Black Tennis Pros

 
WASHINGTON (AFP) — French top seed Gael Monfils saved a match point and edged John Isner 6-4, 3-6 7-5 (8/6) in a rain-disrupted match early Sunday to reach the final of the $1.4 million ATP Washington Classic.

Big-serving American Isner and fleet-footed showman Monfils staged a classic despite a rain delay at the start and two interruptions that pushed the end to 1:15 in the morning, when Isner netted a forehand after a Monfils lob winner.

After a split with Australian coach Roger Rasheed last month following three years together and a left wrist injury that kept him out for six weeks early in the season, seventh-ranked Monfils was thrilled to reach his first US final.

"I'm very happy," Monfils said. "It's not finished, but almost a great achievement. I have had a tough year. I had an injury and a new coach. To come up strong again, it feels good."

Monfils will play for his fourth career title in Sunday's championship match at the hardcourt event against 54th-ranked Czech Radek Stepanek, who ousted American Donald Young 6-3, 6-3, in the other semi-final.

"It will be a tough match," Monfils said. "He will be aggressive. I will have to be strong from the start because it won't be easy."

Stepanek has dropped five of seven meetings with Monfils, including their most recent clash two weeks ago on Hamburg clay.

"He's moving incredibly well," Stepanek said. "He's a great shotmaker."

Isner denied Monfils on two match points in the 10th game of the third set, smashing a forehand volley winner and a 130-mph ace that Monfils appealed to video replay only to find the system had failed.

"It's frustrating because on match point, the machine goes down," Monfils said. "That's the first time that has happened to me."

In the tie-breaker, neither player took a point off the other's serve until the decider. Isner blasted a 127-mph ace to reach his lone match point at 6-5, but Monfils answered with a 110-mph ace, setting up the drama-ending shots.

"The 6-all point he hit a huge second serve, put it on the line and lobbed me," Isner said. "It was a risky shot and then I cracked on match point."

Monfils reached his first ATP final since last November at the Paris Masters event and only his second outdoor hardcourt final since 2006, the other coming last year at Tokyo. His most recent title came last October at Montpellier.

Monfils, 24, must win five matches in four days to claim a fourth career ATP crown due to rain that forced him to play twice Thursday.

Isner, ranked 35th, had won 11 of his prior 12 matches but saw his career rivalry with the Frenchman leveled at 3-3. Isner, 26, won their first meeting in a 2007 Washington semi-final that went to three tie-breakers.

Rain dogged Monfils and Isner, delaying their start, returning after they had played only seven points and striking again after Isner held to lead 5-2 in the second set, sending Monfils to talk with new coach Patrick Chamagne.

"I had the feel of his game and his serve," Monfils said. "I discussed with my coach and released all the frustration I had."

Monfils took the only break of the first set to lead 5-4 when Isner smacked a forehand wide and the Frenchman held serve with a 109-mph ace to win the set.

But Monfils netted a forehand drop volley in the second game of the second set and Isner rode the break to claim the set, the only disruption coming during a pause after a 107-mph Isner serve hit a spectator in the face.

Stepanek, the oldest player in the world's top 100 and oldest ATP finalist of the year at age 32, seeks his fifth career title in his first final since last year at Brisbane.

Stepanek, whose most recent ATP title came in 2009 at San Jose, could crack the top 30 with what he said would be the biggest title of his career.

"This tournament can give me a kick for the rest of the season," Stepanek said. "If I can make it to the US Open and be seeded, that would be great for me."

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the latest player on the ATP World Tour to pose naked... for a good cause. The Frenchman can be seen in all his glory in the June issue of the U.K.'s Cosmopolitan magazine.

Tsonga is the third tennis player to bare all in support of the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign, following in the footsteps of Spaniards Tommy Robredo and Fernando Verdasco. The Everyman campaign raises awareness of, and funds research into, testicular and prostate cancer.

Cosmopolitan features different celebrities in nude centerfolds each month to aid UK’s leading male cancer campaign. Through its centerfolds, the magazine has helped raise vital funds for the 39,000 men a year diagnosed with male-specific cancer.

The World No. 19 did the photoshoot in Monte Carlo earlier this year. In the accompanying interview, Tsonga disclosed, "On a woman, I love beautiful eyes." As for what he likes most about his body, the Frenchman revealed, "My favourite part of my body is my buttocks, but I don't like my feet."

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(AGI) Rome- Andreas Seppi has qualified for the AEGON International quarter finals. The ATP tournament is worth 462,075 euros in prize money and is being played on Eastbourne's grass courts.

In the second round, the Italian player won 7-6(1) 6-3, in an hour and twelve minutes of play, defeating U.S. player Donald Young, who had come through from the qualifying round.

The next opponent will be the winner of the match between Belgium's Olivier Rochus and Argentina's Carlos Berlocq.

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ROUND 1

WOMEN

Singles

(WC)Sloane Stephens, USA defeated (Q)Jamie Hampton, USA
6-2, 6-4

Doubles

Racquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
defeated
Julia Goerges, GER and Lisa Raymond, USA
7-6(7), 6-3


MEN

Singles

(13)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA vs. BYE

(WC)James Blake, USA vs. (Q)Chris Guccione, AUS

(Q)Donald Young, USA defeated Potito Starace, ITA
2-6, 6-3, 6-2


Injured

Gael Monfils, wrist


QUALIFYING SINGLES

ROUND 1

Women

(WC)Madison Keys, USA defeated Junri Namigata, JPN
6-4, 6-4


Men

Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated by Flavio Cipolla, ITA
2-6, 2-6

Raven Klaasen, RSA defeated Matteo Viola, ITA
5-7, 6-1, 7-6(5)

Donald Young, USA defeated Denis Kudla, USA
6-2, 7-6(4)


FINAL ROUND

Women

Madison Keys, USA defeated by Laura Pous-Tio, ESP
3-6, 6-7(2)


Men

Raven Klaasen, RSA defeated by Marinko Matosevic, AUS
6-7(4), 4-6

Donald Young, USA defeated Rudolph Siwy, CZE
6-2, 7-6(5)


ROUND 1

Singles

(WC)Alexandra Stevenson, USA vs. (5)Sesil Karatantcheva, KAZ

(WC)Alexis King, USA vs. Kristyna Pliskova, CZE

(2)Stephanie Foretz Gacon, FRA vs. (Q)Melinda Czink, HUN


Doubles

(1)Stefanie Foretz Gacon, FRA and Irena Pavlovic, FRA
vs.
Melinda Czink, HUN and Courtney Nagle, USA

(3)Ahsha Rolle, USA and Mashona Washington, USA
vs.
Katarzyna Piter, POL and Michaela Pochabova, SVK


Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Jennifer Elie, USA
Ahsha Rolle, USA

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The BNP Paribas Open announced Blake as one of their wild card recipients in saying, "American veteran and former World No. 4 James Blake, who will be seeking to conjure up memories of 2006 when he made the finals of the BNP Paribas Open. The 10-time winner on the ATP World Tour battled injuries throughout 2010, but is starting to get healthy and looking to climb the rankings."

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Marseille France - Big-hitting second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hammered 19 aces in a 7-6(9), 6-4 win over fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna to reach the quarter-finals of the Open 13, an ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tennis tournament in Marseille.

Tsonga dropped just five points on his first serve and did not face a break point. Playing just his second tournament of the year – and first match since his semi-final run at the Australian Open – Tsonga advanced to meet Belgian Olivier Rochus. Tsonga had a bye in the first round.


No. 3 seed Gael Monfils blistered 18 aces before taking the win over Italian Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3). Monfils will now face off against fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the quarters.

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This evening, in the first round, American James Blake was eliminated from the singles competition at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, Texas. Blake lost to Argentine Guillermo Canas 6-4, 6-4.

"It turned on a few key points . . . at times I beat myself out there,” Blake said. “I made too many errors. He kind of forces you into that with how well he plays defense, but there’s really no excuse for those errors, especially the ones I made at key times.

"If you expect to win matches and tournaments, you’ve got to play better on those points. I would have liked my chances if I’d gotten that last break.”

Having recently fallen out of the world's top ten, Blake is now ranked #17 on the ATP World Tour.

Photo by Getty Images

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KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)—Outgoing WTA Tour chief Larry Scott says he began thinking about leaving tennis when his proposal for a merger with the men’s tour was rejected last year.

Scott will become Pac-10 Conference commissioner this summer after six years as chairman and chief executive officer of the WTA Tour.

Long an advocate for merging the women’s tour with the men, Scott met with the ATP board of directors in December to discuss his plan.

“For a variety of reasons it wasn’t accepted,” he said Wednesday. “It’s clear that tennis, for whatever reasons, isn’t ready for that vision to be realized.

“And then I realized, you know, I’ve done most of the major things that I could want to do. And if this coming together of the men’s and women’s tours is impossible right now, maybe it is a time to think about what else I could do that could be gratifying.”

Scott’s departure on July 1 was announced Tuesday. With three small children, he said the amount of travel was another reason for his decision.

“This Pac-10 opportunity really affords me the opportunity to sort of put away my passport for a little while,” he said.

Several top players said they were sorry to see Scott leave, and they praised his leadership in the growth of the sport. The women’s tour says revenue has increased 250 percent under Scott.

“We’re all sad,” Venus Williams said. “He had a special vision and the personality and character and talents and abilities to carry it out. It takes someone special like him.”

Scott said his greatest achievement was equal prize money for men and women at the sport’s 10 biggest events, including the four Grand Slam tournaments. He said he leaves the women’s tour in good shape financially despite the recession.

“All our major revenue contracts are long-term agreements that aren’t coming up soon,” he said. “We haven’t lost any tournaments or title sponsors. I think women’s tennis is holding its own extremely well compared to other sports.”

Speaking at the Sony Ericsson Open, Scott said he favors a merger of the tours because he believes both are hurt by differences in rules, branding and sponsorship.

“The easier we make it for fans to follow tennis and understand, the more following there will be, and the stronger we’ll be commercially,” he said. “We would present the sport in a less fragmented way if it was together.

“An example: This tournament, if you’re a fan in Europe, you watch the men’s matches on one channel, the women’s matches on a different channel. That can’t be the smartest way to present the sport.”

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