It's been a huge 12 days so far for Russia's Vera Zvonareva at Wimbledon. Not only has she reached her first-ever semifinals and now final in Grand Slam singles play, but she also teamed up with countrywoman Elena Vesnina to wax the top-rated Williams' sisters in the doubles' quarterfinals.
She and Vesnina proceeded to knock out the #4 doubles seed on Friday, putting her in position to take both singles and doubles championships titles this weekend, something only eight women have done previously in the Open Era at Wimbledon.
Getting into that select group would be a phenomenal accomplishment for a player with zero Grand Slam singles titles, and just one Grand Slam doubles' crown (the 2006 US Open) to her credit.
The eight do win Wimbledon singles and doubles the same season in the Open Era are: Billie Jean King (1972-1973), Chris Evert (1976); Martina Navratilova (1979, 1982-1984, 1986); Steffi Graf (1988); Jana Novotna (1998); Lindsay Davenport (1999); Venus Williams (2000, 2008) and Serena Williams (2009).
Those eight players have combined for 215 Grand Slam singles, doubles and mixed doubles' titles among them, and of the pack, only Davenport (6) has fewer than 20 career Grand Slam winners.
On a lighter note, Zvonareva could also make history by becoming one of the most well-known women named Vera in the whole world. Let's face it, it's not the most popular of first names.

Here's a quick list of Zvonareva's competition in the world of "Vera-dom."

5. Vera Miles, actress -- She played Lila Crane in the Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece "Psycho." Her character got the unenviable task of finding out first that Norman Bates' mama wasn't looking so hot.

4. Vera-Ellen, actress -- She danced in two films with Gene Kelley and two more with Fred Astaire. She was also in the last Marx Brothers' movie as well as co-starring in White Christmas with Bing Crosby.

3. Vera Bradley/Vera Wang/Vera Neumann -- How on Earth three top fashion designers are all named Vera, I'll never know. If I cared even a little bit about the world of fashion, I'm sure these three would be tied for #1, but my priorties are obviously a little different.

2. Vera from "Alice" -- My immediate co-workers probably have no idea that this was a television show unless they've seen it on "Nick at Nite" since its series run (1976-1985) pre-dated most of their births.
Vera Louise Gorman was one of Alice's fellow waitresses at the legendary Mel's Diner. While she never had as good a catch phrase as Flo's "Kiss my grits!", Vera was an inspiration for idiot savants everywhere with her latent math prowess hidden behind a clumsy, klutzy exterior.

1. Vera Peterson from "Cheers" -- The greatest character in television history to never actually have her face shown. The wife of one of my personal heroes, Norm Peterson, Vera was sometimes heard, but never seen head to toe, with only appearance coming when she had been hit with a pie, and thus her face was obscured.

Can Zvonareva crack this who's who list of legendary Veras? Time will tell this weekend.

Somehow, basketball superstar LeBron James needs an entire hour of prime-time television coverage Thursday to speak one sentence about what team he is offering his God-like dunking and marketing skills to for the next 5-6 years.
ESPN, being a lap dog for anyone who can make them more money, has readily agreed to air what I like to call "Butt Kiss Fest 2010."
James and his camp of advisers are attempting to spin public opinion from "narcissistic ego-maniac" to "nice guy doing good work" by having all the advertising revenue sold during the hour-long show to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. James will make his announcement live from a Boys and Girls Club in Connecticut.
It's great that a worthwhile charity is getting both prime-time exposure and a nice, big check, but let's face facts, James is doing this to be the center of attention and have all eyes on him when he makes his big call.
Although I consider myself a big NBA fan, at this point, I really don't care who James signs with, as long as he goes away for a while.
What really irks me is that he drags the charitable organization into the mix with him as some sort of a justification for this ridiculous ESPN "special."
If James wanted to make a difference to the Boys and Girls Club, it would take one phone call or the price of one envelope and stamp, along with his John Hancock on a nice fat check. The guy has made $62 million in salary alone in the last seven years, and stands to make $95-120 million more depending on where he signs.
If he wanted to do this live charity bit, he could take a month or two to organize an off-season all-star game of athletes and celebrities, play it at the biggest arena he could find, fill it with 50,000 fans and have every single penny of admission and concessions go to said charity, along with donations from all the famous faces. Bam, $50-100 million in some charity's pocket, and LeBron doing what he does best, play basketball.
To be fair, James did start his own foundation in 2004, although in 2008 he cut staff and charitable activities down to "streamline" the organization.
I'd like to think LeBron's main fault here is that he's still young at 25, and likes to have the spotlight on him, but as I do research and write news stories on player after player on the ATP and WTA Tours, that theory holds less and less water.
It was just back in March when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal took time out of their spring schedules to play doubles with Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, raising $1 million at Indian Wells in the "Hit for Haiti" exhibition.
Then there's Justine Henin, who started a foundation in her own name to raise money for children stricken with cancer way back in 2003 when she was all of 21.
Heck, Federer takes so much time with his own charitable foundation, filming public service announcements and acting as a UNICEF Goodwill ambassador, it's amazing he has so much time to still go out and kick butt on the tennis court. And as rich as Federer is -- career earnings of more than $56 milliion in 11 seasons -- James will clear that much in the next two years of his conract.
LeBron might be the King, but he's a got a thing or three to learn about giving back to his subjects.

While many were abuzz at the announcement that Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi will go head to head in Madison Square Garden next February at the 2011 NBP Paribas Showdown, yours truly was a little more excited about the undercard.

Sampras and Agassi got their rivalry buzz going once more with a maybe playful, maybe not exchange during the “Hit for Haiti” fund-raiser in March that came on the heels of Agassi basically calling Sampras a cheapskate in his autobiography.

Push those two aside for a moment, and focus on the undercard, John McEnroe vs. Ivan Lendl in an one-set pro match (first to win eight games wins).

While the younger Sampras and Agassi are great at smiling for the cameras, plugging products and marrying hot women, McEnroe and Lendl’s rivalry was all about two guys so arrogant, they couldn’t believe someone else was trying to be better than them.

They had some legendary exchanges, not the least of which came Lendl purposely hit a shot at McEnroe at point-blank range. McEnroe went down in a heap and proceeded to glare at Lendl for a long stretch before resuming play. Lendl looked like he couldn’t have cared less.





By the time they meet next February, it will have been almost 31 years since their first meeting, a three-set McEnroe win in the semifinals at Milan in 1980.

They would meet again that fall in the quarterfinals of the US Open, with McEnroe rallying to a four-set win. Amazingly, the two would butt heads in nine Grand Slams over the next nine years, facing each other in a major tournament every year but 1986.

They played head to head seven times in 1984 alone, all seven in tournament finals. McEnroe won six of the matchups, including the US Open, while Lendl’s lone win was to claim the French Open.
That French victory turned Lendl’s career around, and was one of McEnroe’s biggest chokes and biggest regrets. After taking the first two sets handily, McEnroe became incensed with a buzzing noise coming from the headset of a TV cameraman.

It got to the point where McEnroe stopped playing and yelled something into the headset. Lendl took advantage, coming back to win three straight sets in a four-hour, eight-minute marathon.

It was Lendl’s first Grand Slam victory. He would pile up seven more in the next five years.

McEnroe would rebound to win both Wimbledon and the US Open, but 1984 would mark the end of his peak years. He would never win another Grand Slam singles title and retired in 1992.

Perhaps the best thing about their rivalry was that both players were such archetypes of their home countries. McEnroe was the consummate ugly American to the rest of the tennis world – loud, abrasive and throwing temper tantrums when things didn’t go his way. For many citizens at home, he was a national hero, shaking up what had otherwise always been a dull sport.

Lendl, a native of Czechoslovakia, came across as a stone-faced killer without remorse. He seldom showed emotion on the court, and was often called “robotic.”

That opinion changed dramatically for many when he appeared on the David Letterman show in 1986, showing a sense of humor and charm. 

Lendl became an American citizen in 1992 and has lived in the USA ever since.

I had mixed emotions upon hearing that the match Thursday night between Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams had broken the world record for largest tennis crowd.
It’s great for the sport, no doubt, that 35,681 fans piled into King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. Even greater that Serena so graciously stepped in to replace Justine Henin, who had to withdraw with an arm injury that will also keep her out of the US Open next month.
But as a native Houstonian, it’s sad to see my beloved Astrodome wiped out of the record books, particularly when the previous record crowd of 30,492 fans saw the historic 1973 Battle of the Sexes between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King.
By 1973, BJK had already won some significant battles both on the court and off of it. She had already racked up 10 Grand Slam singles titles, and had been the driving force for a women’s professional tour (the WTA) and the breaking down of the amateur/professional split that ushered in the Open Era in 1968. In 1973, King was 29 years old, while Riggs was 55, and had won Wimbledon in 1939, then been ranked No. 1 in the world in 1941, 1946 and 1947.
He was also a self-proclaimed hustler, betting on himself against seemingly superior opponents and odds, even winning an exhibition match once while using a frying pan for a racquet.
In 1973, he announced that men were so superior to women athletically, that an older player like himself could defeat the top women’s players in the game.
He backed up his claim by thrashing Australia’s Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 in California on Mother’s Day. He had previously challenged King, who refused, but Court’s loss got her juices flowing.
With an estimated 50 million people watching on TV throughout 37 countries, King and Riggs’ entries into the Dome would have rivaled today’s professional wrestlers.
Having learned from Court’s mistakes – not knowing that the older Riggs would use lobs and drop shots to win points – King played a defensive match and sent her opponent running from one side of the court to another, defeating him in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Ironically, it would not be their last match ever, nor even of 1973. Just two months later, Riggs was a guest star on an episode of “The Odd Couple” appropriately entitled “The Pig Who Came to Dinner.” After losing a bet to Riggs, Oscar and Felix challenge Riggs to a ping-pong match to win back their possessions. After they try and fail to intimidate him by wearing Billie Jean King masks, the real King appeared at episode’s end to beat Riggs herself.

Considering humans first came to the Iberian Peninsula about 32,000 years ago, it’s safe to say that Spain has had a few good years to remember.
For instance, 1492 was a quality year – unification of the Kingdom, discovery of the new world, not a bad 12 months.
Five hundred years later, 1992 was pretty solid as well – Spain hosted the Summer Olympics with that archery dude shooting the arrow that lit the torch for the opening ceremonies, and the Seville Expo bringing 41 million tourists to the country.
But if you’re a Spanish sports fan, 2010 is going to be tough to top.
Just one week after native son Rafael Nadal won Wimbledon, the Spanish National Team brought home the World Cup title with a 1-0 overtime victory against The Netherlands.
Nadal was in attendance for the final match in South Africa.
Previously, no country has ever produced a World Cup and Wimbledon singles winner in the same year, oddly enough the subject of my second-ever blog at TennisNow.com.
Andres Iniesta, who scored the winning goal, can join Nadal as “guy who will never pay for a meal at a restaurant again” in Spain.

"I am a little crazy," Ilie Nastase once said of himself, "but I try to be a good boy."
Nastase turned 64 years old Monday, meaning it's somehow been 41 years since he put Romania on the map in Davis Cup play, and 37 years since he was known as the best player in the world - winning 15 titles in 31 tournaments in 1973.
Nastase won two Grand Slam singles titles - the US in 1972 and the French in 1973. He added two mixed doubles Slams and three in doubles, two with American Jimmy Connors, the third with countryman Ion Tiriac.
Nastase was equal parts genius and clown, on the court and off it. He enjoyed a period in the early to mid 1970s when it was hard to argue that any one player was better, but also went through bouts of suspensions, fines and court walk-offs.
Despite all his impressive stats on the court, his most eye-popping number was revealed in his 2004 autobiogaphy. The book claimed that Nastase had slept with 2,500 women, a number that prompted Maxim magazine to list him among their "Living Sex Legends."
In an interview after the release of the book, Nastase claimed the estimate was over-exaggerated to promote book sales. and that he had "only" slept with 800-900 women.