Black Tennis Pros

Italy is hoping the Williams sisters decide to skip the Fed Cup final in November. Either way, though, the 2006 champions plan to host the United States in the best-of-five series on the slowest clay they can find.

"I hope the Williams sisters don't come," Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "If they do come, we'll try to beat them. It's not impossible on clay. (Flavia) Pennetta has already beaten Venus more than once."

The 14th-ranked Pennetta beat Venus Williams twice last year _ including a victory at the French Open _ although Venus won their last two meetings.

Italy beat Russia 4-1 and the United States edged the Czech Republic 3-2 in the semifinals last weekend. The Williams sisters _ Venus and Serena _ skipped the trip to Brno, and Fed Cup rookies Alexa Glatch and Bethanie Mattek-Sands lined up for United States captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

The Nov. 7-8 final immediately follows the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, and Barazzutti expects the Williams sisters to play there. Italy would like to host the final in the south to play outdoors on slow clay to soften the impact of the Williams sister's fierce groundstrokes.

"We're definitely going to play on clay _ very slow clay _ and if possible, outdoors," Barazzutti said. "First we need to determine if we can play outdoors, then we'll choose the most uncomfortable setting possible. Uncomfortable in the sense that it suits us and not the Americans."

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As a player, Zina Garrison was known for her speed. She was pigeon-toed, not at all imposing. But when she was on the other side of the net, there seemed to be four Zinas, one for every corner of the court.

In her own way, she was a pioneer among African-American female tennis players, sandwiched between Althea Gibson, whom she befriended in the last years of the legend's life, and the Williams sisters. In fact, she was a bit of a prequel to Venus and Serena Williams, emerging from Houston's inner-city public courts to become a junior national champion who rose to as high as No. 4 in the world.

Unlike the Williamses, Garrison never won a Grand Slam singles title. Yet she won 14 singles and 20 doubles titles, finishing with a solid 587-270 singles record. Her personal highlight reel features a 1989 triumph over Chris Evert in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, a win that sent Evert into retirement. Then there was Garrison's run through Wimbledon the following year. She eliminated French Open champion Monica Seles in the quarters and the world No. 1 Steffi Graf in the semis before losing to friend and mentor Martina Navratilova in the final.

Now comes the flipside – an ugly lawsuit against the USTA alleging racial discrimination in the organization's treatment of Garrison in her five-year tenure as Fed Cup caption.

Captain Garrison was 5-5 in Fed Cup matches and never reached a final. But there were highlights there, too. Just maybe not enough for the USTA, which chose not to bring her back at the end of 2007. They let her coach one more year, giving her a No. 2 "coach," Mary Joe Fernandez, who was also publicly announced as her successor. Last year, in essence, Garrison wasn't even a lame duck. She had no legs.

Race suits are never pretty, even when they are clear, easy and incontrovertible – which this one isn't. Most often they disintegrate into he said/she said affairs, where both sides are ultimately bruised. Or they're settled and only the lawyers win.

This isn't the USTA's only brush with alleged racial discrimination. It is also being sued by former administrator Marvin Dent in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Dent, who is black, alleges he was bypassed for the position of director of tennis at the National Tennis Center in favor of Whitney Kraft, who is white. Dent also alleges a pattern of discrimination at the USTA, which it has denied.

Three years ago, the USTA entered into a consent decree with New York's attorney general that forced it to create an open process for hiring chair umpires. That followed a suit by two black umpires, alleging the USTA allowed racist comments directed toward African-American umpires. The decree lasted two years.

Garrison alleges unequal treatment relative to her counterpart, U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe – specifically unequal pay and unequal resources. She also argues that while she was never given more than one-year deals, Fernandez, with as much coaching experience as me, was signed for three years out of the box – and at a salary higher than Garrison's, the lawsuit alleges.

Garrison claims that the USTA may seek to justify Fernadez's deal by saying she is required to take on additional public duties.

But perhaps more disturbing are the alleged comments attributed to Sara Fornaciari, the Fed Cup chair. If true, they embody the underlying thread of racism that still must be eliminated.

Garrison alleges in the suit that Fornaciari "routinely referred to Garrison as the 'Black Ghost,' to impugn Garrison's reliability."

At a Fed Cup semifinal in Stowe, Vt., in July 2007, Fornaciari allegedly told Garrison after a media interview: "That was the most intelligent media comment I have ever heard you give."

Garrison took it to imply that she was "generally inarticulate and stupid," according to the suit.

In August that same year, Garrison alleges that Fornaciari told her to go to a tent at a USTA sectional event because she might "get a lot of minority business." Garrison says in the suit she was "troubled by the implication that she could network only with other minorities."

Some of the allegations may seem benign, but they tugged at Garrison, who writes that she later called Fornaciari to say she was unhappy with the tone of her comments.

"In response," says the suit, "Fornaciari launched into a vitriolic attack against Garrison and other African-Americans, including the Williams sisters. She told Garrison she was trying to 'help' her, stating, 'Let's face it. You can't talk. Nobody ever knows what you are saying.' "

Garrison challenged the tone of Fornaciari's remarks, but Fornaciari, according to the suit, "became irate and announced in a loud and angry tone, 'I will never speak to another black person again.' "

The USTA would not make Fornaciari available but had a statement:

"The USTA takes all allegations of discrimination seriously and takes pride in its numerous diversity initiatives and achievements," USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said.

"The USTA elected not to renew Ms. Garrison's Fed Cup captaincy based on her performance, and strongly denies any allegation of discrimination asserted by Ms. Garrison.

"During Ms. Garrison's five-year tenure as captain, the United States Fed Cup team did not advance to the Fed Cup final, its longest drought in the competition's 45-year history."

The suit also alleges that Garrison was also blamed for not being able to regularly recruit the Williams sisters, the two top American players, to play the Fed Cup (more than once, one or both of them would commit to playing, only to be sidelined by injury, which the suit alleges the USTA viewed with suspicion); and that in replacing Garrison the USTA wanted a "public face" and concluded she did not have "the look" it wanted for the team.

Like some other sports, and numerous corporations, the USTA likes to tout its "diversity initiatives," whatever they may be. That's all well and good, but when the words from the men and women charged with leading these initiatives and their enterprises represent the antithesis of what those initiatives aim to achieve, it tells me we still have a very long way to go.

And some places are not getting there fast enough.

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Phoenix resident Bethanie Mattek, the third-highest ranked American woman in the world, will make her Fed Cup debut alongside Liezel Huber, the world’s No. 1 doubles player, Jill Craybas, and fellow first-time Fed Cupper Melanie Oudin when the U.S. faces Argentina in the 2009 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas quarterfinal February 7-8 at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz.

The best-of-five match series begins on Saturday, February 7 with two singles matches and is followed by two reverse singles matches and the doubles match on Sunday, February 8. Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. The U.S. won its last home Fed Cup tie in last year’s quarterfinal against Germany at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club in La Jolla, Calif.

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Entry #1 - Thursday, April 17
Entry #2 - Wedneday, April 23
Entry #3 - Thursday, April 24
Entry #4 - Friday, April 25 (and #5)

Entry # 6 - Sunday, April 27

Today I asked the team to play every point and I thought all the players did a wonderful job of doing that.

Vania played great and it was really nice to see Ahsha win her match against Vesnina. Ahsha served unbelievably well and I think it was amazing that she was able to keep her serve on that level for the whole match. That kind of serving is a high level for anyone and is Grand Slam material.

The doubles match was a lot of fun and it was nice to see Liezel and Vania pull off a win. All of the girls were into it and it was a good show from a fan’s and coach’s point of view.

We found out this morning about 10:15 a.m. at practice that Kuznetsova and Chakvetadze were not going to play singles and instead Zvonareva and Vesnina were playing. I was not too surprised as I had a feeling yesterday that it might happen.

It has been an amazing experience the past five years leading the U.S. team and this is now my last tie as U.S. Fed Cup Captain.

Looking back, one tie that stands out for me is when we played Belgium in 2006 because a lot of the staff and I got sick with some kind of bug. It affected about 13 of 20 people on the trip and it was the sickest I had been in a long time. Luckily, however, most of the players were fine.

And in the past five years I have coached so many different players. I have had a little bit of everyone on my teams from the Grand Slam champions like Venus, Serena and Lindsay to the young ones. And I have had the pleasure of watching so many players, like Vania and Madison, grow up.

Source

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Entry #1 - Thursday, April 17
Entry #2 - Wedneday, April 23
Entry #3 - Thursday, April 24

Entry #4 - Friday, April 25

There were no surprises at the draw ceremony today with the Russian lineup. Vania will face Anna in the first match tomorrow and then Ahsha plays Svetlana.

Vania and Anna played the first match last year in Stowe, which Anna won. I think Anna was playing extremely well in that match, however, I think Vania is playing much better now than she was then.

Then it will be Ahsha’s first Fed Cup match and it is going to be interesting to see how she handles everything. Ahsha and Svetlana have never played but they have similar styles. They both have big forehands, bomb serves and as far as power is concerned, they are very strong.

World rankings do not always tell the whole story about how good a player is. There could be a lot of reasons why someone is ranked where they are such as lack of playing time due to injury. Ahsha had a knee injury right after she had such a great US Open in 2007 and jumped up in the rankings - that takes away some momentum right there.

For tonight, the players are all getting together and having their own private dinner. I like to let them have fun, relax and just get ready the night before play starts.


Entry #5 - Saturday, April 26

In Vania’s match today against Anna, I thought a couple points here and there and Vania would have won. Immediately after the match, as we were walking back to the locker room, I told her, ‘That should have been your match.’

In the second match, Ahsha faced Svetlana and you know Svetlana is going to play well. It (clay) is one of her favorite surfaces, she plays well on it and she is a Grand Slam winner. And Ahsha realized she could actually stay with her.

The score does not indicate how close the match was - there were really good points in there and it was not like Ahsha got blown off the court. If someone looks at the scores, it looks like she got blown away but it was actually a pretty good match.

I was very proud of both Vania and Ahsha today. They did just what we asked – they went out and played their hardest.

Tomorrow, Vania and Svetlana play first. I told Vania for tomorrow, ‘When you have opportunities, you have to take them.’ Anytime you play a top ten player you are only going to get one or two opportunities here and there. Top ten players are not missing often so when they do, you have to take advantage of those chances.

Tonight, the girls are all in good spirits. They know they went out there, tried their best and laid it all on the line.

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It was 1980 when the USA produced one of the biggest sporting shocks of all time, the so called "Miracle on Ice" when the U.S. ice hockey team, largely made of up of collegiate and amateur players, pulled off a 4-3 semifinal win on their way to the gold medal at the winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

Victory here in Moscow in this Fed Cup by BNP Paribas semifinal wouldn't top that achievement, but it wouldn't be too far off. Such was the surprise back then a movie was made of the feat, one that U.S. Captain Zina Garrison admitted to being one of her favourites of all time.

Whether or not they can draw any kind of inspiration from that remains to be seen but it’s the Russians that will begin this tie as firm favourites to reach a fourth Fed Cup final in five years.

Without either Williams sister or Lindsay Davenport, who fell ill whilst playing in Charleston last week, the opening tie will pit World No. 115 Vania King up against Russia's No. 2 singles player Anna Chakvetadze. Second up Ahsha Rolle, who is making her debut in the competition, faces the daunting task of meeting Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The full schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Saturday
Vania King, USA vs. Anna Chakvetadze RUS
Ahsha Rolle, USA vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS

Sunday
Vania King, USA vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS
Ahsha Rolle, USA vs. Anna Chakvetadze RUS
Liezel Huber/Vania King USA vs. Elena Vesnina/Vera Zvonareva RUS

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Entry #1 - Thursday, April 17
Entry #2 - Wedneday, April 23
Entry #3 - Thursday, April 24

I thought we had a great practice today. It has been good that the Future Fed Cuppers, Alison and Coco, have been able to really mix in and play with the team. Liezel has been teaching them about doubles and Vania and Ahsha also had great practices today.

I’m still trying to figure out what lineup the Russians will announce at the official draw ceremony tomorrow. Dinara Safina is on the list (of players) but we have not seen her yet. Vera Zvonareva is here (as well as Elena Vesnina) though so we are trying to figure out who will play. However, I’m pretty sure that they will still have Kuznetsova and Chakvetadze in No. 1 and No. 2 singles.

Vania played Chakvetadze last year in the semifinals in Vermont. Chakvetadze won that match and I know Vania is a true competitor and would like to bounce back strong.

And I am saying to each one of the girls that you go out there and give it your best and above all, you have to believe in yourself.

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Entry #1 - Thursday, April 17
Entry #2 - Wednesday, April 23

Since we arrived in Russia, I think our team has had some of the best practices since I have been U.S. Fed Cup Captain in the respect that our “Future Fed Cuppers”, Coco Vandeweghe and Alison Riske, are also practicing with the players.

Liezel Huber has been amazing. Besides being a great player, she is like a coach on the court at the same time. Ahsha Rolle and Vania King have also had very good practices and it has been a really great team atmosphere. I think it helps that a lot of girls are the same age or around the same age and know each other.

My lineup for this weekend is pretty much set already. It's going to be Vania and Ahsha in singles and Vania and Liezel in doubles. Madison has already had a lot of great practices but Ahsha has more experience and Madison is still a little young. And I like the fact that I have made a decision on the lineup ahead of time.

Tomorrow we are practicing in the morning at the Luzhniki Sport Arena and then Liezel and Vania will play doubles in the afternoon. We will also play some singles and then we have the official dinner at night.

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Round 1 - Singles

Gael Monfils, FRA vs. Fernando Verdasco, ESP*
*Monfils defeated Verdasco 7-5, 6-4


Round 1 - Doubles

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
vs.
Jose Acasuso, ARG and David Ferrer, ESP






























Baton Rouge Pro Tennis Classic, Baton Rouge, LA

Round 1 - Singles

Scoville Jenkins, USA vs. Kevin Kim, USA*
*Jenkins defeated by Kim 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 4-1 Retired

Josselin Ouanna, FRA vs. Tim Smyczek, USA


Round 1 - Doubles

Phillip Simmonds, USA and Tim Smyczek, USA
vs.
Josselin Ouanna, FRA and Gary Lugassy, FRA

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U.S. Fed Cup Captain Zina Garrison will be writing a daily blog from Moscow as she leads the U.S. team of Liezel Huber, Madison Brengle, Vania King and Ahsha Rolle against Russia in a Fed Cup Semifinal tie April 26-27. Come back each day to read Captain Garrison's thoughts exclusively on USTA.com.

It is a great developmental opportunity for the players who are going to Russia. Mary Joe Fernandez, U.S. Fed Cup Coach, and I talked about it and we decided to take this direction (with these players) since she is coming in next year as Fed Cup Captain. I wanted to make sure that Mary Joe had input, as they are players she will be working with next year. We talked long and hard about it, and I also spoke to Jean Nachand, Director of Women's Tennis with USTA Player Development.

I’m really looking forward to spending time with Liezel and getting to know her a little better. It is a great opportunity for the other players to be around someone who is at the top of her game right now. We’re going to Russia and playing people who are at the top of their game. I am just going to keep reinforcing to everyone, you never know. You go out and play your game and let things fall as they may. I’ve been giving some thought to the lineup and I think it will probably be Liezel and Vania in doubles. I’m a little more confident with Vania in the doubles spot because I’ve had her there before.

Madison has been a “Future Fed Cupper” before so she knows the atmosphere and she knows me. Ahsha has never been in this situation before, but I thought she had a great US Open last year and that she would be a good person to select. Vania was also a Future Fed Cupper. I think this will be a great opportunity for the developing talent that is coming up.

This is my last year as captain so it’s a natural thing to think about what I’m doing next. I’m going to train to become a life coach. I’ve always been a great motivator, that’s been my asset and this is something I have been dipping in for quite some time. Specifically, I want to be a sports life coach and I start my first class today. I’m pretty excited about that and hopefully in about six to eight months I will have my first client. I’m going to partner with Jackie Joyner-Kersee and we think we will be a good duo to help athletes - to help the young ones, the ones at the college level, etc. just understand the steps you have to go through to become an athlete, the steps you need to take to maintain it and then when you retire, what you have to do next.

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American Lindsay Davenport must have been singing the classic "I can see clearly now the rain is gone....." as she came out on day two of Fed Cup play with a vengeance. Davenport played reversed singles today against Germany's Julia Goerges. Goerges was defeated 6-1, 6-2.

Davenport looked much better today, a lot more focused and aggressive than she was on Saturday in her loss to Lisicki.

Next up was Ashley Harkleroad, whoo, whoo whoo!!

This is Harkleroad's first effort in Fed Cup play and has she made a mighty contribution. Harkleroad saved the day on Saturday by winning her match against Malek, and brought the third win in today against Lisicki, thereby securing the next round of Fed Cup play for the USA. Way to go Ashley!!

It's on to the semifinals for the USA.

In the post match interview a jittery Harkleroad stated "I'm just happy that I could come through today.....(laughing) Well, right now I guess I'm 2 and 0 in Fed Cup so ahhh, I think that it's going to give me a lot of confidence coming out of here.

"I'm just truly excited to be here and be able to play."

When asked about how she would feel if Venus and or Serena Williams decided to play Fed Cup, more than likely her shot at going to Russia wouldn't be that strong, how disappointed would she be, Harkleroad stated "I wouldn't be disappointed at all, that means I can just continue to play tournaments and work on my ranking."

Whether she goes to Russia or simply continues to play on tour, Harkleroad has stormed her way into Fed Cup play and left her mark in 2008.

In the final rubber, Lisa Raymond and Lindsay Davenport won their doubles match 6-0, 6-2.

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This is the scene at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in La Jolla, California today.

Fed Cup play between the USA and Germany was of course, delayed until Monday. The rain did stop for a period of time, but organizers decided to hold off play until tomorrow.

This delay could be a blessing in disguise for the USA, giving the veteran on the team, Lindsay Davenport, a bit more time to get it together after her surprising loss to Germany's Lisicki on Saturday.

Tomorrow will begin the reverse rubbers (matches) with Lindsay Davenport playing Malek and Harkleroad facing Lisicki.

Come on ladies, get it together. USA, USA, USA!!!

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The USA is even with Germany in the first day of Fed Cup play.

American Lindsay Davenport did not have a good day at the office at all. Davenport experienced her first loss in Fed Cup play since 1994.

Sabine Lasicki of Germany had an easy time bringing in the first match for her team. Lasicki defeated Davenport in straight sets 6-1, 7-5.

Davenport's game was lackluster and error filled just as it was when we last saw her during her loss to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open. Davenport still seems so unsure of herself. She has not regained her dead-on shot making, or the ability to dictate the pace of the game.

The next match was American Ashley Harkleroad and Germany's Tatjana Malek. Much to my surprise Harkleroad came out on the money and took the match to Malek. Harkleroad defeated Malek 6-1, 6-3. PHEW!!!

Here are some excerpts from Davenport's post-match interview:

DAVENPORT: It wasn't happening for me today.

I was definitely not ahhh, seeing the ball as early as I wanted to and getting on top of the shots. At the same time the balls were comin', especially the serves were comin' so hard, I was never really on top of a rally. Ahhh, but luckily I got a little bit more warmed up, got a little bit more aggressive, but still just never felt like I was dictating or hitting the ball as cleanly as I would have liked. Some of that is definitely related to ahhh, footwork and getting in position. And obviously a lot of that has to do with the shots she was hitting to me, and me not being in position.

Q: Lindsay, can you remember the last time you came out and started so flat?

DAVENPORT: (groans) I have a hard time remembering the last time that, you know, a match went so one sided against me, a match that, ahhhh, you know, hopefully that's been my strength, is to take control of so, but ahhhh, hopefully that'll change.

Q: Any particular reason why today?

DAVENPORT: No, I don't know. I've had a great week of practice. I thought I was hitting the ball well. Ahhh, I don't know why. I think, I wish I did, and I'll have to figure out a reason tonight so it doesn't happen again tomorrow. Ahhh, but, you know, so far in the comeback I had been playing very well up until just very recently.

So, hopefully I can get my game back on track and, and start playing the kind of tennis I need to play to be successful.

Q: Lindsay, this is a followup to that. Any indication in your warmup that this would not be a good day?

DAVENPORT: No, I warmed up well, so ahhh, no, just some days it happens. You go out there, you're flat you're not hitting the balls you want to hit, ahhh, and unfortunately for the U.S. team, it was me today. And like I said, I think we, by no means feel we are out of it, we're obviously hoping to go one all into tomorrow. If we're down 0-2, ahhhh, you know, we still ahhhh, we still have a chance. so we look forward to hopefully a good day on Sunday.

Q: Is there something to be said perhaps for things coming maybe a little bit too easily for you since your comeback? If this match had been when you first came back maybe it would have been a little expected?

DAVENPORT: I don't know, I mean I was definitely, you know, a lot of people were talking about, you know, the U.S. dominance in Fed Cup. But I, I definitely thought that this was gonna be a tough tie and I was saying that all week. Ahhhh, I don't know, I mean, I was, it's so hard, it just happens. So, it's too hard to be too analytical about it right now. I mean, all I can say is that, you know, I tried. I did not play my best, and I get to try and go out there tomorrow and rectify that situation.

Hopefully, like I said, it's still enough for the U.S. team. But, obviously I feel bad for my teammates, and I'm hoping that it's just a little set back and not a huge bump in the road.

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Former world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport will headline for the United States' Fed Cup team that will meet Germany in a quarterfinal next week in La Jolla, California. The best-of-five tie will be staged outdoors at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club from February 2-3.

U.S. Captain Zina Garrison announced that Davenport would be joined on the team by 34-year-old Lisa Raymond, 22-year-old Ashley Harkleroad and 26-year- old Laura Granville. The German team, captained by Barbara Rittner, will feature Tatjana Malek, Julia Goerges, Sabine Lisicki and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

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