Neither sister currently holds the No. 1 ranking, and both have struggled on hardcourt during the US Open Series of events this summer. Maybe branding is the new, or substitute for, winning titles. Anyhoo, Serena is always in close Twitter competition with pal Andy Roddick, so maybe Andy will buy the Tampa Bay Bucs just to get under Serena’s skin.

3. Kim CLIJSTERS
Cincy comeback run makes her an instant US Open contender amidst weak women’s game.

Murray is the defending champ (d. Djokovic), and the Bryans in doubles; Blake back from a foot injury; Del Potro has got to be tired; nice Q effort by Ljuby; potential Roddick vs. Federer quarterfinal.

The first year of Cincinnati’s new Premier 5 WTA event gets underway today.

“I was so scared to beat Venus, it is huge mentally to beat her,” Bartoli said. “I needed some help to calm me down and remind me of the basics.”

Rafael Nadal is still leaving doubt on his participation in Montreal.

Notes: Openers of interest include (1) S.Williams vs. Li, (6) Cibulkova vs. Stosur, (8) Bartoli vs. Peng, (5) Petrova vs. Mattek-Sands (winner to potentially face Sharapova); five of Top 10 players entered; wildcards to American Hilary Barte and Canadian Stephanie Dubois; Canadian defending champ Aleksandra Wozniak unseeded.

Aristotle said it best when he said, “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

“Today she was too good, she had an answer for everything. She played the best tennis today,” Venus said. “I’m still smiling though, I don’t think the loss has set in yet. I’ve had so many great times here. I love what I do and most of all I love playing these finals. I’ll see you all again next year, of course.”

Venus has won five of the last eight against Serena…