Kritik und Anregungen » is home.Cover your ears: grunting is h

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The end of an era arrived in a flurry of sluggish serves, mixed signals and netted volleys. Olympic doubles had been Venus and Serena Williams personal property while winning three gold medals over the past 16 years. But age, sickness and a persistent pair of Czechoslovakians combined in a cruel and stunning end to the sisters Olympic doubles career.In hindsight, it shouldnt have been so shocking to see Venus and Serena lose 6-3, 6-4 to Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova on Sunday. Venus is 36 years old. These were her fifth Olympics. In 2011, she disclosed she has Sjongrens syndrome, which causes fatigue and joint pain. One day before the doubles loss, a virus cost Venus her first-round singles match, leaving her with cramping, dehydration and stomach pain.But these were the Williams women, winners of 14 Grand Slam doubles titles. Serena is still Serena, No. 1 in the world. They had never lost an Olympic doubles match. The Czechs, relatively new partners, had never won a match together. You kept waiting for the sisters to dig in, for Venus to return and Serena to roar and for their resolve to turn the tide like so many times before.This has been [Venus] goal for the last four years -- to come back to the Olympics, U.S. womens tennis coach Mary Jo Fernandez said before the match. She wants to win a medal so badly in anything.Instead of a fourth doubles gold medal to go with one singles gold for each sister, we are left with the Olympic memory of the Czechs feasting on Venus serve. Of Serena at the net yelling cross, but Venus failing to cover. Of Venus moving stiffly between points, and calling often for a towel. Of Strycova volleying the ball through Venus legs at the net -- twice.As Strycova and Safarova pulled away, the Rio crowd got behind them, chanting for the Czechs and even booing down an attempted chant of U-S-A.Venus only deigned to speak to the media for 15 seconds after the match. Today was not our best day as a team, she said, looking into the distance. We like to have a chance to play into the tournament, we just played a tough team. So we wish them the best of luck in the rest of the event, and well get ready for the US Open in doubles.Serena showed just the briefest glimpse of what it feels like to know that her run of sisterly dominance is ending.Its devastating, Serena said. Then she changed course, unconvincingly. But were really, also, I wouldnt say its devastating. We had a chance to compete for our country, we did the best that we can, and we had a blast out there. I wouldnt actually say it was devastating, it was a lot of fun, and well always remember these moments, these matches. At the end of the day, thats what matters most.We honestly didnt play our best whatsoever tonight, Serena said. We played terrible, and it showed in the results.The Venus and Serena team is not finished. They won Wimbledon doubles this year, and will play the U.S. Open. 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After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Out on the lawns at SW19, the spirit of John McEnroe is not just alive and well, but spewing obscenities. Modern-day male tennis players are more prone to emotional outbursts -- whether thats raging at umpires, breaking rackets or dropping f-bombs on the grass -- than their female counterparts.Thats not conjecture, but analysis of the data -- the Wimbledon Diary has been crunching numbers (almost with the same enthusiasm as some of the competitors have been crunching rackets).Serena Williams received plenty of attention for bashing her racket on the grass during her second-round match, and then tossing it behind her into a cameramans lap. For that, she was fined $10,000. And the biggest punishment of the tournament so far went to Heather Watson, who was fined $12,000 for whacking her racket on the turf during her opening-round loss.But, according to the latest list that the International Tennis Federation have published, only one other woman has been fined during these Championships, with Spains Sara Sorribes Tormo docked $1,500.That takes the total fines to date for female players to $23,500, which is still considerably less than the men, who have had $39,000 taken from their prize-money. So far, some 13 different men have been fined, with Australias Nick Kyrgios appearing twice on the list, once for unsportsmanlike conduct in the opening round, which cost him $2,500, and then for swearing in his second round, for which he was fined $4,000.The man with the largest fine was Serbias Viktor Troicki, who lost $10,000 for ranting at an official: You are the worst umpire in the world.Remind you of anyone?Macs art attackMilos Raonic and McEnroe, the Canadians grass-court conssultant, have been bonding over a shared love for modern art.dddddddddddd. No doubt McEnroe -- an ESPN analyst -- has been telling Raonic about his encounters with Andy Warhol in New Yorks Studio 54 nightclub. McEnroe first appeared in Warhols diaries in 1979.Not that McEnroe was that impressed with the artist. The tennis player just thought of Warhol as this weird guy who was always at parties taking pictures. He was astonished when Warhol turned out to be one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.Quote of the dayMurrays coach finds extra driveAndy Murrays coach, Jamie Delgado, is a local. He lives in Southfields, which is a 10-minute stroll from the All England Club. But you probably wont see him walking along the pavement. Delgado told the Wimbledon Diary how he often prefers to order one of the tournaments courtesy cars to take him to and from his home.Cover your ears: grunting is here to stayThe other day, before making the trip to London, Pam Shriver went to watch some junior tennis and must have been tempted to stick her fingers in her ears.My boy plays junior tennis and I was at a tournament in California and heard a 12-year-old who, pound for pound, had the loudest grunt Ive ever heard. That gave me pause. I thought to myself, Urrgh, were just letting another generation just grunt away. I dont see anything that the game is doing, such as in the rules, to change this, Shriver, also an ESPN analyst, told the Wimbledon Diary.This echoes what Nick Bollettieri has been saying: grunting isnt about to disappear any time soon. ' ' '