Was out in West Hollywood this afternoon having lunch, running errands then went to see "The Last King of Scotland" at the Sunset 5. Before I knew it, it was time for the Australian Open women's final between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. "Oh shit! I'm gonna miss it!" So, I duck into a bar and a grumpy bartender lets me change one of the television sets to ESPN. I wasn't there for long. Serena, whose ranking had actually dipped below 100 last year due to an injury-plagued year, beat the top-ranked Sharapova 6-1, 6-2. And she was wearing HUGE earings when she did it.
She dedicated this improbably victory to her late sister, Yetunde Price, who was tragically shot to death in Compton a few years back. So, Serena now seems top be back on the road to imortality. By winning her third Australian Open title, she now has eight "grand slam" titles in her collections (2 Wimbledons, 2 U.S. Opens and 1 French Open). She needs one more to match Monica Seles' haul then will only trial Billie Jean King (12), Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova (18 apiece), Steffi Graf (22) and Margaret Court (24).
Serena, who used to date director Brett Ratner, is a fun superstar because not only is she an awesome player, she also loves the limelight and has even done some acting on the side. And she makes no bones about how much she loves herself! Who can blame her?