Black Tennis Pros

The South African doubles team of Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie were knocked out of the second round of the Gentlemen's Doubles on Saturday.

Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco defeated the team 6-7(2/7), 2-6(6/7), 6-7(3/7).

For American Venus Williams, Day 6 of the Championships at Wimbledon presented a challenging yet satisfying day at the office. Venus proved not only to be the victor, but set a new serve record. Granted, the new record replaces a previous one set by both she and her sister Serena, but a new record is a new record. Venus hit a 127 mph serve, the fastest women’s serve ever recorded at Wimbledon. She also holds the women’s tour record with a 129 mph serve at last year’s U.S. Open.

In the midst of all of this record breaking on Saturday, Venus continued to defend her 2007 Wimbledon crown against Spanish qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and defeated her 6-1, 7-5. As is evident by the score, Venus was able to get through the first set with barely a scratch, but Sanchez adjusted her game plan and made the match quite a bit more competitive in the second set.

Post match Venus said, "It was a great strategy," ... "In the first set it wasn't working for her from the baseline. I was impressed with the way she changed strategy and made it really competitive in the second."

"I was very pleased with the performance, things got close in the second set. She was really playing well and I had to come up with something more than she was giving."

The nine players nominated for the U.S. Olympic team for tennis at the 2008 Olympic Games, Aug. 10-17, in Beijing, China, have been announced by the USTA, the governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States.

U.S. women’s tennis coach Zina Garrison announced a four-woman team with three singles entries and two doubles teams. All three singles players -- Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport -- are former Olympic gold medal winners. The two nominated U.S. women’s doubles teams consist of world No. 1 Liezel Huber with Davenport and the Williams sisters.


U.S. men’s tennis coach Rodney Harmon announced a five-player men’s team, also with three singles entries and two doubles teams. James Blake, Sam Querrey and Robby Ginepri were named to the team in singles. Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 doubles team in the world, and Blake and Querrey have been nominated as the two U.S. men’s doubles teams.

The 2008 Olympic tennis competition will be staged August 10-17 on the hard courts of the Olympic Green Tennis Center in Beijing. The United States has won 15 Olympic medals in men’s and women’s tennis since it returned as a full medal sport in 1988 -- more than any other nation.

“Selection to the U.S. Olympic team is a tremendous honor for these athletes, and one they truly deserve,” said Jane Brown Grimes, Chairman of the Board and President, USTA. “The Olympics provides one of the greatest global platforms to showcase our sport, and we expect this to be a very memorable summer for tennis.”
“Each player selected to our U.S. Olympic team knows what playing for their country is all about,” said Arlen Kantarian, CEO, Pro Tennis, USTA. “All of these players have worn the Stars and Stripes as part of the U.S. Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams, and will be outstanding competitors -- and first-class ambassadors -- for our country in Beijing.”

“With three former gold medalists on our team and the No. 1 doubles player in the world, we are certainly capable of earning medals at this Olympics,” said Garrison. “I have great memories of the Olympics as a player and coach, and I am thrilled to be a part of the excitement once again.”

“The guys are all honored to receive the nomination to represent their country,” said Harmon. “With all of our singles players making their Olympic debuts and the Bryans searching for one of the few prizes they have still to earn in their accomplished careers, our goal is to be on the podium when all is said and done.”

Serena Williams, 26, will be making her second Olympic appearance having won a gold medal in women’s doubles at the 2000 Olympic Games with sister, Venus, becoming the first set of siblings to win Olympic gold in tennis. A resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Serena has won eight Grand Slam singles titles, and in 2003, became one of only five women to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles within a 12-month period.

Venus Williams, 28, will be making her third Olympic appearance having won a gold medal in both women’s singles and women’s doubles at the 2000 Olympic Games, joining Helen Wills in 1924 as the only player to sweep both titles at the same Olympiad. A resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Venus holds four Wimbledon and two US Open singles titles.

Lindsay Davenport, 32, will be making her third Olympic appearance having won a gold medal in singles at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Davenport took 11 months off from professional tennis to have her first child in June 2007, returning to the tour in September 2007. A resident of Laguna Beach, Calif., she has won 55 singles titles and 37 doubles titles in her career, including the 1998 US Open, 1999 Australian Open and 2000 Wimbledon titles.

Liezel Huber, 30, will be making her first Olympic appearance as an American (she competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney representing her native South Africa). A resident of Cypress, Texas, she became an American citizen in July 2007 with the hopes of competing for the U.S. in the Olympics. Ranked No. 1 in doubles since November 2007, Huber has won three Grand Slam doubles titles. She made her debut for the U.S. Fed Cup team in April.

James Blake, 28, will be making his Olympic debut in Beijing. A resident of Tampa, Fla., Blake has the chance to make history by becoming the first African-American male to win an Olympic tennis medal. Blake missed the 2004 Olympic Games while recovering from a broken vertebra. The winner of 10 singles and five doubles titles during his career, he is currently the No. 2 ranked American and in 2007, helped the U.S. win the Davis Cup title.

Sam Querrey, 20, will be making his Olympic debut in Beijing. Querrey is having a breakthrough year in just his second full season as a pro. He broke into the Top 50 in 2007 and his ranking continues to rise after winning his first singles title in March in Las Vegas. He currently resides in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Robby Ginepri, 25, will be making his Olympic debut in Beijing. He missed being named to the 2004 U.S. Olympic team despite being ranked No. 35 in the world (he was the fifth-ranked American entered and the maximum number of singles players per country is four). A resident of Kennesaw, Ga., Ginepri has the distinction of being the only active American man other than Andy Roddick to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam event (2005 US Open).

Bob and Mike Bryan, 30, will be making their second appearance in the Olympics having reached the quarterfinals in 2004 in Athens, losing to eventual gold medalists Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu of Chile. The Bryans, currently residing in Wesley Chapel, Fla., joined the great, great uncles of President George W. Bush as the only two sets of brothers to play tennis for the United States in the Olympics (Arthur and George Wear competed in the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis and each won a bronze medal with different doubles partners.). Together, the Bryans have won the career Grand Slam in doubles and in 2007, helped the U.S. capture its first Davis Cup title since 1995.

Venus and Serena Williams are the last American women to win Olympic gold in tennis. The women were shut out of the medal stand at the 2004 Olympic Games for the first time since tennis returned to Olympic competition in 1988.

Andre Agassi was the last American man to win Olympic gold in men’s singles when he defeated Spain’s Sergi Bruguera in the gold medal match at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Ken Flach and Robert Seguso are the last American team to win Olympic gold in men’s doubles when they defeated Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez of Spain in the gold medal match at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Mardy Fish was the last American to earn an Olympic medal in tennis, winning silver at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Tennis was part of the Olympic program from the first modern Olympiad in 1896 until 1924. After a 64-year hiatus, tennis returned to the official Olympic program in 1988, becoming the first sport to feature professional athletes.

Team nominations are subject to approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Courtesy of MediaZone I will be supplying five, and possibly more, of my regular readers with an individual All Access Pass to the Wimbledon Championships. Each of you will be able to watch the matches on your computer as you choose.

The All Access Pass will provide LIVE and On Demand video from up to eight courts including Centre Court and No.1 Court, previews, highlights, interviews and classic archive footage.

I am very happy to gift these Passes to the following readers:

• Cooper
• BlogPassion
  
• Van
• Eathan
• Unit6109

The Good News:

Venus Williams defeated Anne Keothavong, GBR
7-5, 6-2

Venus Williams, USA and Serena Williams
defeated
Marta Domachowska, POL and Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
6-0, 6-4

Angela Haynes, USA and Christina Anne Fusano, USA
defeated
Edina Gallovits, ROU and Olga Govortsova, BLR
7-6(8/6), 6-2

STOP

The Bad News:

Stephanie Foretz, FRA and Camille Pin, FRA
defeated by
Annabel Medina Garrigues, ESP and Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP
3-6, 1-6

STOP

Now For The Twilight Zone "What Tha...News:"

James Blake, USA defeated by Ranier Scheuttler, GER
3-6, 7-6(10/8), 6-4, 4-6, 4-6

Andy Roddick, USA defeated by Janko Tipsarevic, SRB
7-6(7/5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-7(4/7)

Maria Sharapova, RUS defeated by Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS
2-6, 4-6

STRANGE!

About the Day

June 27 is National HIV Testing Day. The National Association of People with AIDS is the lead for this day.

American Serena Williams is through to round 3 in the Championships at Wimbledon. On Wednesday she defeated Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-4 after being assigned to the "graveyard of champions." Fortunately for her, the effect was null and void.

"That did kind of cross my mind," she said. "I just didn't want to go out on Court Two, but I was just happy to get it over.

"It was windy too, the conditions weren't great."

I'm really liking her look this year. The hair, the outfits, the jackets, it's all working.

GENTLEMEN'S SINGLES*

Round 1

James Blake, USA
defeated
Christophe Rochus, BEL
3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4












Donald Young, USA
defeated by
Jesse Levine, USA
6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 4-6





GENTLEMEN'S DOUBLES

Round 1

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
defeated
Simone Bolelli, ITA and Andreas Seppi, ITA
6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2




LADIES' SINGLES*

Round 1

Venus Williams, USA
defeated
Naomi Cavaday, GBR
7-6(7/5), 6-1













Stephanie Foretz, FRA
defeated by
Maria Sharapova, RUS
1-6, 4-6






The Mixed Doubles Draw will be available on June 27.
The Juniors Draw will be available on June 27.

You see those two very sweet looking ladies below in white? Well don't let looks fool you. In what seemed like the time span of a couple of long television commercials, the American doubles sister team of Venus and Serena Williams totally dismantled the doubles team of Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia on Tuesday. The sisters issued the team a 6-0, 6-3 beat down. It was just nasty...I felt sorry for them!

Not too long ago Venus said that she and Serena were very serious about playing doubles this year. If I didn't believe it then, you can rest assured that I believe it now.


Here is what Anastasia(l.) and Tatiana looked like in happier times. Hopefully they will pull themselves and their game together and survive to fight another day. Poor babies.

Today I have my first guest post for the Wednesday Coaches Corner. This article was written by T.A. Niles for Suite101.com. T.A.'s love of tennis definitely makes his work perfect for Black Tennis Pro's. I hope to have more of his work here in the future. You can read his full profile here.


Bryan Shelton Coaches NCAA Winner
First Black Head Coach to Win NCAA Div. I Championship in Tennis

The first African American, former USTA National Coach Bryan Shelton, guides Georgia Tech's Lady Yellow Jackets to NCAA Women's Div. I Tennis Title.

Earlier this year there was quite a bit of fanfare when Tony Dungy and Lovey Smith made it to the SuperBowl as the first Black, National Football League (NFL) coaches to get to the SuperBowl. Dungy received considerable accolades for being the first Black coach to win the Championship game. Given the notoriety of the SuperBowl and the prominent places that both “race” and the game of football play in US culture, it is no surprise that Dungy was lauded for his accomplishment.

An Accomplishment Worthy of Recognition

Tennis, particularly college tennis, is not the sporting and economic juggernaut that the NFL is, but being the first Black coach to win a Division I tennis title is a feat that ought applauded every bit as much as winning the SuperBowl. Bryan Shelton, the Head Coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, is the first African American to coach a Division I tennis team to the national title. Unlike Dungy who emerged victorious in a league with only 30 teams and half-dozen Black coaches, Shelton triumphed in a league with over 300 teams, 64 of which participated in the NCAA tournament. There were only 2 other Black coaches in the tournament.

Georgia Tech Upsets UCLA in Final

Shelton guided the lady Yellow Jackets to a 4-2 championship win over the UCLA Bruins, a perennial tennis power and one of three California teams in the team competition semi-finals. It was the first time that Georgia Tech had advanced to the finals of the NCAA tournament, and they captured the title in their first effort. For any who has followed Bryan Shelton’s progress since his retirement from the ATP men’s tennis tour, this accomplishment is no surprise. Prior to assuming the position of Head Coach at Georgia Tech, Shelton had established himself as a premier coach while serving as a National Coach for the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

Yellow Jackets Rise with Shelton's Arrival

To support the wisdom of the hire, Georgia Tech made its first appearance in the NCAA tennis tournament during Shelton’s first season as Head Coach. The lady Yellow Jackets achieved a ranking of No. 29 that year, the highest year-end ranking the team had achieved at that point. Prior to his arrival, the team had never played in the season-ending NCAA championship tournament. Sweet-16 appearances in 2005 and 2006 heralded Georgia Tech’s potential as a challenger for the title that they claimed this year.

Repeating as champions will be difficult for both Bryan Shelton and Tony Dungy, but in a country still struggling to escape the chains of racialization and racism, it is still an accomplishment when a Black coach wins a National Championship in collegiate sports for the first time. Hopefully there will come a time in the United States when the color of the coach’s skin will matter less than the color of the team’s uniform.

It's always a better day for me when a friend takes the time to share with me their good feelings about this site. The unselfishness of a lot of people in this great blogsphere is just wonderful. In this instance it is Matt from a favorite place of mine, "Meltwater. Torrent. Meanderings. Delta." (MTMD) This site represents so much of what I love about cyberspace. In the regular course of life I probably would not have met Matt. And since he spends a lot of time on the river, I KNOW that we would not have run into one another in the midst of our hobbies (I like dry ground). But because we enjoy and are open to the perspectives, outlook and life meanderings of others, here in cyberspace is where we got the opportunity to meet, share and visit. What a world!

All of that said, Matt was recently awarded the "Arte y Pico" Award and opted to share it with me, along with others. Thank you so much Matt, I truly appreciate this and consider it an honor.

The way this award works is that you have to pick 5 blogs that you find deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

--Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

--Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

--The Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the "Arte y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award. Here it is: http://arteypico.blogspot.com/.

In the company of excellence, along with me Matt honored the following sites:

Ride to Remedy
Adopted Jane
Tricia's Musings
First Door on the Left

I am going to share my award with these beautiful souls:

People You Need To Know
Welcome Back Rosenthal
Lisa C Writes
Marriage and Beyond
Black On Campus

As it should have been, nothing particularly exciting happened on the grounds of the Wimbledon stadium. The Black tennis pros that were in action split success.

American Serena Williams advanced to the second round and Venezuelan Milagros Sequera was defeated.

Although, Serena did toss on a pretty snappy looking short trench over her tennis dress. Interesting look...I like it.

“It is definitely not athletic attire, but it is ladylike and I am very ladylike. It goes perfectly with my personality and everything else.”

“I absolutely love trenchcoats. I mean, I love coats, and I don’t know why because I live in Florida, so it doesn’t really add up.”

“It is a very lightweight fabric. It is woven so it has a little give in it as well. On the inside it is stitched with gold. It has a little give on both ways. It is very movable, it is very light, it is delectable.”

"It is definitely kind of retro-inspired; buckles on the wrist, the waistband tie. You can tie it or button it. Now I have a wonderful white coat I can wear on the court and also, you know, in New York for those rainy days,”

Americans Venus Williams, James Blake and Donald Young, and Frenchwoman Stephanie Foretz will be in action today.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- French Open semifinalist Gael Monfils withdrew from Wimbledon before the first round Monday because of inflammation in his right shoulder.

The 22-year-old Frenchman was replaced in the singles draw by Serbia's Ilia Bozoljac, who was due to play Australian Chris Guccione later Monday.

Monfils said he risked long-term injury if he played because the inflammation has been bothering him for a long time.

"I think now with more experience I'm sad, but still, I know it's the right decision,'' Monfils said. "So I stay confident in my decision and I'm not worried about it -- because I know it will be a couple weeks, but still will be good after.''

The 26th-ranked Monfils, who lost to Federer in the French Open semis, could have faced Federer in the third round at Wimbledon.

Between them they boast no fewer than nine Wimbledon singles titles, but the buzz surrounding defending champions Venus Williams and Roger Federer ahead of this year’s Championships is rather curious. Williams, seeded seventh, is blithely viewed as a bona fide contender; perhaps as a consequence of years of near perfection, Federer’s time at the top seems to be under harsh review.

Apart from a semi-final showing at Bangalore, Williams’ best performances in her 14-7 win-loss match record this year have been three quarter-final efforts, at the Australian Open, Miami and Rome. But, by virtue of her sometimes surprising exploits at SW19, including Championship wins as the 14th seed in 2005 and 23rd seed last year, nary an eyelid is bat when the four-time champion is mentioned among the very favourites. The fact she hasn’t competed at any lead-in tournaments is also considered of little consequence: Williams has won the title before on the back of similar preparation.

By contrast, Federer’s patchy year has some charging the once invincible Swiss has begun the inevitable decline. True, by his standards, a 37-8 win-loss record is less than stellar, and Federer concedes to being “rattled” by the illness that got his season off to a bad start.

But, upon closer inspection, apart from not winning the Australian Open, this year has not been that different to last: Federer’s match record up to this point in 2007 was 30-5, including a couple of real upsets. Federer won his fifth title at Halle in Germany last week, and was a finalist in three clay court events (Hamburg, Monte Carlo and the French Open). Perhaps the biggest difference was the bruising defeat at the hands of Nadal at Roland Garros a few weeks ago; last year the final in Paris was much closer.

In any case, both champions will put the speculation behind them when they walk through the gates at SW19 for their first matches. “It’s always extremely exciting coming back as the defending champion,” Williams said. “It’s nice to have the memories from last year all kind of flowing into this year. Coming to a tournament where you have a really good record, obviously that gives you confidence.

“But mostly I think about, what is it going to take this year and what will I have to do well this year? How will I have to adjust? How is the grass playing? What challenges do I need to overcome? I just really focus on what’s at hand. There’s really no magic to it. It’s just about playing the best.”

Williams described playing first on Centre Court on Tuesday, the traditional preserve of the holder of the Venus Rosewater Dish, as “the ultimate honour in tennis”. She also won’t be fazed for a beat that her opponent will be a British player, Naomi Cavaday.

“I can’t predict that,” she smiled when asked if she was worried the loyalties of the crowd, usually great supporters of the American, would be split. “The fact that I’m playing a woman from here, I don’t necessarily put that into the equation. Hopefully I have some fans out there who will want to see me bring in the win.”

Of her title chances, Williams added: “I know that I’m gonna have to work for it. I’m willing to pay that price. Ultimately the best player will win. I’m gonna aim for that to be me. I think the grass works for me, so I don’t have to change too much.

“I’m not thinking about my outfit… I’m all about the little yellow ball.”

If Williams wasn’t giving much away about her rivals – “obviously she’s playing well,” she offered of top seed and new world No.1 Ana Ivanovic – it was a subject Federer was less able to avoid. Too much has been whispered and written for that. Indeed, while the Swiss champion insists he is now feeling as good as ever, even the great Bjorn Borg has dared to rate him only his third pick for this year’s title, behind Nadal and the man he beat in a thrilling final at Queen's Club two weeks ago, Novak Djokovic.

Of course, Federer’s grass court winning streak of 59 matches remains intact: the last time he lost on the surface was at The Championships in 2002, when he fell to Mario Ancic in the first round. But the question remains: have his rivals narrowed the gap on his most beloved surface?

“It’s a tough call because we play on grass so little,” Federer said. “I mean, they had a good Queen’s, Rafa and Novak, so it shows they can play on grass. But they didn’t need to prove that to me by playing well there. I saw that last year and the year before and the year before. I know what good players they are.”

Pointing to clay court specialist David Ferrer’s title run on the green stuff in Holland last week as evidence of a shift in the men’s game, Federer added: “Today you see it more and more, that actually guys can play on all surfaces. [Ferrer’s win] maybe wasn’t something that was possible to believe in five or ten years ago.

“Today it’s different. Guys that are on the top, I really feel they can play on all surfaces. Baghdatis, Hewitt, Murray, Roddick, Nalbandian, all these guys are also the favourites again for Wimbledon this year,” Federer said.

And, whatever the naysayers think, Federer still has goals; still rates himself the man to beat this fortnight.

“I think grass really favours my game because of my ability to move, the way I defend, the way I use my shot selection,” he said. “I haven’t lost in such a long time on grass. Obviously my confidence is really, really high. Then again, other players are around, to really challenge me. That only motivates me.

“It’s a huge year for me, going for my sixth. I hope I can also match Pete’s record of seven Wimbledons. That’s what my focus is.” That, and getting his campaign off to a flying start against the Slovak Dominik Hrbaty on opening Monday.

“What other people and players say I cannot control,” Federer said. “Maybe some people talk a little too much sometimes.”

The ultimate man of action has spoken.

MEN'S DOUBLES

Final Round

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Jamie Murray, GBR
defeated by
Bruno Soares, BRA and Kevin Ullyett, ZIM
2-6, 6-7(5)

GENTLEMEN'S SINGLES*

Round 1

James Blake, USA vs. Christophe Rochus, BEL

Gael Monfils, FRA vs. Chris Guccione, AUS

Donald Young, USA vs. Jesse Levine, USA


*Eliminated during Gentlemen's Singles qualifying rounds:

Scoville Jenkins, USA
Josselin Ouanna, FRA
Nicholas Monroe, USA


GENTLEMEN'S DOUBLES

Round 1

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
vs.
Simone Bolelli, ITA and Andreas Seppi, ITA

Gael Monfils, FRA and Mischa Zverev, GER
vs.
Chris Haggard, RSA and Lovro Zovko, CRO


LADIES' SINGLES*

Round 1

Venus Williams, USA vs. Naomi Cavaday, GBR

Serena Williams, USA vs. Kaia Kanepi, EST

Stephanie Foretz, FRA vs. Maria Sharapova, RUS

Milagros Sequera, VEN vs. Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP


*Eliminated during Ladies' Singles qualifying rounds:

Alexandra Stevenson, USA
Angela Haynes, USA
Mashona Washington, USA
Raquel Kops-Jones, USA


LADIES' DOUBLES

Round 1

Venus Williams, USA and Serena Williams, USA
vs.
Tatiana Poutchek, BLR and Anastasia Rodionova, AUS

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
vs.
Timea Bacsinszky, SUI and Alize Cornet, FRA

Stephanie Fortez, FRA and Camille Pin, FRA
vs.
Anabel Medina Garrigues, ESP and Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP

Mashona Washington, USA and Su-Wei Hsieh, TPE
vs.
Yaroslava Shvedova, RUS and Tamarine Tanasugarn


The Mixed Doubles Draw will be available on June 27.
The Juniors Draw will be available on June 27.

MEN'S SINGLES

Semifinal Round

Gael Monfils, FRA defeated by Ivo Karlovic, CRO
7-6(4), 7-6(4) freaky!


MEN'S DOUBLES

Quarterfinal Round

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Jamie Murray, GBR
defeated
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, ESP and Fernando Verdaco, ESP
6-4, 4-6, 10/8


Semifinal Round

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Jamie Murray, GBR
defeated
Marcelo Melo, BRA and Andre SA, BRA
6-4, 7-5


SINGLES

Round 2

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated Lester Cook, USA
6-2, 6-3

Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated by Michael Yani, USA
7-6(2), 6-4


Quarterfinal Round

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated by Greg Jones, AUS
2-6, 0-6


DOUBLES

Quarterfinal Round

Marcus Fugate, USA and Joel Kielbowicz, USA
defeated by
Nathaniel Schnugg, USA and Kaes Van't Hof, USA
7-6(3), 6-2

Phillip Simmonds, USA and Travis Rettenmaier, USA
defeated by
Strahinja Bobusic, AUS and Greg Jones, AUS
6-3, 7-6(5)


SINGLES

Round 2

Ellah Nze, USA defeated by Kristie Ahn, USA
3-6, 6-7(5)

DOUBLES

Quarterfinal Round

Tiya Rolle, USA and Nathalia Rossi, BRA
defeated by
Shikha Uberoi, Ind and Kim-Anh Nguyen, USA
5-7, 3-6

Landmark multi-million dollar "Looking for a Hero?" campaign to be rolled out across 75 countries over next 18 months and feature over 30 players

LONDON, UK - The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has unveiled the television and print creative for its landmark global advertising campaign to the international media at an exclusive screening at the Charlotte Street Hotel in London.

The 60- and 30-second television advertisements are the pinnacle of the Tour's multi-million dollar, pioneering global marketing campaign which will also include print and digital advertising, along with viral and community generated elements. In all, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour expects to invest $15 million in the campaign over the course of the next three years. Over thirty players took part in the film and photographic shoot for the campaign which took place at various locations in Rome, Italy, at the start of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in May 2008.

In this single largest commitment to promote the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players in the history of the Tour, a world-class creative team was assembled and led by WPP Group (Grey, Schematic, GCI Group) and renowned commercial director Matthieu Mantovani. The advertisements ask the question 'Looking for a Hero?' and bills the Tour's players as superheroes both on and off the court. The focus of the first round of the creative is to both elevate the star power of the Tour's athletes and to drive awareness of the Tour's end of season Sony Ericsson Championships, in Doha, Qatar, where the top eight singles players and top four doubles teams in the world compete for one of the most prized crowns in the sport.

Larry Scott, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour said: "This is a thrilling moment in the history of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Never before have we planned, created and invested in a marketing campaign of this magnitude. The multi-platform campaign in many ways crystallizes how far we have come as a sport over the past five years, and everything we mean when we speak about the star power of our athletes and the excitement of women's professional tennis. I'm delighted and proud of the way the players have bought into the campaign. It's a huge testament to their professionalism and commitment to the growth of the game."

Serena Williams, one of 10 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour stars who appears in the television commercial said: 'Women's tennis is a premier sport for all women athletes, and I think it was a great opportunity to have the best athletes, female athletes, get together and be a part of such a wonderful advertisement. I was really happy to have an opportunity to be in it. I was more than excited to do it."

Commercial Director, Mantovani said: "Once I first received the brief my inspiration was to demonstrate the energy and high-intensity lives of these modern, successful, professional women. They possess amazing physical gifts on the court, but equally so off the court in lives that are provocative, glamorous and aspirational in so many ways. It is perhaps simple to point to features from the film world which helped shape and grow that vision but, for me, stylistically, elements of 'Charlie's Angels', 'Ocean's 11" and ' Mission Impossible' are reflected in this campaign."

Aldo Liguori, Sony Ericsson Corporate VP and Head of Global Communications & PR, said: "The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has made considerable developments since we partnered with the Tour in 2005 and this is one of the most ambitious and dynamic. We at Sony Ericsson have supported the campaign since its conception and are delighted to see the vision and hard work finally come together in such a creative manner."

The first phase of the campaign, including TV, print and digital elements, will begin to run globally beginning at the end of August 2008 through the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2008 in November. The campaign's second phase will launch at the start of 2009 and continue throughout the season.