So as I mentioned on Friday, EA Canada was set to host four incredible athletes for a big day of sports, video games and interviews. Well it all went down today and it was quite the event! Each athlete took the time to show us specific skills needed to excel in their respective sports. They then went on to play a “friendly” version of King of the Court and took a turn attempting the four sports that the athletes represented: Basketball, Tennis, Hockey and Soccer. But let’s get serious, each of them wanted to win. Results of this competition will be posted tomorrow. But for the record, Dwight can actually kick a soccer ball quite well!

And yes, we were also able to grab some one on one time with the athletes. I was able to score some quality time with Dwight Howard. I caught him as he was playing NBA LIVE 10 (and loving it might I add). The interview is not exactly conventional but Dwight isn’t exactly your typical interview. And not surprisingly, he had a few questions for me as well!

I also managed to sneak in some time with Venus Williams. After a long day of teaching us how to serve properly in tennis, she took the time to answer some questions about the sport that she dominates and a few other things...

There are more athlete interviews to come along with footage from the King of the Court competition. Check back later tonight and tomorrow for more great stuff!

Ever wonder how a top athlete might fare should they attempt another sport?

We all saw Michael Jordan venture into baseball and we know that Bo does, actually, know. But what about the great athletes of today? Well you might have a better idea after Monday…

There are four tremendous athletes who will be making their way up to EA Canada on Monday for a busy day filled with EA SPORTS games, real sports and some time to chat with us.

This event will be focusing on FIFA 10, NHL 10, NBA LIVE 10 and Grand Slam Tennis. Therefore, it only seems appropriate for us to invite the athletes that best represent those sports: Tennis phenom Venus Williams, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard, Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins and Sacha Kljestan from Chivas USA will all be here. While they are here, they will be competing against one another to determine who will be the EA SPORTS King of the Court! We are going to be tweeting, blogging and bringing you tons of great footage from the event.

As the person who holds the record for the fastest serve by a woman in a main draw event, do you think that Venus can hold her own against the men? Each athlete will be shooting hoops, taking shots on a goalie in hockey, seeing who can serve the fastest in tennis and take penalty shots on a goalie in soccer. And yes, there will be a podium presentation. One winner, three losers. 

So who’s the best multi-sport athlete? Who will win the EA SPORTS King of the Court? And what do you want to know about these athletes? What would you ask Dwight Howard or Venus Williams? Post your questions and we will see what we can do to get some of them answered!

But what would an EA SPORTS event be without talking about the video games that each of these athletes actually appears in! We are going to be bringing you as much info and footage that we can about each game being shown. We won't be able to show you everything on Monday, but we will post the footage and info that we have as the embargos lift.

This is going to be a great event and we will make sure that you get to see everything that we do. So submit your questions and stay tuned!

This weekend saw some big wins on the grass at Wimbledon along with the virtual ice as champions were crowned and teams take another step ahead to becoming champs.

EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis cover athletes Roger Federer and Serena Williams won on Center Court in their respective finals with Serena knocking off her sister Venus and defending champ in straight sets, while Federer and finalist Andy Roddick would go the full five sets plus some in a four hour, 18 minute marathon.  In the longest fifth set in Grand Slam history, Federer would finally go FTW and take the title with a 16-14 fifth set victory after the first four sets went 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6.

Although Venus looked poised to repeat as the Wimby Champion after defeating No. 1 Dianara Safina in the semi’s 6-1, 6-0 along with winning 34 consecutive sets on the famed grass courts in England, it was Serena, along with a relentless serve, who stole the spotlight from her sister to play a near perfect match to go FTW over the weekend.

Of course, if you’re a Roddick or Venus fan, feel free to re-create the finals the way you want to with Grand Slam Tennis on the Wii!

From the grass courts of Wimbledon to the hard ice of NHL 09, the EASHL Invitational Tournament has reached the final four teams with the Console Championships set for this Saturday.  On the Xbox 360 side, the #3 seed The White Church will play #5 Purple Cobraz while on the PlayStation 3 side the #1 No CryBabys look to upend the #3 NHL Regulators. 

Later this week, we’ll get some thoughts from the GM’s of the final four teams and find out who their star players have been through the tournament and what it will take for them to go FTW this weekend and earn the right to fly to Vancouver for the EASHL Championship Finals to take place in August.  Stay tuned to the Inside Blog and EA SPORTS Live for interviews with the team GM’s.

For you NHL 10 fans looking to get a sneak peek into the upcoming game, here’s a new producer video with a look at some of the new gameplay improvements you can expect to see!

Andy Roddick has made it to the semi finals and will be facing Andy Murray on July 3rd ; Roddick is giving us a view from the locker room at Wimbledon for EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis

Halfway point (June 27)

"Although I’ve taken in a few games when my American friends have been playing, I’ve tried to focus on my tennis and next opponent as well as relaxing where possible. It’s taken a trip to London but I’ve just discovered America’s Got Talent (apparently Jerry Springer is all sensitive now....come on!) and I went to see The Hangover which is hilarious!

Off the court, I seem to have answered more questions about Rick Astley and Twitter this week than I have tennis. Who would have known there were so many Astley fans out there?! I was also shocked on Thursday night after my match when I learnt of Michael Jackson’s death. It’s sad and surreal. He was a complete revolutionary and will be missed."

Week 1 draws to a close (June 28)

"So the first week’s over and it’s been a good one for me so far. If you’re still in the tournament at this stage, it’s always good news! I’ve faced some tough opposition but I feel like I’ve been hitting the ball well and I’m now looking forward to what will hopefully be a good rest of the tournament. The positive thing is that I’ve been winning but I still feel that I could be returning a little better and breaking serve more so there’s definitely room for improvement going into week two.

Andy Murray’s showed what a great player he is this week. The commotion that has surrounded him is just a sign of his success and is testament to what he’s achieved so far."

Week 2 dawns (June 29)

"My opponent on Saturday was Jurgen Melzer who's always a tough game...and this was no exception. He's super talented, has won the juniors here and always likes to come forward so it was great to get through a tough game like that. At one stage, I felt a bit of rain when I was out on court and thought Jurgen and I might be the first two to play under the roof. While it would be nice to be part of such a historic moment, my main concern was to get the match finished and get off before the rain set in. I'm happy to leave it to someone else to be part of the famous two as long as I keep winning!

Next up today is Tomas Berdych. He's streaky and rarely middle of the road. Right now you expect to get the best of him with the way he's been rolling through the tournament. He's got weapons. He can serve big and hit big from the baseline. It's just a matter of trying to weather what he's bringing and hopefully that’ll be enough to see me through."

Only 8 left (June 30)

"It’s now 120 gone, only 8 left and I get to play another day! How cool is that?! I’m having so much fun...I love playing here and it really is an honour. Against a tough opponent, I played probably the best I have so far yesterday but it’s certainly not going to get any easier going into my quarter final.

I’m up against Hewitt and everything is a fight with Leyton. He’s a sound as anybody out there, solid on both sides and you’re never going to get on top of him mentally. We’ve always had great matches – including at Queen’s a couple of weeks ago – so I know I’ll need to be at my best again if I’m to get through. In terms of preparation, it’s still about routine, routine, routine! I’m going to have a hit with Tommy Haas this afternoon, relax this evening and tomorrow it’s tennis time again!

Oh, and how could I nearly forget?! Rick Astley’s now one of top trending topics on Twitter!"