The mind body connection is one that has been explored for many years. But a lot of us think of it as flowing from the mind to the body.

“A champions mind” is about how Sampras had the ability to simply elevate his game under pressure. Everyone talks about Nadal as being the toughest mentally.

But what if it is the other way around. What if it is actually physical toughness that is leading the way?

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Serena Williams lost her semi-final match at the US Open 2009 against Kim Clijsters in a controversial way. Serena was 4-6, 5-6 and 15:30 down when she served a second serve and it was called a foot fault by the line judge.

That meant 15:40 and two match points for Clijsters. Serena at first seemed to accept the call but a few seconds later she exploded and threateaningly wawed her racquet towards the line judge and definitely said a few harsh words.

Serena Williams threatens the line judge after a foot fault call / Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

The line judge was encouraged by the chair umpire to tell what Serena said and it seemed like Serena said that »I will kill you…« or something like that.

Anyway, the tournament referee (Brian Earley) was called in and according to the rules if the player threatens or curses towards any of the umpires, he or she gets a warning. (more…)

24/02/2009 and Serena Williams was waiting at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood (USA) to select a winner. Anyone whose first name was Serena could apply for the Gatorade G2 ad campaign with Serena Williams.

Williams has just won for the 10th time at the Grand Slam Singles competition, which was the title at the Australian open for 2009.

Serena Cuevas, Serena Williams And Nancy O'Dell

Miss Williams teamed up with the Gatorade G2 (a low calorie sports drink) for an upcoming ad featuring this drink. Serena’s choice was narrowed down to 5 participants in the semi finalists to be chosen to stand with her in the ad for G2.

Other members of the casting panel were made up of members of Shape Magazine and Gatorade G2 who together eyed Serena Cuevas, a 23 year old from San Diego, California. Nancy O’ Neil hosted the whole event which announced a winner for this ad campaign.

At age 17 Serena Cuevas was pre-warned by doctors that she could never dance again because of an accident which left her unable to follow her dreams. However Cuevas totally recovered and regained her dancing abilities to compete internationally for Salsa Competitions. She went on to own a dance company called Deseo also located in San Diego, California.

The campaign for the G2 ad will be presented in the spring to express the meaning of what an athlete means to them, in so many words to redefine the word athlete. For instance, “A body that can move is an athlete”.

There are 3 more athletes that will be featured by G2’s “Every Day Athlete” which are Kevin Garnett from the NBA; WNBA star Candace Parker, along with the Beach Volleyball Star who won a Gold Medal Kerri Walsh will also be included with “Everyday Athlete”.

The semi-finalist were “Winner 23 year old Serena Cuevas”, 27 year old Serena Lehman from Seattle, Washington, 34 year old Serena Orgel from Brooklyn, New York, 38 year old Serena Martinez of Ventura, California, and 47 year old Serena Marrero from Tilson New York.

The host of this spin-off for G2 Everyday Athlete, Nancy O’ Dell from Access Hollywood, and future dance competitor for Dancing with the Stars encouraged the glory of this wonderful event as the host for the semi-finalists.

The Finalist all traveled from different parts of America to share their personal challenges and defeats, also explaining how staying fit helped them achieve goals and how they grabbed inner strength by staying fit.

Serena Williams and Nancy O'Dell celebrate the win

To participate in the Ad campaign all participants were required to have the first name of the Tennis Star, “Serena”. This type of publicity has a huge influence on kids from all over the globe, because no matter who you are, you can be an achiever, a role model, in many different walks of life.

It does not matter what your job is but it’s all about eating well and taking exercise that will keep you fit and on track. Gatorade has a very strong and powerful message aimed at every one of all ages, and facets of life.

Katarina Srebotnik from Slovenia has won the biggest match of her life winning 6-4, 6-4 against Serena Williams in the third round of the French Open.

Katarina was pretty much in form since she recently reached the finals of Strasbourg where she lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-7, 0-6.

Serena Williams on the other hand had to withdraw in the quarter-finals of Rome because of the back problem.

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Serena Williams lost a highly anticipated match with Justine Henin in straight sets 4-6, 3-6. Most of us were expecting a 3 set battle especially with both women in good form.

But something happened to Serena and she wasn’t able to play her best tennis. The real cause of not being able to play your best is usually the mental part of the game.

Photo by FFT

Let’s see if we can find some of the reasons for her mental letdown in her comments after the match… (more…)