Black Tennis Pros

PARIS (AP) — Top-ranked Serena Williams defeated Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1 to set up a semifinal with Elena Dementieva for the third straight tournament at the Open GDF Suez on Friday.

Loit, only the second qualifier in tournament history to make the quarterfinals, broke Williams when she was serving for the first set at 5-3. Williams threw her racket on the ground but broke right back and cruised the rest of the way.

"Definitely a tricky match," said Williams, the Australian Open champion. "Definitely good to get through, you know? I don't play too many lefties.

"I definitely don't feel at my best," Williams added, "but I feel like I'm getting there."

Dementieva gave Williams her only loss of the year in the Sydney semifinals, but Williams avenged that in the Australian Open semifinals en route to her 10th Grand Slam singles title.


SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — James Blake beat fellow American Sam Querrey 7-6 (9), 6-3 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the SAP Open, setting up an intriguing meeting with doubles teammate Mardy Fish.

Blake hung on to win despite rolling his ankle with two points to go. He reached the semis shortly after Fish, his close friend and teammate, beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4, upsetting the world's seventh-ranked player.

After Fish and Blake meet in a semifinal match Saturday afternoon, they'll team up for a doubles match late that night. They won the doubles title at San Jose in 2004, and both say their games improve when they're working together.

"There won't be any hard feelings," Blake said with a grin. "There better not be any hard feelings, or there might be a serve to the back of the head. ... Hopefully, we can go out to dinner tonight, play each other tomorrow, and then go out to dinner again."