1. Ferocious Forehand:
Begin standing with feet hip width apart holding the Smart Bell in both hands. Bend at the knees and lower down into a “ready” squat position. Rotate your upper body to the right while simultaneously drawing the Smart Bell back to the right with the right hand.  Then, swing the Smart Bell back to the starting position as if you were striking a forehand.

2. Brutal Backhand:
Begin standing with feet hip width apart holding the Smart Bell in both hands. Bend at the knees and lower down into a “ready” squat position. Rotate your upper body to the left while simultaneously drawing the Smart Bell back to the left with both hands. Then, swing the Smart Bell back to the starting position as if you were striking a backhand.

3. Grand Slam Serve:
Begin standing while holding the Smart Bell in the right hand behind the body. Swing the Smart Bell up overhead and then down in front of the body as if you’re swinging through a serve.

4. Vicious Volley:
Begin standing in “ready” position with knees bent, holding the Smart Bell in both hands. Rotate the body to the left and bring the Smart Bell down, a foot off the ground. Twist the body up and to the left as you simultaneously bring the Smart Bell up overhead. Reach the Smart Bell as high up as you can and then bring it back down to starting position.

5. 5th-Set Squat:
Begin standing with feet hip width apart holding the Smart Bell in both hands. Bend at the knees and lower down into a low squat while dropping the Smart Bell between the legs. Explode up to standing while simultaneously bringing the Smart Bell up overhead.

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But she’s running out of room for her tennis trophies.

“I don’t have any more space,” said Williams, who has won 39 career singles titles and 20 more in doubles. “I would love to keep winning them. But we’re like, ‘OK, what are we going to do with this one?’”

If she can win three more matches this week, Williams will have to make room for another U.S. Open trophy and an oversized check for $1 million for winning the U.S Open summer series and the Open itself.

“As I said even before the match, I think she’s the favorite for the tournament,” said No. 16 Ana Ivanovic after losing to Serena in the fourth round Monday, 6-3, 6-4. “She’s been playing really well, and it’s gonna be tough, you know.”

Even Spike Lee, who sat in Serena’s player’s box for the match, is picking the No. 28 seed to win her 14th career major title.

“She’s gonna win,” Lee told CBSSports.com.

After years of backing the winless Knicks, Lee hope he’s finally supporting a champion in Williams.

“I’m a Miami Heat fan and Dolphins fan,” Serena said. “I support the Heat. He supports the Knicks. We always argue about that one.”

Next up for Serena in the quarterfinals is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a hard-hitting, 20-year-old Russian seeded No. 17. That match is scheduled for Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After that, Serena could potentially meet top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the semis. Wozniacki has been No. 1 in the world for 46 straight weeks, but is still seeking her first career Grand Slam singles title.

Serena may be seeded No. 28 due to injury, illness and inactivity, but virtually everyone agrees she’s the best player in the world when healthy.

“Subconsciously, in the back of my head, I’m a person that really hates to lose,” said Serena, 29. “I put a lot of work into this. A loss would be disappointing.’

Oh yeah, and what exactly goes on in that karaoke room?

“My favorite thing to karaoke is definitely Rihanna,” Serena said. “She is my favorite artist to karaoke.

“We’ve sung till 8:00 in the morning. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, the sun’s coming out. We keep singing and singing and singing and singing. It’s magical.”

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter @AdamZagoria.

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In 2005.

That’s when Young, then 16, became the youngest player — and first African-American — to reach No. 1 in the world in juniors.

Six years later, Young, now 22, may finally be realizing the potential many tennis experts thought he initially possessed.

On Tuesday, the Atlanta, Ga. native hopes to continue his storybook run at the U.S. Open when he takes on No. 4 Andy Murray of Scotland in a fourth-round match.

“Some people have to learn from experience,” Young said. “Some people can listen and do it; some people have to learn from experience. I was definitely one person that had to learn from experience.”

Young said his low point came when he lost in Challenger events to players ranked as low as No. 300 in the world.

He also stirred up trouble earlier this year on Twitter, lashing out with a series of profane tweets after he wasn’t given a wildcard spot in the French Open.

Still, he upped his fitness level and mental toughness by training with the United States Tennis Association in Carson, Calif., alongside fellow Americans Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey. He also hit with 14-time Grand Slam singles champion Pete Sampras.

At the Open, he’s into the fourth round for the first time ever after knocking off two seeded players, No. 14 Stan Wawrkinka in five sets, and No. 24 Juan Ignacio Chela in three.

“He’s talented, so he can hit winners from all parts of the court,” said Murray, seeking his first career Grand Slam singles title. “He comes forward pretty well, he volleys good, he’s got nice feel around the net, and he’s got quite easy power which, you know, can be sometimes difficult. Guys look like they’re not winding up to hit a big shot, and he can create quite a lot of power.”

Young beat Murray at Indian Wells earlier this summer, his first victory over a Top-10 player.

Now Murray is seeking revenge.

“It’s more sort of not so much revenge against Donald, it’s more for the situation I was in there and making sure that, you know, I can kind of move on from that,” Murray said.

For Young, he hopes the dream run continues with another upset. If he can pull this one off, it would be the biggest victory of his career.

“I’m playing well also,” Young said. “We’ll see what happens when the match comes.”

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter @AdamZagoria.

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Williams, who entered the tournament on a 12-match winning streak, swept Bojana Jovanovski (6-1, 6-1) in her opening match and then cruised to an effortless (6-0, 6-1) victory over Michaella Krajicek — in just 49 minutes — in the second round. She improved to 14-0 on hard court in 2011.

How is she doing it?

“What I do, I pretend there’s like a check for like a million dollars,” Williams told ESPN. “And if you get it, if you run it down, you get the money tax-free.”

(For the record, her U.S. Open champion’s check would be for $2.8 million.)

Williams’ sister, Venus, is suffering from Sjogren’s syndrome and had to withdraw from the U.S. Open. Serena expects her to fight through it and get back out there.

“I’ve been praying for her,” she said. “She’ll be fine. This is just another battle.” 

The post Making it look easy at the US Open appeared first on Metro.us.

Golfer Rory McIlroy owns a U.S. Open championship, while Wozniacki is still seeking her first major tennis title.

“You know, he has something I’m looking for and I have something he’s looking for,” Wozniacki, the No. 1 seed at the U.S. Open, said yesterday following her 6-3, 6-1 victory over unseeded Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain. “He wants to be No. 1. So it’s good to have something on each other.”

Despite being the top-ranked women’s tennis player in the world for 46 consecutive weeks, Wozniacki isn’t the favorite to win in Queens.

That would be Serena Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam singles champion who is seeded No. 28.
“[Wozniacki] is not going to win a Grand Slam until she gets a big shot,” Australian tennis legend Fred Stolle told American Express radio during Wozniacki’s match. “She doesn’t have that big shot that she can get cheap points with.”

Wozniacki, a 21-year-old Dane, is the daughter of Polish immigrants and comes from an athletic family. Her mother, Anna, played on the Polish women’s national volleyball team and her father, Piotr, played professional soccer. Wozniacki’s older brother Patrick plays pro soccer in Denmark.

Yet Wozniacki uses a defensive style that relies on outlasting her opponents from the baseline.
She finally closed out Llagostera Vives on her fourth match point, not with a crushing forehand winner, but with an error by her opponent at the net.

Against Llagostera Vives, Wozniacki hit 22 winners and made 17 unforced errors. Her opponent hit 14 winners against 28 unforced errors.

The question is, can Wozniacki beat the game’s top power players while maintaining her defensive style?

Wozniacki has experimented with a more aggressive style, rushing the net at Wimbledon before losing in the fourth round to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovokia.

Wozniacki even met with 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Navratilova, a tremendous serve-and-volley player in her heyday, about potentially coaching her.

“I was thinking about it at one point and we talked and everything, but there were a few things that didn’t work out, and as well on the scheduling,” Wozniacki said.

Now Wozniacki is working with a “mystery coach,” whose identity she won’t give up.

“I have to respect him as well,” Wozniacki said, adding that she’s been in touch with the coach during the Open. “So if he wants to be in the background and not have his name out, I have to respect that.”

She concedes that she would like to “add a few more things” to her game, but isn’t overly concerned about what critics say.

“They can say what they want,” she said. “I’m the type of player I am. I’ve won a lot of tournaments. I’m No. 1 in the world, and of course I can still improve.”

And maybe one day she will improve to the point that she wins a major championship. Just like her boyfriend.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter @AdamZagoria.

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Plenty of history is on the line in the men’s draw as the “Big Four” of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray compete in the final Grand Slam of 2011.

Can Djokovic continue his incredible season by capturing a third Grand Slam title in 2011? Will Nadal bounce back from a decisive loss to Djokovic in the Wimbledon final and win back-to-back U.S. Open titles? Can Federer, at age 30, reclaim his past glory and add a 17th career major to his haul? Or will Murray finally break through and win the first of his young life?

“One of the top four guys … is going to win this thing,” John McEnroe told ESPN. “If you’re not one of the top four players in the world, you’ve gotta beat three of these guys.”

Men to watch
   
Novak Djokovic (1-seed)
The Serb is enjoying one of the greatest single seasons in tennis history.
   
Rafael Nadal (2-seed)
Won four of last six Grand Slam events, including this year’s French Open.
   
Dark Horse Pick: Mardy Fish (8-seed)
Beat Nadal in Cincinnati, playing his best tennis ever.

Women

It isn’t often that Serena and Venus Williams play spoiler in a Grand Slam event.

But with Serena coming in as the No. 28 seed and Venus unseeded altogether, this isn’t your typical Grand Slam.

Three-time Open champ Serena missed nearly a year because of two foot surgeries and blood clots in her lungs. But she is 16-2 overall this season and 12-0 on hardcourts.

She could face No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the third round.

A 13-time Major winner and arguably the toughest competitor on the women’s tour, Serena is a strong favorite despite her seed.

Venus, a two-time Open winner, has managed just three events in 2011 due to hip and abdominal injuries and a virus. 

Women to watch
   
Caroline Wozniacki (1-seed)
The world’s top-ranked player is seeking her first Grand Slam singles title.
   
Maria Sharapova (3-seed)
Coming off a victory in Cincinnati, where she beat No. 2-seed Vera Zvonareva.
   
Dark Horse Pick: Serena Williams (28-seed)
Don’t bet against her … even as the No. 28 seed.

The post US Open preview appeared first on Metro.us.

“The pressure is always there,” he told the crowd at Bar Basque last week, where he was on hand to promote Bacardi’s Champions Drink Responsibly campaign. “Last year was more pressure for me than this year, because last year I felt I had a real chance of winning. Last year I felt ready to win.”

With his win one year ago, the “King of Clay” became the seventh player in history achieve a Grand Slam, and the youngest player in the open era to do so. This year, he’ll take on current No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic in an effort to defend his title, and he won’t let a recent mishap at a Japanese restaurant (Nadal burned two fingers touching a hot plate) — or foot injuries that have threatened to curb his career — get in the way.

“With the injury of my left foot, for moments it was tough — we didn’t know if I would have the chance to be playing,” Nadal said.

And while in town for the Open, Nadal plans to take advantage of all that the city has to offer.

“I have been here in the past, before I came for the U.S. Open, with my family. I know the city very well. When I have the chance I love to walk around, have dinner in good places from here. Probably later I’m gonna go to the theater to watch a musical. I think today [it’s] ‘Mamma Mia.’”

Follow Meredith Engel on Twitter @MeredithatMetro.

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Outspoken as always, the 52-year-old McEnroe still gets his juices flowing for World TeamTennis. Tonight, he’ll face storied rival Bjorn Borg in a match on Randall’s Island in New York. McEnroe believes that if the current challenge system had been around when he was screaming at chair umpires, it would’ve helped his career.
 
“I’d have had a lot more energy to play,” said McEnroe, who opened a tennis academy last year. “I’d have been able to use that energy to focus on what I should’ve been doing in the first place — hitting the ball properly. Some people would say I would’ve won less majors. I think I would’ve won more, but been more boring.’’

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After dispatching Gael Monfils yesterday in straight sets, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are primed for a Friday showdown at Roland Garros.

“He’s been playing fantastic this season, so I know I have to play some of my best tennis,” Federer told reporters. “I have a couple of days to prepare for that and come up with a good game plan.”

Djokovic has won 43 consecutive matches dating back to last year’s Davis Cup final — and has eliminated Federer from the semifinals in the last two major tournaments.

“He’s got a lot on the line, but my plan is trying to reach another Grand Slam final, it’s not to stop Novak,” Federer said.

Earlier in the day, Andy Murray defeated Viktor Troicki to advance to the quarterfinals. The first four sets were played Monday, before darkness suspended the match. 

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With a win.

Djokovic beat Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 yesterday to run his record to 38-0 this year.

Djokovic is seeded second in Paris.

No. 1 Rafael Nadal meets American John Isner in the first round today. Women’s No. 7 Maria Sharapova will also be on the court, facing Croatian Mirjana Lucic.

The post Djokovic stays unbeaten appeared first on Metro.us.

Tennis officials were unable to confirm the report but a representative for the 29-year-old Williams told the magazine she was treated on Monday after falling ill.

The former world No. 1 has not played competitively since winning last year’s Wimbledon title after cutting her foot on broken glass at a restaurant in Germany. 

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 The tennis star had been receiving treatment for the embolism (a blood clot in the lungs) at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center since last week, but her condition took a turn for the worse on Monday. 

"Monday Serena Williams underwent emergency treatment at Cedars for a hematoma she suffered as a result of treatment for a more critical situation," her rep told People.

Doctors discovered the blood clot after Williams returned from New York, where she had been receiving treatment for a lingering foot injury. Williams stepped on a piece of broken glass in a restaurant shortly after winning at Wimbledon last July, and operations and complications have prevented her from competing since.

People also reported that, the night before being hospitalized, Williams had looked "stunning" at the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Oscars party. (via Reuters)

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Novak Djokovic won the men’s singles title at the Australian Open yesterday, pounding Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Kim Clijsters toppled China’s Li Na 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the women’s final.

Notice anything about those names??World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Roger Federer — long absolutely dominant — were absent on the men’s side, while women’s No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki missed her own final.

One favorite-free Grand Slam final, of course, does not represent a major shakeup in the world of big-time tennis. But no matter how you slice it, Nadal and Federer did exit the men’s draw early, while idle Serena Williams is set to fall all the way to 12th in today’s women’s rankings.

One constant, though, is Britain’s failings in big tournaments. Murray once again fumbled a bid to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry in the 1936 U.S. Open.

It’s his second straight Aussie final loss. 

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Spanish star Rafael Nadal lost his bid for a fourth consecutive tennis Grand Slam title yesterday, dropping a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 match to countryman David Ferrer in the Australian Open quarterfinals.

The Wimbledon, French Open and U.S. Open champion seemed to be nursing an injury during the match.

“This is a difficult day for me,” Nadal said. “Today I can’t do more than what I did. He played at a very high level.”

Ferrer, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are left on the men’s side of the draw.

The post Nadal’s Open finished appeared first on Metro.us.

When Andy Roddick crashed out of the Australian Open over the weekend, he took the U.S. men’s contingent’s hopes for an elusive Grand Slam title with him.

Roddick is the last American man to win one of tennis’ majors — and that was way back in 2003, at the U.S. Open.

Since then, it’s been one failure after another. The trend was crystallized in Roddick’s loss at Melbourne, when he was absolutely trounced by Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round. The American surrendered 24 aces in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 defeat.

“Obviously [this] wasn’t the showing that we wanted, you know, but I’m doing what I can,” Roddick told reporters.

American women have been far more successful than their male counterparts in recent years, but even they couldn’t make any hay in Australia.

Defending champion Serena Williams missed the tournament with a foot injury, and sister Venus quit her third-round match with a hurt hip muscle.

Roger Federer, meanwhile, is in his 27th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal. 

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After all, Nadal has shown flashes of streakiness over his career, and a few chinks in Federer’s armor were exposed last year.

But don’t count on a new regime emerging anytime soon. Even Novak Djokovic — the world No. 3 behind the high-flying pair — admits as much.

“I think [Robin] Soderling is playing great, [Andy] Murray, [Nikolay] Davydenko,” Djokovic said.

“All these guys have improved so much. And then you have Federer and Nadal, who keep on playing better and better.”

Federer opens Australian Open play today.

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