Black Tennis Pros

Venus Williams played Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinal round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Venus Williams was enjoying a very spirited and competitive run at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open. Unfortunately, in her ninth meeting with Germany's Angelique Kerber, Venus was eliminated from the quarterfinals 6(3)-7, 3-6.

Venus is currently scheduled for the upcoming Miami Open March 18-31.

"I want to thank you for everything you gave me this week"

Thank you, @Gael_Monfils 👊#BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/tjCw4J1snv

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 15, 2019

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Naomi Osaka's title defense ended with a trouncing from the No. 23 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.  In 65 minutes, Bencic blew through the match taking Naomi out at 6-3, 6-1... WHOA!!

This is the second event that lead Bencic to defeating a World No. 1. In 2015 Bencic defeated Serena Williams and went on to win the Toronto Rogers Cup.

With today's loss Naomi will continue to retain her World No. 1 ranking through Miami.

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Venus Williams into the quarterfinals at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells.

Venus Williams proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she remains a fierce competitor on the WTA Tour at 38 years old. The legendary one went toe-to-toe and then some with Germany's Mona Barthel who also had some impressive moments during the match. Venus defeated Barthel 6-4, 6-4.

Venus has reached the quarterfinals at this event 3 times, and was into the semifinals in 2018.

Next up for Venus is the winner of the match between Angelique Kerber and Aryna Sabalenka.

Time and time again, @Venuseswilliams proves age ain't nothing but a number 👊 #BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/EHSfpELfPm

— WTA (@WTA) March 13, 2019

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Félix Auger-Aliassime’s desert days come to a end in three epic sets in the third round of the #BNPPO19, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(5) to Nishioka.
It was a brilliant run and surely just another step on the road to the top for the 18 year old. 👊#FélixRising pic.twitter.com/N4GFMbXDzo

— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) March 12, 2019

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Frenchman Gael Monfils into the fourth round of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open

ATP Tour - Gael Monfils’ resurgence continued on Monday in Indian Wells, as the 18th-seeded Frenchman defeated Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-0, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The 32-year-old, who advanced to the semi-finals in his past three events, is now 14-3 in 2019. He captured his second ATP 500 trophy in February at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

Thanks to his early-season efforts, World No. 19 Monfils is back inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since July 2017. He will face a stiff test in the next round against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber.

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2019 BNP Paribas Open 3rd round contender Venus Williams takes out fellow American Christina McHale.

The 2019 BNP Paribas open becomes more watchable with every match in which the legendary Venus Williams prevails. There will never be any forgetting of the power, precision and dedication that she brought to the game when she originally hit the pro circuit, and to see her effect any measure of her tremendous talent in 2019 is pure joy.

In a relatively balanced match against American Christina McHale, Venus exercised a level of shot placement throughout the match that lead her to a 6-2, 7-5 win.

Next up for Venus is World No. 97 Mona Barthel of Germany.

Keep it movin' Venus!!

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Serena Williams leaving court after retiring from 3rd round match against Garbine Muguruza.

Serena Williams retires after the first game of the second set while being affected by something curtailing her ability to play. 

Playing against World #20 Garbine Muguruza of Venezuela, Serena began the match quickly getting to 3-0, giving all the appearances that she came to seriously compete. Unfortunately she slowly began to play with less effect and called for the trainer until she eventually retired.

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Saturday, March 9, 2019 - Gladys Knight watches Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova play in the 2nd round of the BNP Paribas Open in Stadium 1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. (Jared Wickerham/BNP Paribas Open)

BNP Paribas Open - Empress of Soul and Williams sisters’ superfan Gladys Knight has long been a tennis devotee. Not only does the Midnight Train to Georgia singer, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and winner of seven Grammy Awards revel in watching the sport, she plays it often, too. BNPParibasOpen.com caught up with the Pips’ frontwoman in Indian Wells.


What is it about tennis that draws you to the sport?

I love the fact that it has the element of exercise, for me, because I need to keep it moving! [Laughs.] This game has helped me so much. The competition of it is something that I really respect. On top of that, what the players have to go through to get prepared, to get fit, the thought process. Am I going to hit it left, am I going to hit it right? All of those things are exciting to me. It’s just so fun to watch.

Can you relate to that? Because you’ve got to put in a lot of preparation when you’re recording, performing.

Absolutely. The preparation is just as strenuous in our industry. You’ve always got to be fit. As far as your material is concerned, you have to be very specific about who you’re performing for, where you’re performing. I’ve been blessed to travel all over the world. It’s been an amazing journey for me. Tennis, for some reason, brings all kinds of people together. When you look around at a tennis event, you wonder why the rest of the world can’t get it right. Nobody’s out there talking about this person, that person, where they’re from, how they look. That’s another thing I admire and respect about this sport.

I think I know the answer to this already, but who do you go out of your way to watch?

Now you know it’s got to be Serena and Venus. [Laughs.] I’ve been on those girls since they were knee high. The family connection that they have — it was the same in my family. My mom and dad, aunties and cousins, grandmothers. It’s a great thing to come together around that. They’re pushing you into higher plateaus because of their support. Their whole family is involved. Their mom was some player, too. She’s so laid back, Oracene. The public doesn’t know a whole lot about her. They know their dad, Richard. But they don’t know the strength of their mom. Ooohh, she’s got it going on. We’ve been doing this for many years, supporting each other. They come to my concerts, I go to their matches. That’s what it’s all about. Tennis is just an amazing journey.
Monday, March 4, 2019 – Serena and Venus Williams talk during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. (Michael Cummo/BNP Paribas Open)

Is Venus and Serena’s story underplayed?

Let me tell you one thing as far as family is concerned. That’s one of the things I love most, even though they are amazing athletes, is that it was a family affair. That’s how I got to be what I am and who I am today. I’ve been singing since I was four. Like them. They were just toddlers playing around on a tennis court. My mom was right there to teach me. She didn’t speak the language, but she taught me to sing Ave Maria in Latin phonetically. That’s the same thing that Venus and Serena’s parents did. You do it like this, you do it like that. They were respectful enough of their parents to follow those rules. Look at them now. I love these ladies. I think that’s the one thing that so many artists and celebrities have missed, that their parents sometimes see things a lot better.

They overcame the odds coming out of Compton, California, climbing to the top of this sport.

Absolutely. The same with me. I lived in Atlanta, Georgia. People were still marching, trying to have freedom. As we grew up, we came to know about those things. Because of our culture, sometimes when we go outside of our genre, our communities, you get teased. I know I did. I’m sure they did, too. Like the way they wore their hair. They teased them about it. We ain’t trying to be you — we just want to play tennis. Don’t tell me about beads in my hair! They were strong enough, respectful enough, to move to where people could be comfortable without really giving up their culture. I love those girls.

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Naomi Osaka and Kristina Mladenovic post match.

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - Top seed Naomi Osaka got her BNP Paribas Open title defense off to a winning start after earning sweet revenge against Kristina Mladenovic, 6-3, 6-4.

The memory of the pair’s most recent meeting would have been fresh on Osaka’s mind - two weeks ago the World No.1 was stunned by Mladenovic in her opening match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, falling in straight sets to give the Frenchwoman the biggest win of her career.

Next up for Naomi will be American Danielle Collins.

Full article here.

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Venus Williams in 2019 BNP Paribas Open post-match interview.

Great match Venus Williams!!

Having been one of the 2018 BNP Paribas Open semi finalists, here at the 2019 tournament Venus Williams has maintained her fight and prevailed over World #3 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win.

In a 2 hour 27 minute match, with not one single ace, Venus managed to either keep Kvitova at bay, or come back from a single and double break down.

In her post-match interview she stated, "I think everybody felt those ups and downs with me, I could feel the collective sigh, or the collective roar, it's unbelievable, I never want to let you down".

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Venus Williams ended a roller coaster match today against Germany's Andrea Petkovic with words of wisdom during her post match interview saying, "Every day is not your best day out here, but it doesn't mean that the heart and desire isn't there".

Venus, currently ranked at #36 on the WTA Tour, had a rough day at the office at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA. Nonetheless, whether it was fatigue, or otherwise, she was able to work her way through winning the first set at 6-4, but then turned around and lost the second set 0-6, she then returned to sufficient form to take the third set and match at 6-3.

Hopefully Venus will be able to maintain form in the next round, as she is scheduled to play a great competitor in the Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova.

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The 18-year-old from Montreal crushed Cameron Norrie of Britain 6-3, 6-2 in the first match on centre court on Thursday at the ATP Tour Masters 1000 event.

Auger-Aliassime, ranked 58th in the world, had 20 winners — 12 more than the 48th-ranked Norrie.

The Canadian got 80 per cent of his first serves in and had the same percentage for first-serve points, well above Norrie's 59 per-cent success rate on the latter stat.

Auger-Aliassime converted on all three of his break-point opportunities and won all his service games.

The result continues an impressive stretch for Auger-Aliassime, who moved well inside the top 100 for the first time in his career after making the final and quarterfinals, respectively, in his past two events on clay in Brazil.

Auger-Aliassime will next face No. 9 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who got a first-round bye. The 20-year-old Tsitsipas made headlines in Toronto last year when he advanced to the final of the Rogers Cup.

No. 13 seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and No. 24 seed Denis Shapovalov will join Auger-Aliassime in the second round after getting first-round byes.

On the women's side, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., was scheduled to play a first-round match later Thursday against Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., had Thursday off after winning her first-round match on Wednesday.

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It's @Naomi_Osaka_'s world and we're just living in it 🌎#BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/g86C06FdcT

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 6, 2019

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Congratulations are in order for Donald Young, as the American has secured a wild card into the main draw of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open.

The fourth event in the 2018-2019 Oracle Challenger Series is underway at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and Young clinched one of the two men’s wild cards by advancing to the third round of the tournament and taking the leaderboard lead with 80 points going into his third round match against Lloyd Harris. Yong’s admirable run, coupled with several American losses yesterday, have cemented his claim to a main draw wild card into the 2019 BNP Paribas Open.

Full article here.

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Donald Young, Jr. In 2019 Oracle Challenger Series

 (Oracle Challenger Series) In a three-set tiebreak victory over World No. 267 Thai-Son Kwiatowski, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), World No. 214 Donald Young kepts his wild card hopes very much alive. By securing a second round appearance at Oracle Challenger Series Indian Wells, Young is guaranteed at least 5 ranking points which, when added to his current total of 70, places him even with fellow Americans Roy Smith and Reilly Opelka, neither of whom are playing the Indian Wells event.

A seasoned player who has spent 15 years on the ATP Tour, Young, who was once ranked as high as World No. 38, is no stranger to the BNP Paribas Open and hopes to capitalize on Oracle’s unique tournament format to earn himself a wild card.

Up next for Young is number 10 seed and World No. 122, Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland.

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American Taylor Townsend

(Oracle Challenger Series) In a highly-anticipated WTA matchup vital to determining who will earn the wild cards into the main draw of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, No. 9 seed Taylor Townsend took on fellow American Sachia Vickery on day two of play in Indian Wells. It was Townsend who came out on top, besting Vickery in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 in a match that took just over an hour to play.

Townsend is coming off of a strong performance at the Oracle Challenger Series Newport Beach just last month, where she reached the quarterfinals in singles and was a doubles finalist alongside partner Yanina Wickmayer.

Holding 29 points on the Road to Indian Wells Leaderboard coming into the week, she will give herself a chance to earn one of the wild cards into the 2019 BNP Paribas Open if she can have her best Oracle Challenger Series performance yet.

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