tokyo - and the worst part is that when I left the hotel, they tried to bring it back to me! I just couldn't get away from it... but I ended up getting away... Anyway, the new one is great. Isha spotted it in the Tokyo airport. I've switched genres. And it's right up my alley. Oh and you may have noticed from the picture that I've switched hairdos - I just got tired of my old one. I've had the afro a few times this year in Fed Cup, and some people have been asking if I'd be doing it again. So for the moment, I'm in the '70s. And it's RIGHTEOUS.

I've been informed my blog was the most-read blog ever on the Tour website - and of course I'm really excited about that. I'm excited everybody was reading along, seeing what I was up to and hoping I was going to make it through or not. I fell short but I really appreciate the support from all of you. I'd love to do a blog again next year; hopefully I can come back and break my own record!

I've also been told Vania King is blogging from Bangkok this week, which will be great. I don't know her too well but we see each other in the locker room and we talk about different things. I do know she's really, really nice. She's got lots of things to say and she's very well-spoken, so it'll be a great blog, I'm sure of it.

I want to say thanks again for all of the support; playing the Tour can be tough and I appreciate it all. Right now I'm feeling great, though. I'm hoping to live it up here in Thailand and hopefully bring home another title.

I'll talk to you all again soon!!

xxx

Venus

Two-hander,

I enjoyed reading the blog from Venus and I love the Golden Girls, but it was not I who posted the links to the blog.

It was either airrunner or JC.

Can you say contadictory? Either you are feeling good, and you are fit, or you aren't, and it was just a very well fought match. I am tired of players who just have to have an excuse for every loss. Mostly the Williams sisters. And then Justine, who complains of not feeling well even when she wins...

Thanks for starting the thread then, Dedric. And Airrunner, I love all of Venus's Tokyo journal entries. Wish I could see her sing "Call Me"!