Black Tennis Pros

Hey guys!!!

I want to amend my press statement of yesterday, and want to make it clear as possible - I want to sincerely apologize FIRST to the lines woman, Kim Clijsters, the USTA, and tennis fans everywhere for my inappropriate outburst. I'm a woman of great pride, faith and integrity, and I admit when I'm wrong.

I need to make it clear to all young people that I handled myself inappropriately and it's not the way to act -- win or lose, good call or bad call in any sport, in any manner.

I like to lead by example. We all learn from experiences both good and bad. I will learn and grow from this, and be a better person as a result.

Xxxx,

S

Read the rest of this post...........

What happened Saturday during the women’s semifinal at the United States Open between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters is just another example of how Black women are still seen as threatening and hostile.

Serena Williams may be one of the world’s greatest tennis players, but don’t get it twisted, she’s still a sista who is known to be a very serious and tense player. So if she feels that she is being intentionally targeted with bad calls, she’s not going to just take it lying down. This includes challenging foot faults on match point.

Was Serena intense, yes. It was an intense moment in the match. After all, this is the U.S. Open’s women’s semifinal. Under an extreme amount of pressure, maybe it got to her. It can happen to the best of us. After all, a person can only take so much and it’s not as if the field of tennis rolled out the red carpet for her and sister Venus. From day one, the Williams’ sisters have had to fight for everything they’ve accomplished in tennis, including the continuing racism that keeps the Williams’ sisters from Palm Springs’ Indian Wells Tournament and allows for commentators to credit the sister’s “strength” and “athleticism” for their victories while their white counterparts win because they “play smart” and “have a good strategy” It’s also the reason that my hometown paper the Los Angeles Times can feel confident in reporting this latest news while using a photo of Serena Williams from the back seemingly towering over the lineswoman and gives license to every other news media outlet to have a field day.

It wasn’t that long ago that Serena Williams wrote on her blog about an incident at the German Open where she lost to Dinara Safina. She wrote that she could hear the entire players lounge “all happy and joyous” because she finally lost.

"It was funny when I lost I was in the locker room and I could hear the entire players lounge really loud like really happy and joyous. Like down goes the champ! Someone beat her!!! It was like a big hoopla…."

What ensued Saturday was nothing more than a few angry curse words that turned into Serena having to defend herself against unmade threats towards the lineswoman who was obviously suffering from a typical case of a white-woman-afraid-of-the-Black-girl syndrome. How else do you explain the lineswoman accusations of Serena threatening to kill her?

Williams could be heard saying to the lineswoman: “I didn’t say I would kill you. Are you serious?”

Yeah, are you serious?

Most Black women can relate to what happened to Serena. We get mad like everyone else. The only difference is that for some reason when white women get angry, they’re not seen as threatening as we are. Maybe it’s the expression on our face. Maybe it’s the seriousness with which we address issues when we are upset. Maybe it’s the tone of our voice. You know that “don’t fuck with me today” tone that can stop a person dead in their tracks and scares the shit out of most white people.

Like comedian Dick Gregory said about Black people’s hair, when we’re 'relaxed', white people are 'relaxed'. You could say the same applies in tennis.

Look—I’ve said nothing more than “good morning” to a white person and had that taken the wrong way. Maybe I didn’t smile big enough when I said it, I don’t know. What I do know is that I can recount the many times I have had to explain something I did or said that someone white took out of context or found “troubling.” So I am not surprised that Serena’s outburst on the court towards the lineswoman turned into a death threat.

Serena Williams is a very smart woman. She knew that when she opened her mouth to contest the call and the first curse word rolled off her tongue that there was going to be a price to pay for it and she did, she lost the match to Kim Clijsters. Kim Clijsters. It was obviously important enough to her at the time to have her say and that she did to the tune of $10,500.

What’s more of a concern to me as a Black woman is that white people recognize that we all aren’t foot stomping “aww heck!” kind of girls when we get upset, some of us are “what the fuck?” kind of girls, but that doesn’t mean that our words should be taken out of context, our actions scrutinized and then generalized to represent how all Black women act. Because come Monday morning, from Rush Limbaugh to Los Angeles’ shock jock Bill Handel, that’s exactly what is going to happen and once again Black women are going find themselves the brunt of crude and tasteless jokes meant to further demean and dehumanize not only Black women but Serena Williams.

Just ask former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney about her altercation with the the Capitol Hill police. Better yet, ask First Lady Michelle Obama who endured months of ridicule and scrutiny at the hands of the mainstream media that eventually resulted in an immediate campaign to “change” her image to a much kindlier and gentle Michelle right before the election that catapulted her husband into the presidency. And while many will say that the campaign was a success—Michelle’s image enhancement campaign, I must say that I never did quite understand what was wrong with the old Michelle.

There’s nothing wrong with Serena Williams. Perhaps when more Black women tennis players ascend to the level of the Williams’ sisters and the Women’s Tennis Association has the opportunity to interact with more Black women outside of Serena and Venus, they won’t be so afraid of the Black girls. Perhaps.


The author of Ebony Magazine’s July 2008 cover story on Serena Williams, unexpected and unapologetic, at Jasmyne Cannick, 31, is a critic and commentator based in Los Angeles who writes about the worlds of pop culture, race, class, sexuality, and politics as it relates to the African-American community. She can be reached at www.jasmynecannick.com

Read the rest of this post...........

“Last night everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job,” Williams said in the statement released by her management.

“Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while I don’t agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the situation poorly. I would like to thank my fans and supporters for understanding that I am human and I look forward to continuing the journey, both professionally and personally, with you all as I move forward and grow from this experience.”

Read the rest of this post...........

NEW YORK -- The U.S. Open has fined Serena Williams $10,000 for her tirade directed at a line judge at the end of a semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters.

It's the maximum on-site fine a Grand Slam tennis tournament can issue for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The U.S. Open said Sunday the Grand Slam Committee Administrator has opened an investigation to determine whether Williams' behavior should be considered a "major offense," which can lead to additional penalties.

Williams also is being docked $500 for racket abuse in what became a 6-4, 7-5 loss Saturday night.

"Serena Williams' conduct last night was inappropriate and unprofessional," WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster said in a statement. "No matter what the circumstances, no player should be allowed to engage in such behavior without suffering consequences. I have spoken with the USTA about this matter and I agree with the action they have taken."

Williams earned $350,000 in prize money for reaching the singles semifinals. She also is scheduled to play in the women's doubles final Monday with her sister Venus.

Williams issued a statement on Sunday night.

"Last night everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job," it read. "Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while I don't agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the situation poorly. I would like to thank my fans and supporters for understanding that I am human and I look forward to continuing the journey, both professionally and personally, with you all as I move forward and grow from this experience."

Allaster had some positive words for Williams as well.

"Serena is a great player who has done so much for our sport and I am certain she will continue to be a role model to millions of young women who want to play the game and excel as Serena has done," her statement said. "As a role model, it's important for a leader like Serena to step forward and recognize her behavior last night was unacceptable, and I believe that her statement earlier today is an acknowledgement of her responsibility to her fans."

Read the rest of this post...........

Firey player, passionate player, entertaining player, all adjectives that I've heard applied to the likes of tennis bad asses John McEnroe, Jimmie Connors, Jennifer Capriati and others over the years; but not Saturday night in the case of American Serena Williams while playing her semifinal match at the 2009 U.S. Open against Belgium's Kim Clijsters.

According to Commentator Dick Enberg, "champions don't act like that." Now, according to Wikipedia, Enberg was born in 1935, which suggests to me that he has witnessed some of the most outrageous on court shenanigans that have been displayed by champions and non-champions alike.


Earlier in the day, prior to the Williams vs. Clijsters match, CBS was ironically showing one of Jimmie Connors matches because of the rain delay. Connors was acting a stone, cold, fool! But this match was worthy of repeating to fill rain delay time.

The WTA, ESPN, CBS and whomever else owns and broadcasts women's tennis currently enjoys the silence of a multitude of tennis fans who support both Venus and Serena Williams among other tennis players and want peace, while irreverent commentators speak of them as if they are not in the room or on the court; well not on this issue. On this one I've already seen fans bringing the noise and the funk!


All implications from the commentary booth on Saturday evening were as if Serena Williams had initiated a new standard of bad behavior. Serena can't even begin to touch the behavior of some other tennis players who have built their careers on the backs of those whom they have lambasted and treated like dirt while on court.

With regard to this incident, while serving at 5-6, 15-30, the line official called a foot fault on Serena on her second serve, thus awarding Clijsters double match point, 15-40. However, Serena became upset with the call and began jawing at the official. To her misfortune, she had already been given a warning earlier in the match; which now combined resulted in a point penalty, thus costing her the match.

Post match Serena said, "I said something and they gave me a point penalty. Unfortunately, it was on match point. You know, today was a tough day. I didn't play my best. I think I had more errors today than all of my other matches combined. It was really tough for me out there."

"I think Kim played really well, and I think she came out with a really big plan. I saw her play in Cincinnati and she played incredible. It's really good to have her back on tour. Maybe we can get together and have some calming lessons."

With regard to the foot fault call, Serena said "I'm pretty sure I did. If she called a foot fault, she must have seen a foot fault. I mean, she was doing her job. I'm not going to knock her for doing her job."

It's going to be interesting to see and hear how this shakes out over the next six months or so. I've got a pretty good idea what it's going to look and sound like.

Read the rest of this post...........

Read the rest of this post...........

After fighting her way into the main draw of the U.S. Open via qualifying, American Shenay Perry was unceremoniously bounced by Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko in round two.

Bondarenko seems to be building momentum by first eliminating Serbian Ana Ivanovic in round one, and now Perry. She defeated Perry 6-1, 6-1 - ouch!

Perry had a straight sets win over Monica Niculescu of Romania in round one 6-4, 6-2.

Read the rest of this post...........

Well, while Thursday's round two match between American James Blake and Belgium's Olivier Rochus at the 2009 U.S. Open was nowhere near any of the epic precision shot-making spectacles that Blake has previously been a part of, he got the job done nonetheless.

Blake is still looking unsure of himself and as if he has forgotten how to play his best tennis; at the same time, he does seem to be building a bit more confidence and somehow, someway, found a way to defeat a very determined Rochus in four sets 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.

As a hardcore Blake supporter, I of course have every hope that this is only the beginning of what we will see him build at this Open. On the other hand, he has become as unpredictable as southern weather. Only time will tell.

Post match Blake spoke with the press and talked about his exuberant reaction after his win stating, "There are not many better feelings in the world. You showing your emotions and 15,000 people feeding off of it. It really can't be much better."

He continued, "We're all happy when the other Americans are doing well. To compare us to, or expect the same as what happened in years past, I think it's been done a million times, and I've always said I think it's a little unfair."

Whatever happens, I would simply like to see Blake dig deep and put up a fighting spirit. I personally believe that he still has the goods, whether he chooses to use them is the dilemma.

Read the rest of this post...........

NEW YORK — Serena Williams offered a new, tongue-in-cheek explanation for why she plays so much better at Grand Slam tournaments than other events.

"Maybe it pays more," she said with a smile. "I guess I'm trying to pay off my mortgage."

Defending champion Williams joined her sister in the U.S. Open's third round with a dominating victory Wednesday night, playing pretty close to perfect while beating 51st-ranked Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour.

Williams is seeking her fourth U.S. Open championship and 12th Grand Slam singles title overall. She's won three of the past four major tournaments — but she hasn't won a single nonmajor tournament in that span.

The American is trying to become the first woman to win consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since her older sister Venus in 2000-01.

The siblings could play each other in the semifinals. Venus Williams wore heavy bandages above and below her left knee while winning earlier Wednesday, eliminating Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States 6-4, 6-2.

The younger Williams played Czink at a hard-court tournament in California in July, and things were much more competitive until Williams eventually prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (7).

Why was Wednesday's encounter so different?

"I definitely made adjustments," Williams said. "I knew her game better today."

Truth be told, Czink simply couldn't handle Williams' power, like a baseball hitter whose swing is too slow to get around on a fastball and keeps fouling off pitches.

That was illustrated on consecutive points early in the second set: First, one ball flew wildly off Czink's racket and soared wide and high, so off-track and so hard that it smacked the scorekeeping gizmo off the chair umpire's stand. Next, another ball went directly sideways, nearly into the noggin of a line judge.

Williams finished with an impressive ratio of 25 winners to only nine unforced errors.

About the only glitch for Williams came midway through the first set, when she thought she had pounded an ace. Instead, the serve was waved off by a line judge, who called a foot-fault.

Williams turned and glared, setting her hands on her hips. She just stood there with a straight face for a few seconds, staring down the official. When play resumed, Williams pushed a forehand into the net, then again sent a serious look in his direction.

And on the following point, Williams smacked an ace at 115 mph and looked over once more, as though to say, "Was my foot in the right place that time?!"

"I was kind of frustrated because I hit a great serve, best serve I hit in months. Yeah, I was just like, 'Ugh!'" Williams said.

Asked about the staredown, she said: "They do play that song, 'Straight out of Compton' when I walk out."

The Williams sisters won their opening doubles match 6-2, 6-2 over Julia Goerges and Arantxa Parra Santonja, answering the questions about whether Venus would play in that event because of her sore knee.

Read the rest of this post...........

Day 3 of the 2009 U.S. Open saw Frenchman Gael Monfils in his usual and very enjoyable acrobatic style easily dismiss fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.

After being hampered by a number of injurys post the Australian Open, Monfils says that he is feeling much stronger coming into this tournament.

“Completely much better, but I think I still have a little problem with my knee and I have to make sure,” Monfils said. “ My wrist is getting better, so I’m quite good. But 100%? Not really.”

”I like to give a good show and they like to see a good show,” Monfils said. “So it’s a good atmosphere.”

Whatever the case, we always want to see more of this high flying Frenchman.

Read the rest of this post...........

NEW YORK (AP) — Seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France has breezed into the U.S. Open's second round by beating 18-year-old Chase Buchanan of the United States 6-0, 6-2, 6-1.

Tsonga was the runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open. The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam tournament at which he's never reached at least the fourth round.

Tsonga played cleanly Tuesday, making only 12 unforced errors, 24 fewer than Buchanan, who was the youngest man in the field. Buchanan was awarded a wild card by the U.S. Tennis Association as the 2009 USTA boys' 18s champion.

Post match Tsonga said, "I didn't know what to expect of him and I was wary as I remember when I was younger and had his ranking I was convinced I could beat anyone, anytime."

Buchanan, of New Albany, Ohio, was making his Grand Slam debut. He had never faced anyone ranked higher than 121st.




Josselin Ouanna defeated American Rajeev Ram 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 3-6 6-3. Up next for him is Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

Read the rest of this post...........

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Venus Williams had to dig deep to avoid one of the most shocking upsets of her illustrious career as she beat little-known Russian Vera Dushevina 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 in a first-round marathon at the U.S. Open Monday.

Williams was down a set and a service break before hitting her stride late in the match to overpower the 47th-ranked Dushevina before nearly 24,000 fans on Arthur Ahe Stadium.

"I had a lot of help from the fans here," Williams, a two-times winner at Flushing Meadows, said during a courtside interview.

"I felt so much energy from everyone when I was serving to stay in the match in the second set. It feels good to play at home."

The seven-times grand slam winner won the final three games of the second set and first four of the decider against the demoralized 22-year-old Russian.



NEW YORK (AFP) — Some odd things have happened to James Blake in his tennis career, but the 21st-seeded American never had an umpire wipe an advertising logo off his headband until a first-round US Open match on Monday.

Blake defeated Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round of the year's last Grand Slam event, but he did so without the brand-name logo of his sponsor on the headband, a rules violation.

"I didn't know the rule," Blake said. "I didn't know you couldn't have any writing on the headband or wristband. With the new logo, new design, there's always the logo. I didn't know we couldn't do that."

Blake, a first-round loser this year at Wimbledon and the French Open, was a bit perplexed at the crackdown while sponsor brands adorned most of the surrounding area at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

"I don't know why the ATP does some of the things it does, or if it is just the (International Tennis Federation)," Blake said. "A quarter-inch here, a quarter-inch there, they make all these rules.

"That's for them to deal with, the sponsors and everything. It's not my place to say."

Read the rest of this post...........

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It is unlikely that Serena Williams has ever been described as bashful.

When the 11-times grand slam champion was asked to take a look back at her U.S. Open career on Monday, she said her younger self would find the 2009 version of Serena as "super cool."

The world number two opened the defense of her title at Flushing Meadows with an easy 6-4 6-1 victory over another American, Alexa Glatch, on Monday and then quickly turned her thoughts to her memoir "On the line."

Williams said she wrote the book to help motivate people and inspire them to make the best of themselves and was asked what the 10-year-old Serena would think of the 27-year-old incarnation.

"I think that I would just think that this Serena Williams today is super cool - I would love to get her autograph," she said.

"I think she would have been my idol because growing up there weren't too many black people. I loved Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil. I would have had a little favoritism toward myself and Venus (Williams)."

The Wimbledon and Australian Open champion said the way the Williams sisters overcame childhood struggles to each become world number one should provide others with the inspiration to achieve their dreams.

"That's another reason I wrote it because I felt that what makes a champion isn't how well they do," she said. "It's about how well they can recover when they fall, or if they fall."

Serena slipped outside the top 100 in 2006 after a series of injuries, only to bounce back by winning the Australian Open in January 2007.

"I love Muhammad Ali, he went to jail for a period of time and he came back on top of the world," she said.

"I just thought (about) what it would be like. I was on top of the world and then things came crashing down. You get to see people who are really your friends and you get to see people that really stick by your side and how you can recover from that and stay strong.

"I just think anyone can do it. You just have to have a kind of guide sometimes to get there."

Serena Williams Throws Out The Ceremonial First Pitch




On Friday, August 28, defending U.S. Open singles champion Serena Williams threw out the ceremonial first pitch, working from the rubber and tossing the ball way over the head of catcher Jose Molina.

After throwing out the first pitch at the new Yankee Stadium in the Yankees vs. White Sox game, Serena headed out to the newly opened Porto Vivo in Huntington. There, Williams, her manager and her sister Isha had dinner with the restaurant’s co-owners Joy Mangano (of Home Shopping Network fame) and Philipp Seipelt, along with Seipelt's fiancee Christie Mangano.

So, what does a tennis great eat the week before the U.S. Open? Williams had steamed littleneck clams and grilled branzino, washed down with nothing more intoxicating than water. The wine cellar would have to wait.

Shown in the photo are (l-r) Joy Mangano, Serena Williams and Philipp Seipelt. Photo from Porto Vivo.

Read the rest of this post...........

While the top tour players rocked out with Will Ferrell and Jordin Sparks at the annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, a handful of US Open hopefuls were still fighting it out on the outer courts. This soggy Saturday marked the final round of qualifying, and thanks to rain delays carried over from Friday, it was a packed schedule.

Americans Shenay Perry and Donald Young and Frenchman Josselin Ouanna remained standing after it was all over. Wish it could have been more.

The matches broke down like this:

Shenay Perry, USA defeated Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-4

Donald Young, USA defeated Lukas Rosol, CZE 6-3, 6-4

Josselin Ouanna defeated Julio Silva 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Read the rest of this post...........