Golden Serena!

Serena Williams is the first tennis player in history to achieve a career Golden Slam (all four majors and an Olympic Gold Medal) both in singles and doubles (Steffi Graf was the first woman to complete a career Golden Slam in Seoul 1988). At age 31, Serena needed just 62 minutes to pulverize Maria Sharapova - 6-0 6-1 - in the final of women's singles at the London Olympics on Saturday.
"I didn't expect this. I can't even... oh my gosh. I have a gold medal in singles, oh my gosh. I got the gold. I'm just so happy. I don't know what to do. I just feel good about my game. I've practiced so hard. It was time", Williams said in an interview after the game, quoted by the WTA website.

For the Bronze Medal, Victoria Azarenka beat Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4, and got Belarus its first tennis Olympic medal. 

Silver Masha, Golden Serena and Bronze Vika

USA had more to celebrate on Saturday. Doubles champions Bryan Brothers got their first Olympic gold medal in men's doubles (they won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics) after defeating France's Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 7-6. On Facebook, Bob wrote a few hours after the match: "Wow, what can I say? To wear this gold medal around my neck is the greatest thing that has ever happened or will happen to me in my sporting lifetime. We have reached the pinnacle of our careers and there is no way we could have done it without the love and support from the people around us. This includes all of our fans and friends here on Facebook. Thanks so much for the messages! We love you!"

Men's Doubles Bronze match was a victory for France's Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau over Spain's David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez. 

Bryan Brothers first Gold Medal

The French: Gasquet and Benneteau with the Bronze Medal; Tsonga and Llodra won silver

Photos via WTA, Roland Garros, FFT and Bryan Brothers's Facebook Pages

Bob Bryan's daughter advises "uncle" Djokovic

Micaela, Bob Bryan's daughter, tells Novak Djokovic what to do to defeat Rafael Nadal. :) A funny post on Bryan Brothers's Facebook page.

ITF World Champions Dinner honours Djokovic, Kvitová, Sanchez Vicario

The International Tennis Federation hosted its annual ITF World Champions Dinner in Paris on Tuesday. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain was honoured for her outstanding contributions to the sport and received the highest prize, Philippe Chatrier Award.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

The event was held at the Pavillon d'Armenonville and brought together over 400 members of the tennis family to honour the best performances from 2011. Novak Djokovic was awarded as the top men's single and Petra Kvitová was considered the best in women's tennis. The Bryan Brothers receive the ITF award for best men's doubles. Here's the roll of honour of the ITF World Champions:

- Philippe Chatrier Award: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (ESP)

- Men's Singles: Novak Djokovic (SRB)

- Women's Singles: Petra Kvitova (CZE)

- Men's Doubles: Bob and Mike Bryan (USA)

- Women's Doubles: Kveta Peschke (CZE) and Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)

- Junior Boys: Jiri Vesely (CZE)

- Junior Girls: Irina Khromacheva (RUS)

- Seniors: Lorne Main (CAN)

- Men's Wheelchair: Maikel Scheffers (NED)

- Women's Wheelchair: Esther Vergeer (NED)

Petra Kvitová

Novak Djokovic

Bryan Brothers with Bob's daughter Micaela

(Images via Roland Garros Facebook page. Credit: FFT/ Corinne Dubreuil)

Roland Garros: What to do in Paris besides practice?

Top players, like Sharapova, the Williams sisters, Nadal or Federer, have been arriving in Paris since last Wednesday and Thursday but for most of them real action only began yesterday. Besides the intense practice sessions, what else was there to do in the great City of Light? Most players attended events organized by their sponsors or the French Open. For some, there was time for tourism. Let's take a look, case by case. :)

Victoria Azarenka

Vicka had time, between practices, to visit the Eiffel Tower. She didn't make it to the top because the queues were huge, as always. Nonetheless, walking around the tower and in the gardens nearby is just as good. On her Facebook page, she said: "This is how close I got to the Eiffel Tower! Too many people in line to go to the top :))".

Rafael Nadal

The Spanish star had a lot of extra-practice work to do, besides relaxing with his friend at the balcony of his hotel room (the place doesn't look too fancy but the view to the Eiffel Tower is "magnifique").

Credits from left to right: Nadal FB; Ella Ling; FFT/Roland Garros

Nadal had to attend media day (interviews, photos, and more interviews), kid's day (kids, kids and more kids), and draw day, where he and Li Na helped pick cards out of a bowl. Then, Rafa had the event with racquet sponsor Babolat, which we guess must have been fun, judging by the laughs he shared with Li Na and Kim Clijsters. Take a look at the video to learn more about the racquet of the future and Babolat's event.

Maria Sharapova

On her first day in Paris, Masha had a get together with fans at Nike Paris. She also had a "nice little shopping spree at the store", she wrote on Facebook, and took the opportunity to notice the different pieces sold by Nike stores around the world.

Bob Bryan - Bryan Brothers

We leave the cutest moment to last! Bob Bryan took his little daughter Micaela to walk in the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and eat an ice-cream at Haagen-Dazs. Isn't Micaela the sweetest kid? We love her pink skirt, it's goes well with Paris, City of Fashion :)

Vogue celebrates 2012 Olympics with cover girl Serena Williams

The June edition of the American "Vogue" magazine is celebrating the 2012 Olympics. Serena Williams is one of the cover girls and is among the eight elite American athletes photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the Vogue special editorial.

On Facebook, Vogue remembers past photographs of Olympic athletes, such as Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, will take place in London, UK, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The tennis competition will be held at the All England Club, in Wimbledon.

Hope you enjoy the archive and 2012 photos and also a behind the scenes video of the cover shoot with the Olympic hopefuls including Hope Solo, Serena Williams, and Ryan Lochte.

Bryan Brothers for the June edition. Photos by Annie Leibovitz  

Serena Williams photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue, April 2003

Photo by Annie Leibovitz; Vogue, July 2003

Sharapova photographed by Norman Jean Roy. Vogue, March 2005

Nadal photographed by Bruce Weber, Vogue, June 2009

Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in August 2004. Photo by Patrick Demarchelier

"Nole" photographed by Norman Jean Roy; Vogue, September 2011

Federer by Mario Testino, Vogue, June 2009

Behind the scenes of the 2012 Vogue's June edition cover shoot:

Don't miss the article about cover girl and Olympic athlete Serena Williams on Vogue's website. You can also check the archives to find features about Djokovic, Sharapova, and many other players.