Black Tennis Pros

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrates after taking out Switzerland's Roger Federer in the 2011 Wimbledon Championships Men's Quarterfinals.

Roger Federer

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the first player ever to overturn a two-set deficit and beat Roger Federer in a Grand Slam match in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Wednesday. The Frenchman demonstrated all his flair and power as he rallied to defeat the six-time champion 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court.

"For me it's just amazing," said Tsonga. "The feeling is like maybe beating
[Rafael] Nadal in Roland Garros, so it's just amazing. And for me it will be, for sure, one of the best memories in my career anyway."

"I felt so good on the court. I was quick. I was just perfect today. Every time I was feeling like a dream. Even at two sets down, because I was in the quarter-finals again Roger Federer. The stadium was full. I was not ridiculous. I was in my match. I'm the kind of player who likes these big moments. So I hope I will have some more."

Federer had commanded a 178-0 record when winning the first two sets in a Grand Slam match, and had only previously lost a two-set lead in five-set matches twice before in his career. The first instance came against Lleyton Hewitt in the 2003 Davis Cup semi-finals, before David Nalbandia repeated the feat in the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai final.

World No. 19 Tsonga is through to the semi-finals at Wimbledon for the first time, having fallen to Andy Murray in the 2010 quarter-finals at the All England Club. The Frenchman made his major breakthrough at the 2008 Australian Open, where he beat Rafael Nadal to reach his first final before finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic. Two years later he reached the semi-finals in Melbourne for the second time, when he was beaten by Federer in straight sets.



For a place in the final, Tsonga will face World No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who ended Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic's dream run with a four-set win.

Tsonga takes a 5-2 career lead into his eighth clash with Djokovic. Their last meeting came in the 2010 Australian Open quarter-finals, when Tsonga prevailed in five sets.

The Le Mans native had advanced to the last eight for the loss of just one set, against Grigor Dimitrov in the second round, but suffered from nerves in the early stages against Federer and paid the price as too many unforced errors saw him surrender his serve in the second game. Federer did not relinquish the lead, saving one break point in the fifth game but was otherwise dominant on serve as he closed out the opener.

Both players settled into a high level in the 47-minute second set, in which neither player was able to break serve. In the subsequent tie-break, Federer seized the initiative, racing to a 5-0 advantage before closing out the seemingly commanding two-set lead with a forehand winner.

The coach-less Tsonga did not let his head go down, though. Instead, the Frenchman stepped in to attack Federer and broke the Swiss’ serve for the first time in the match in the third game after converting his third opportunity with a forehand winner on the run that caught the edge of the line. Federer looked to repair the damage in the latter stages of the set, twice holding a 0/30 advantage on the Tsonga serve in the eighth and 10th games. He was unable to build further, though, and Tsonga’s comeback began as he clinched his third set point with an unreturned serve.




The 12th-seeded Tsonga swiftly built on his momentum, going after a Federer second serve in the third game of the fourth set and breaking down the Swiss’ defences with a blistering forehand winner. Solid on serve, Tsonga coolly went on to level the match with a love service hold in the 10th game.

With Federer reeling, Tsonga took full advantage, bullying the 16-time Grand Slam champion with his booming forehand and drawing a crucial error in the first game of the fifth set to gain an early service break. Federer would earn no chances to regain the break, and Tsonga went on to close out victory in three hours and eight minutes.

"I served just unbelievable," assessed Tsonga. "I feel really confident on this shot. I hope it will continue. It is difficult to play against him because you don't know exactly what he's thinking, what's happening in his head. He has all the time the same behaviour, and it's difficult because he plays so fast. You don't know if he's scared or not, and it's really difficult. I didn't look at him. I was just focused on me, on my serve, and that's it."

Tsonga is the fifth Frenchman to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals in the Open Era, following Henri Leconte (1986), Cedric Pioline (1997), Sebastien Grosjean (2003-2004) and Richard Gasquet(2007). Pioline went on to become the only Frenchman in the Open Era to reach the final (l. to Sampras). The last Frenchman to win the title was Yvon Petra in 1946.

"It's always a tough match to lose today," said Federer, who also lost in the quarter-finals last year (l. to Berdych). "But I think Jo played great. Really from start to finish I don't remember seeing a break point after I broke him in the first game. But I was close. I had all my chances. He came up with some good stuff. So it was tough. I'm actually pretty pleased with my performance today. It's kind of hard going out of the tournament that way, but unfortunately it does happen sometimes."

The 29-year-old Swiss was looking to win his first major title since the 2010 Australian Open, and claim a record-tying seventh Wimbledon crown.

“It's the second year running that the talk has been about me equalling Pete's seven Wimbledons. I didn't feel that makes it particularly special. I love equalling any record Pete has made, but it's not the driving force behind my motivation really. I love Pete. It's always nice doing stuff that he did. But at the end of the day I'm trying to win a tournament.”

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Venus Williams may have only played two tournaments this year but she was quickly into her stride in her bid for a sixth Wimbledon title, producing astonishing tennis to see off Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3, 6-1.

Williams, who turned 31 on Friday, took exactly an hour to sweep aside the unseeded Uzbek, who simply had no answer for the American's powerful baseline game. Apart from Eastbourne last week, Williams had not played a tournament since the Australian Open at the start of the year. There she was forced to retire in the third round with a right hip injury against Andrea Petkovic.

The lack of action had led her to tumble down the rankings and arrive at Wimbledon as the 23rd seed, an unusual position for one of the two sisters who have dominated the Championships over the past decade and more.

But despite that less than perfect preparation, Williams remains among the favourites for the ladies' singles crown and, as she opened the tournament on No.2 Court, it was clear to see the American was enjoying every moment of being back in the Wimbledon limelight. Her opening service game to love was perhaps an early indicator of the way the match would pan out and she could not help but smile as she quickly found her feet on the lawn she loves so much.

As usual there was equal interest in what one of the sport's enduring superstars was wearing and Venus - always with one eye on entertaining the fashionistas in the Wimbledon crowd - did not disappoint, with a rather unique, chic chiffon playsuit.

The outfit's delicate appearance was the polar opposite of her game as she employed her trademark aggressive play, drilling winners down the line and cross court. Serves were hammered down at 117mph. There was certainly no sign of the abdominal injury that forced Williams sister to miss 2011 Roland Garros - the first major she had been absent from since the 2007 Australian Open.

Williams reached the quarter-finals of Eastbourne last week, where she lost to Daniela Hantuchova and that timely run of grass court matches had clearly helped her on her way to the sparkling tennis she can so readily produce once she strides on to the lawns of the All England Club.

Williams brushed aside her opponent - ranked 97 in the world - with ease and the spectacular serving she employed at the start of the set continued throughout the match. By the ninth game, two aces and another 117mph serve helped her pocket the first set in 35 minutes.

This form continued in the second and while her opponent had been working hard to stay in the rallies early on, her game slowly began to fall apart. Williams made only five unforced errors throughout the entire match, hit 23 winners and fired down seven aces.

But is it possible for a competitor to win the tournament despite deing seeded as low as 23rd? Williams should know: she arrived at the 2007 Championships with the same seeding after another injury-affected year and finished as the champion. For some true competitors, it's not where you start that matters, it's where you finish.

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Serena Williams will return to Centre Court almost exactly 50 weeks after she won her fourth Wimbledon title, opening her 2011 campaign against France's Aravane Rezai.

Williams, seeded seventh after the withdrawal of Kim Clijsters, won the opening match of her comeback in Eastbourne before losing out to Vera Zvonareva in a repeat of last year's Championships final, and will be closely monitored when she plays her first match on Monday.

The former world No.1 has faced the talented Frenchwoman just once in competition, rallying from a set down to defeat the current world No.56 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the pre-Australian Open tournament in Sydney in 2010. And so Rezai will not be a cakewalk for the four-time Wimbledon Champion, especially given the latter's lack of match fitness.


Sitting alongside Williams in the top half of the draw is current world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, who will open her grass court season against Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja, the world No.107. Wozniacki, who comes into Wimbledon with 17 titles under her belt in what has still been a relatively short career, will once again be the focus of much attention on the lawns of SW19 as she attempts to win her first Grand Slam title.

But in order to do so, she will have to contend with Maria Sharapova, her opposite number in the top quarter of the draw. Viewed by many as a favourite for this year's title, Sharapova is deemed to have finally fully recovered from the shoulder injury that has blighted her for the past two years, and comes into Wimbledon fighting fit and full of confidence at what is one of her favourite Grand Slams. She opens against fellow Russian, world No.50 Anna Chakvetadze.

Should Sharapova triumph, she will face the winner of world No.77 Angelique Kerber against former junior Champion Laura Robson, awarded a wild card into The Championships this year. Fellow Brit Heather Watson, who broke into the top 100 last week, is also in the top half of the draw, meeting world No.64 Mathilde Johansson, as is British No.1 Elena Baltacha, who plays a qualifier. Emily Webley-Smith faces Klara Zakopalova.


French Open champion Li Na joked that she would be forgotten in China if she doesn't do well at Wimbledon, and so she should be pleased at a first-round match up with world No.70 Alla Kudryavtseva. But danger lies in the prospect of a second round meeting with the in-form wild card Sabine Lisicki, quarter-finalist at The Championships in 2009, who won the warm-up event at the Edgbaston Priory Club last week.

Ana Ivanovic, who plays American Melanie Oudin, Marion Bartoli, who meets a qualifier, and Agnieszka Radwanska, who will face Olga Govortsova, are other notable names in the top half of the draw.

2010 finalist Zvonareva occupies the top spot in the bottom half of the draw, as the No.2 seed, and will open against talented American Alison Riske. The world No.118 broke onto the scene at last year's AEGON Classic in Edgbaston, qualifying and powering her way to the semi-finals, so could provide a brief speed bump for the Russian. Last year's surprise semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova is also in Zvonareva's section, as is five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, seeded at No.23. Williams meets Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan in the first round, with Britain's Katie O'Brien or the ageless Kimiko Date-Krumm a potential second-round opponent.

Speaking of British players, Wimbledon will be guaranteed at least one "local" in the second round as former British No.1 Anne Keothavong and wild card Naomi Broady meet in the first round. The winner could play Petra Kvitova, the exciting Czech prospect who battled her way to the 2010 semi-finals, in the second round. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic also feature in the lower quarter of the draw's bottom half.
2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone could have a handful to deal with when she takes on Jelena Dokic, no stranger to causing an upset at SW19, while 2010 Eastbourne winner Ekaterina Makarova against highly-touted American Christina McHale is certainly one to watch.

The in-form Daniela Hantuchova meets a qualifier, while fourth seed Victoria Azarenka, the highest seed in the third quarter, will have to get past Magdalena Rybarikova.Witty German Andrea Petkovic, talented youngster Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and shock 2010 quarter-finalist Kaia Kanepi are other seeds to watch out for.

The bottom half of the women's draw are scheduled to play their first-round matches on Monday, with the top half due to commence on Tuesday.

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EASTBOURNE, England — Venus Williams took delayed revenge for a match she had to abandon nearly five months ago by beating eighth seed Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 at Eastbourne on Monday.

The unseeded Williams carries a number 32 world ranking after last competing on January 21 in the Australian Open third round, when she had to quit after one game against the German due to an abdominal injury.

Along with her sister Serena -- out for the past year following her 2010 Wimbledon title due to a cut foot and blood clot issues in her lungs -- Venus is making a low-key warm-up for Wimbledon, which starts in a week.

"It was definitely an adventure today: the conditions, falling down every other point," said Williams.

"(It was great) just coming back from such a long layoff, competing against someone who has been playing so well in the last 12 months.

"There was definitely a lot going on out there, but I was extremely excited to come back with a win."

Petkovic went a break up in the first set but could not hold it as the experience of Williams, who turns 31 on Friday, paid dividends.

The world number 11 German salvaged the second set to level the match after clawing back a break from Williams, only for the American to raise her game in the third set to secure a comeback victory in two hours and 35 minutes.

"It was very interesting when I drew her," said Williams, who last played Eastborne 13 years ago. "It was a tough match for her, because I'm kind of a floater right now.

"Normally she would probably get through the first round. That was a little bit of bad luck for her, but for me it was a great opportunity.

"It felt fitting in a way, very ironic - but a great way to start it all off."

Williams next plays the winner of the match between German Julia Goerges and former world number one Ana Ivanovic of Serbia at an event featuring seven of the WTA top 10.

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Serena Williams looked relaxed at Eastbourne as she prepared to play her first competitive tennis since winning the Wimbledon crown last year.

Her hair streaked with Wimbledon purple and wearing a striking pair of stripy leggings, Serena and sister Venus brought excitement to a normally sedate tournament on the south coast.

When the sisters compete in the AEGON International next week, it will also be Venus's first competitive tennis since the Australian Open in January.

The pair hit for an hour each on an outside court at Devonshire Park. Venus was up first before then taking pictures of her sister on her phone and signing autographs for the dozen or so people watching.

Serena looked in particularly good form, amazing for someone who had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from her lung in March.

Both looked in decent physical shape as they were coached by father Richard, though Venus, with a strapped right wrist, took a tumble on the damp grass.

The venue will take some getting used to for the world stars, with the changing rooms' basic facilities in some old squash courts and rain forecast for much of next week.
Eastbourne was alerted about the sisters' participation by a confidential email which arrived in the middle of the night last Saturday.

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga provided little more than a sparring session for Roger Federer before the Swiss turns his guns on Andy Murray – and the exciting young Frenchman does not think much of the Scot's chances.

Federer was so totally in control after a brief tussle at the start that the scoreline of 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 disguised his dominance. He outserved Tsonga, he toyed with him from deep and at the net, he found little challenge in any but his few brief attacks in the first set and, generally, left feeling as good about his game as it is possible for the world No1 to feel.

If he played like that in the final, Tsonga was asked, was there anyone who could beat him? "I think ... nobody," he said.

What could Murray do to stop Federer? Longish pause, then: "I don't know, I don't know."

Did he have any advice for Murray, then? "Advice? Be ready to run."

If that is not a depressing report card for Murray as he works out a game plan for Sunday, nothing is. It reflected reality, too.

Federer was, as the Australians say, awesome. And he barely got out of third gear. From the moment he broke Tsonga in the first set the match turned from contest to punishment. Tsonga developed a stitch or some sort of stomach complaint when he found himself stuck deep in the trenches, but Federer was not concerned about the quality of his opponent or his hunger for the fight. This was a result, pure and simple.

"I didn't expect something even close to this kind of scoreline," Federer said. "The crowd was rather on the quiet side towards the end because they were also a bit surprised how fast it went."

The great man was fed a couple of sycophantic lines, and bit. Yes, he agreed, that he might be at "Federer-plus" now. "I'm hitting the ball well. I'm not panicking. Jo is a talented player, with a lot of potential. I'm sure we're going to see much more of him in the future. This is probably the last easy match I have against him.

"[There was] no wasted energy, that's for sure. I was very surprised the way the match went. He's got great potential, but tonight maybe he let his head hang a bit."

What of his motivation, though? With a record 15 grand slam titles to his name, would it be an effort to get himself up for a 16th? "I spent three weeks here," he said, "and I don't want to just give away a match. So, I will make it as hard, as tough as possible, for my opponent. I'm really where I want to be. Being back in a grand slam final is always an amazing thrill for me."

En route, it provided a frisson for Tsonga, one that passed in the blinking of an eye as a genius blurred in front of him. Federer's is in phenomenal shape. He has struggled briefly earlier, but this semi-final fine-tuned his tennis to threatening levels of all-round competence. Murray has his work cut out.

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MELBOURNE — Venus and Serena Williams coasted to their 11th Grand Slam doubles title on Friday when they beat top seeds Cara Black of Zimbabwe and American Liezel Huber to be crowned Australian Open champions.

The American pair won 6-4, 6-3 for their second successive Australian title and their fourth overall in an 86-minute victory over the 2007 winners.

They also won here in 2001 and 2003.

Both pairs had almost identical winning records over the early rounds but the Williams sisters dominated the final, easing to a comfortable win.

However, the actual moment of the victory caught Venus by surprise, as she had not realised it was match point and was taken aback by Serena's sudden unbridled delight.

"I actually didn't know the score and I thought that it was 5-2," she said with a laugh. "I thought, she's really happy about this break.

"I thought, wow, I've never seen her this happy, but I'll go with it."

Serena, who plays Justine Henin in the singles final on Saturday, said their success as a doubles combination made them wish they had teamed up earlier.

"We were talking today about how we wished we had have played more when we were, you know, younger," she said.

"We still feel like we have so much we can win and just stay focused. We just love being out there and we love the competition.

"More than anything, we really have fun, we smile and we enjoy it."

The sisters are now the third most successful women's doubles partnership in the Open Era, after Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver (21 Grand Slam titles), and Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva (14).

They have now won four of the past six Grand Slam doubles titles.

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In a real display of mind over matter, the heavily bandaged and obviously fatigued World No. 1 Serena Williams pressed on to a straight sets victory in Thursday's semifinal match against Li Na of China. Talk about the walking wounded!

The hallmark of this champion is without question fortitude. Clearly bandaged, admittedly not in her best form and playing doubles with sister Venus as well, has presented a challenge to the younger Williams sister that few could meet. Yet Serena continues to not only show up and press on... she's winning.

One day after a hard-fought comeback win that sent Belarusian Victoria Azarenka home, Serena steadied herself and her game sufficient to dismiss the woman who defeated sister Venus the previous day.

Taking the match 7-6(4), 7-6(1), Serena toiled against the very fit shot making Li Na who should have won the match given her opponents limitations. As the match went on Serena seemed to be encouraged and strengthened by her ability to hang into the match. By the end she was pumped and ready for whatever came across the net.

After her inspiring performance Serena said, "I am happy I was able to pull it out, it was really close. I wasn't at my best today but I'm still here, which is shocking, and I'm just going to do whatever I can to stay."

A few hours afterwards Serena joined sister Venus for their doubles semifinal match against American Lisa Raymond and Australian Rennae Stubbs. The sisters defeated the ladies 6-3, 7-6(8/6) and set up a final against American Liezel Huber and Zimbabwe's Cara Black, the same team they met in 2009's final.

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Let's start with one of my favorite Americans, Venus Williams... it was such a rough day at the office, to say the least, for her and her fans. Venus came out and whipped all kinds of tennis beat down on China's Li Na in the first set, to the tune of 6-2, it was merciless.

At the end of that set it pretty much became a foregone conclusion that Venus would more than likely be headed for a meeting with younger sis Serena in the semifinals. Then, the very weird and strange occurred, the second set.

Somehow, someway... Venus managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it was an unbelievable spectacle. Not only did her game fall apart right before our very eyes, Li Na was playing like she had just discovered tennis also. And yet she... won? With a score of 2-6, 7-6(7/4), 6-2 Li Na joined the elite of the grand slam semifinal.

There was truly no real winner of this match, only an outcome, it was depressing. Somebody please cue up the song "Mama said there'll be days like this..."

It was so difficult to watch Venus so out of sorts in an element of her life where she knows such perfection.

Post match Venus said that it was a bit early to really make a determination of what went wrong, but when asked about returning she stated, “Absolutely [I’ll be back]. I really love this tournament ... Like I said so many times before, if I would have, you know, kind of gotten involved in what people said I would have never left the ghetto. So here I am playing pro tennis, playing well. The sky's the limit in this sport.”



Next up was American Serena Williams who very unfortunately appeared to be continuing what big sister Venus started, defeat. Although there was a very distinct difference in the matches. Serena's opponent, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, came to play. Unlike Li Na, Azarenka's game was on point and taken to Serena with everything necessary from the onset. Azarenka was a real force in the first and second sets, so long as Serena didn't utilize her super powers.

Down a set at 4-6 and 0-4 in the second set as well, it looked as if the Williams sisters were history at the 2010 Australian Open. And then, unfortunately for Azarenka, Serena opted to use her super powers: conviction, iron will and absolute refusal to go down without a fight.

Once invoked, we saw Serena turn Azarenka's well-earned lead slowly chipped away until Serena had taken the second set in a tie-break. We all knew that it all over for Azarenka at that point. Primarly because we've seen Serena do this time and time and time again. It was a thing of beauty.

In the post match interview Serena said, “I’m surprised. I’m just happy to still be here. I didn’t expect to win when it was 0-4. I was like, ‘oh well, at least I’m still in the doubles’.”

When asked about Venus's loss she said, "Yeah, I just try not to think about it too much. It was obviously on my mind. Just tried to do what I could ... obviously I was incredibly disappointed. Yeah, just try not to deal with it."


What can you say, what can you say, what can you say? Tsongaaaaaaaaaaa!

Wow... what a performance, and boy did we need it after the first three quarterfinal matches. This lived up to every expectation and more. Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Serbian Novak Djokovic provided a well contested, great shot making, fabulous rallies, down to the wire match - great stuff.

In a re-match of the Australian Open 2008 final – which Djokovic won in four sets – Tsonga recovered from a disastrous third set before gaining confidence against his increasingly ragged opponent, triumphing in five sets for the second match in a row by a scoreline of 7-6(8), 6-7(5) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.


Speaking on court after the match, Tsonga said that he felt like he could keep going. “I think I was just in a good form, I might be better than him (in the end). He played unbelievable in three first sets, he was amazing. Finally I won, and I am happy with that.”

Tsonga will take on world No. 1 Roger Federer in the semi-finals after the Swiss champion ousted No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko in four sets earlier on Wednesday. Tsonga said he was hoping to use the crowd’s energy to assist him during the daunting assignment.

“Yeah, I will be ready, I hope you (the crowd) will cheer for me a bit,” he joked.

“It’s going to be tough, because he’s the best player ever.”

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Try as he may, Frenchman Gael Monfils was not able to raise his level of play sufficient to overcome the game of American John Isner. Isner barraged Monfils with 26 aces to pull off a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6(7-5) upset.



American doubles team of Venus and Serena Williams continued there AO doubles success defeating Ioana Raluca Olaru of Roumania and Olga Savchuk of the Ukraine 6-1, 6-2 to advance to round three.

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American Raquel Kops-Jones, partnered with Great Britain's Sarah Borwell, did not enjoy the same success. They were knocked out by Argentine Gisela Dulko and Italy's Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-2.

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