Venus Williams promotes EA Sports’ fall lineup

Venus Williams comparing guns with Dwight Howard. I bet Serena can do better than this.

Venus Williams joined Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic), Milan Mucic (Boston Bruins) and Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA) at the annual EA Sports media event today at EA Canada in Burnaby.

The sports pros were brought up to highlight EA’s fall lineup which included NBA Live, NHL 10, FIFA 10, and Grand Slam Tennis.

“It was really cool being able to play with so many world-class athletes here,” Williams said.

“The hardest was probably basketball. I did better at hockey than I thought I would.”

There's nothing Venus can't do.

After teaching everyone how to serve on the real court, Venus showed off some virtual moves on the new Grand Slam Tennis on the Wii.

“This is a lot tougher than it looks,” Williams said.

“It’s not much fun losing to yourself.”

(Via straight.com, theprovince.com; Images by EA Sports)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils pay tribute to Mathieu Montcourt

The late Mathieu Montcourt was laid to rest at Mount Valérien Nanterre last Friday and followed by a memorial service at Roland Garros.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils made an appearance at the memorial service and gave a moving tribute to Montcourt.

(Images via people.premier.fr)

2009 Davis Cup: Croatia, Czech Republic, Spain through to the semifinals

Croatia, Czech Republic and Spain join Israel to qualify for the September's Davis Cup semifinals.

CRO-USA 3-2: The Croats remain undefeated against the Americans in Davis Cup, having now won all three meetings between the two nations.

Marin Cilic wrapped up this quarterfinal tie 3-1 by defeating James Blake 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 and setting up a meeting with the Czech Republic in September's semifinals.

CZE-ARG 3-2: Juan Martin del Potro began the day by defeating Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to put the Argentines back on level terms and send the tie to a deciding fifth rubber.

But the Czechs' decision to rest Radek Stepanek in the opening singles paid off – he clinched the tie 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-2 against Juan Monaco.

ESP-GER 3-2: The Germans pushed the tie into a deciding fifth rubber when Philipp Kohlschreiber prevailed 6-4, 6-2, 1-6, 2-6, 8-6 against Fernando Verdasco.

Later, the experienced Juan Carlos Ferrero sealed a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Andreas Beck to send the Spanish Armada into the semifinals against Israel.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Lucky loser Rajeev Ram captures first ATP title

Rajeev Ram beat third-seeded Sam Querrey, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3, in the Hall of Fame Tennis championships Sunday for his first ATP title.

Ram, a lucky loser after top-seeded Mardy Fish withdrew on Monday to replace Andy Roddick in the United States Davis Cup team, won the first all-American final on Newport’s grass courts in seven years.

It was the first ATP final for Ram, the 181st ranked player entering the week, and the lowest ranked to win an event this year.

“These days don’t come around very often unless you’re (Roger) Federer or (Rafael) Nadal. There’s definitely pressure,” Ram said.

“I tried to play tennis instead of thinking about what the moment was.”

Ram withdrew from his qualifier match on Monday, knowing he’d be placed in the draw when Fish pulled out.

“Winning tournaments is not normal on the tour for 99 percent of us,” he said.

Ram earned $79,000 for his singles title while Querrey collected $41,500.

Ram went on to win the doubles title as he partnered Jordan Kerr to defeat Michael Kohlman and Rogier Wassen 6-7(6), 7-6(7), 10-6.

(Via AP; Images via Yahoo! Sports)