Black Tennis Pros

The USTA and First Lady Michelle Obama’s "Let’s Move!" campaign have teamed up to encourage young people across the country to get active, try tennis and lead healthy lifestyles. Components of the collaboration include a new public service announcement to air nationwide, the construction and renovation of thousands of tennis courts across the country and the commitment to encourage 200,000 children to participate in the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.

"It’s important for kids to get the hour of active play they need every day, and there are so many fun things that each of us can do to be healthier," said First Lady Michelle Obama. "Thanks to programs like the USTA’s 10 and Under Tennis initiative, it’s easier than ever for kids to get active and have fun. And that’s a big part of what we’re doing with Let’s Move!, America’s campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids.

"Tennis is the sport of opportunity. With our new 10 and Under initiative, tennis is also the newest ‘pick-up sport,’ where kids can play in schools, in parks, at clubs and even at home," said Jon Vegosen, USTA Chairman of the Board and President. "Our new collaboration with the First Lady and ‘Let’s Move!’ will help us reach more families to teach them that tennis is easier to learn and access than ever before."

Working with the Office of the First Lady, the USTA is launching a public service announcement to promote tennis as part of the 60 minutes of play a day kids need. The PSA features First Lady Michelle Obama, Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf, all of whom play the role of ballpersons for youngsters playing tennis on courts and with equipment correctly sized for them. Ensuring that children compete with properly sized equipment and on smaller courts is a key component of the USTA’s new 10 and Under Tennis initiative designed to make tennis easier, more accessible and more fun. 10 and Under Tennis is real tennis brought to scale for the sport’s youngest participants, with slower-moving and lower-bouncing balls, lighter and smaller racquets and shorter courts.

The USTA plans to create both a 60-second and a 30-second version of this PSA. Initial plans call for the PSA to be used in tennis programming on CBS Sports, ESPN and Tennis Channel. The PSA will go into broader rotation during the summer months leading up to the US Open, which takes place from August 29 through September 11.

Additionally, the USTA, through its facilities assistance arm, is committed to constructing and renovating 3,000 tennis courts across the country in 2011. As part of this program, all courts that are built or renovated will be lined to enable use in the QuickStart Tennis play format. As part of a public-private partnership, the USTA will build the courts in places where local officials, public parks and schools commit to building tennis into their core programming for kids. The USTA has created a website – USTA.com/facilities – for those groups interested in applying for court construction or renovation and learning more about this major initiative. For more information on 10 & Under Tennis, visit 10andundertennis.com.

In another component of the collaboration, the USTA will use its national resources and programs to encourage 200,000 kids to take the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA), which encourages young Americans to be active 60 minutes a day, five days a week for six weeks in an eight-week period. PALA’s national goal is to get one million youngsters to take this challenge. The USTA plans to activate its National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network, which has 602 chapters impacting more than 250,000 kids, to meet this goal.

"Tennis Night in America" featuring the "BNP Paribas Showdown" on February 28 will serve as the kick-off event for the 2011 tennis season across the country. More than 600 tennis facilities will be participating in the USTA’s third annual National Youth Registration initiative, a month-long event. Tennis Night in America will serve as "opening day" for facilities to sign up children for spring and summer programs, with youth registration events around the country encouraging parents to get involved by volunteering and for everyone to learn more about tennis.

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Catch them while you can. Wave your flags. Root, root, root for Andy Roddick and the Williams sisters. Do it now. Love 'em or not, take a snapshot because they're the last of a breed, the endangered species of American tennis champions.

After them, extinct. Gone. Done. Think dodo birds.

Or so it seems right now.

Roddick has won only a single Grand Slam, and it was so long ago (U.S Open, '03) we still thought housing prices could only go up and few people outside of Hyde Park had heard of Barack Obama. But Roddick remains the No. 8-ranked player in the world, and is still a threat to boom his way to a Slam, and he's married to a supermodel.

After Roddick, the highest-ranked American men are John Isner (No. 19), someone named Sam Querrey (No. 22) and German-born Tommy Haas (No. 23), who became a U.S. citizen this year. From there you won't find another American man in the rankings until Mike Russell (No. 82) and the still popular but fading James Blake (No. 83). Isner, Querrey, Russell and Blake have won 15 singles titles (none of them Grand Slams), but 10 of them belong to Blake.

Venus and Serena? They're history in the flesh (literally, at times). Baby and Big Sister, straight outta Compton, are the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world, the first siblings to achieve such a distinction since, well, Venus and Serena did it in May 2003. They have won 79 singles titles (19 of which are Slams), plus doubles and mixed doubles Slam titles. Most importantly, they've defined this generation of women's tennis. Since 2002 when Venus first reached No. 1, seven women not named Williams have been No. 1, and yet here Venus and Serena are, still thriving, lingerie outfits and whatnot, still at the summit of the game.

Which Americans behind them might reach such a pinnacle some day? Please. No one I see carrying the red, white and blue right now. The next-highest-ranked American woman is U.S. Open darling Melanie Oudin, at No. 37. Yet we've heard nary a peep since her coming out at Flushing Meadows last fall, when she became the youngest player since Serena to reach the quarterfinals, defeating fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova en route.

Then comes Vania King at No. 69. Neither survived the first round at Roland Garros.

Among the "next" American men, only Isner reached the second round. Querrey and Russell lost in the opening round, and Blake didn't play in the tournament. (Taylor Dent, Robby Ginepri and Mardy Fish, a trio of players with lower expectations and approaching 30, also won opening matches.)

So catch The Contenders now. Roddick is just 27; Serena is a year older. Venus turns 30 in June. Physically, they should be around for at least a few more years. But fatigue and other, sexier endeavors may tug them away sooner than you know, and when it happens, tennis in the U.S. will become, well, soccer.

No, it will be worse.

As soccer, the world's most popular sport, prepares for its quadrennial global orgy, it continues to gain steady footing in the U.S. among sports fans. American Landon Donovan is certainly higher on the buzz meter than any American male tennis player not named Roddick (did I tell you he was married to a super-swimsuit model?).

Meanwhile, save for a couple of torrid weeks in the fall, and the weekends when we watch the finals of the French and Wimbledon, tennis doesn't even register a blip on our radar anymore. Interestingly, grass-roots participation in the sport has never been higher. The 2009 TIA/USTA Tennis Participation study shows that total tennis participation tops 30 million players for the first time in the 22-year history of the survey.

On the flip side, television ratings are tumbling, even for the biggest events. When Americans Andre Agassi and Serena Williams won the 1999 U.S. Open men's and women's singles titles, an average of 3.5 million television viewers watched each telecast. Three years ago, when Sweden's Roger Federer and Belgium's Justine Henin won the titles, that average had slumped to just 1.9 million viewers. (Viewership was up last year.)

The impact of an American champion is perhaps most stark at Wimbledon, which no American man has won since Pete Sampras in 2000. That year, more than 4 million U.S. viewers watched the event. By 2006, that number had plummeted to 2 million. Even with a slight uptick since, the audience has remained below 3 million. Interestingly, American women (or rather, a Williams) have won eight of the past 10 Wimbledon singles titles, though it has not been enough to stem the overall decline in viewership.

Clearly, without Roddick and the Williamses to at least make us care, tennis stands poised to fall behind soccer in popularity in the U.S.

Oh, sure, someone could always have a moment of greatness. Any of our upstarts could snatch a magic carpet and ride it to a Slam final, maybe even a title. But who's the next Roddick, who won his Grand Slam at age 21 or the next Williams, who captured their first Slam singles titles at 20 (Venus) and 18 (Serena)?No one.

Why?

Let's face it, we stink at tennis. Really stink. Despite the USTA's best efforts (or worst, depending upon whom you're talking to) to discover and nurture the next generation of tennis stars, officials simply cannot manufacture greatness. Not when the sport has become more niche than even golf, which has Tiger Woods (don't laugh), Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim and other Americans who are a threat to be in the final pairing on any given Sunday.

Just recently, tennis icon John McEnroe announced he was opening an academy in New York. He shuns the "total immersion" model used by most of the more noted academies and is modeling his program after the one in Port Washington, N.Y., that helped build his game. Gifted players play regularly, but attend school independently from the academy. In other words, they have a life. He also hopes to draw kids from areas of the city, such as Harlem and Brooklyn, that have not traditionally been sown for tennis stars.

"People feel, put the kids in the middle of nowhere, isolate them, so all they can do is live and breathe tennis," McEnroe told The New York Times. "Me, I went to Florida with Harry Hopman, at 15 or 16, for one day and said, 'I've got to get out of here.' Never would I have made it if I had to do that. It would have been a form of torture."

I know the argument that our best athletes are playing other sports -- even relatively minor but booming ones like lacrosse. But can't we find, say, 10 kids (five boys, five girls) who can play this game at the highest level?

Sadly, no. The only kids picking up tennis racquets these days are kids whose parents play, and that's just not enough to produce champions.

And without champions -- or even potential champions -- our interest in the sport will continue to wane, especially as even the popular top foreign players like Federer, Rafael Nadal and Sharapova begin to fade due to time or injury.

Too bad. With names such as Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Don Budge, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Chris Evert and others so much a part of America's past glory, it's sad that tennis no longer gives us a thrill. But it happens.

It's happening. Faster than we know. Roy S. Johnson, a veteran sports journalist and media consultant, is the editor-in-chief of Men's Fitness. His blog is Ballers, Gamers and Scoundrels.

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By Andrew Dampf (AP) -- Top-ranked Serena Williams will most likely receive a "significant" fine but no suspension for her U.S. Open tirade, the president of the International Tennis Federation said.

Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock is expected to give his recommendation to the Grand Slam committee, which probably will announce the sanction Monday or Tuesday.

"I don't think (an Australian Open ban) would make much sense, because it would penalize the people handing out the punishment," Francesco Ricci Bitti told The Associated Press on Saturday. "For the Grand Slam committee to exclude her from a Grand Slam doesn't seem likely."

The Grand Slam committee is composed of Ricci Bitti and the four Grand Slam presidents.

Williams was fined $10,000 after her profanity-laced outburst at a lineswoman during her semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters in September. A fine from the ITF could be much greater.

"A significant financial penalty makes much more sense. But it has to be significant enough for the fans (to appreciate) it," Ricci Bitti said. "Of course it may not be significant for Serena Williams, who earns tens of millions."

By winning the season-ending tour championship last weekend, Williams set the record for single-season prize money in women's tennis by topping $6.5 million in 2009. Her career prize money is a record $28.5 million.

Ricci Bitti spoke at the Fed Cup final between the United States in Italy. Serena and Venus Williams decided not to play in the Fed Cup final after meeting in the final of the season-ending championship last weekend in Doha, Qatar.

The ITF president is also involved in a request by the World Anti-Doping Agency to investigate Andre Agassi's recent admission that he took crystal meth in 1997.

Agassi wrote in his soon-to-be-released autobiography "Open" that he ingested the drug and then lied to the ATP to avoid a suspension after failing a doping test.

Ricci Bitti is also a member of WADA's executive committee.

"The WADA code is our reference point and in every doping case the rules are quite clear. There is an eight-year period for sanctions to apply," Ricci Bitti said. "In terms of the regulations, there is nothing that can be done because we're past the eight-year period. It's more upsetting than anything else — for our sport and for the players."

Still, Ricci Bitti noted that the ATP should have a dossier on the case.

"We'll see what happens," he said.

In another drug-related case, the ITF confirmed a one-year suspension for Belgian tennis players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse on Saturday. The duo was suspended by a Belgian tribunal this week for failing to report their whereabouts to anti-doping officials three times during 2009.

"This reminds me of the cases of Italian players involved in betting a little while ago," Ricci Bitti said. "These players need to be aware of their responsibilities. If they don't know, this is the result.

"These cases create discussion because they're not reliant on positive tests, but there are rules to respect," Ricci Bitti added. "We're awaiting the details from the Belgian federation. These kids need to wake up. They're professionals and they earn a lot of money. They don't need to merely know the rules, they should also respect them."

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Las Vegas, Friday, June 12 -- The first class of graduates from the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy celebrated Friday night with a bold attack on critics of the public charter school, which primarily serves students from low-income areas.

“Some along the way have short-sightedly labeled us as at-risk,” salutatorian Simone Ruffin noted in her speech during Friday night’s commencement. “Well, we are at risk -- at risk of excellence, at risk of success,” she continued, drawing enthusiastic cheers from the audience.

“We are at risk of having a class where 100 percent of the students graduate and go to college,” she said.

The class of 2009 is prepared to do just that as all 34 graduates have been accepted to and plan on attending college in the fall.

The commencement of the first group of high school students is a major milestone for the school, which was founded by tennis legend Andre Agassi to serve what he called an “economically challenged” neighborhood.

“To have 100 percent of your seniors graduating is pretty exciting,” Agassi said in an interview earlier this week.



At Agassi Prep, 26 graduates plan to attend a four-year college next year, while the other eight will go to two-year schools, school officials said.

“Tomorrow we will no longer be the lions of high school, but the cubs of college,” said student body president Alexis Wallace. “But I’m OK with that because I would rather be a cub of college than a high school dropout.”



In his address to students during Friday’s festivities, Agassi emphasized how the students have been a success in what has been an experiment in education. As they move forward, they can look back on their experiences at the school for strength, he said.

“Tell yourself again the story of how you were a pioneer,” Agassi told the students. “How you proved all the naysayers wrong; how you defied the odds and made your parents and teachers and that one old tennis player very, very proud.”

Agassi said the graduation was a heart-wrenching time for those who have been involved with the students.

“It’s emotional … sad, in some respects, but in a good kind of way, like, I guess, watching your child go off to college,” he said. “But soon, summer will be over with and we’ll be back at it again because we’ve got future classes and future lives to look out for.”



The school’s achievement in sending the entire class to college is not the final marker of success, Agassi said.

“My hope for them (the graduates) ultimately is that they … come back home, come back here ideally, but to this community, to this neighborhood, to this city, and make a difference for future generations,” he said. “I think that’s ultimately how we are going to define success.”

Agassi Prep is different than most other county public schools. As a charter school, students are not charged for enrollment. The school receives a $6,530-per-pupil allocation from the state and Agassi’s charitable foundation supplements that with about $6,000 more per student.



With the extra support, the school provides an additional two hours of instruction each school day, plus an extra two weeks of school each year. Students can also choose to participate in after-school activities for free.

Chancellor Marsha Irvin, who came to the school after being a regional superintendent in the School District for eight years, said Agassi Prep has an advantage in preparing students for college because of the help of donors.

“Those kinds of resources and having small classes really does make a difference in terms of helping children identify what is going to be best for them,” she said. “The ratio is a lot smaller than in most schools and that just makes all the difference in the world.”



Thanks to help from donors, every graduate this year received at least one scholarship to help pay for college. All together, the 34 students received more than $257,000 to go toward higher education, the school said.

Agassi said the school has had a positive effect on the surrounding neighborhood.

“I think we’ve seen how this community has safeguarded this school; how they’ve protected it, how they’ve taken ownership of it,” he said. “In an area that’s economically challenged, we haven’t seen crime or graffiti or anything of that nature on this campus, which is a beautiful testament to the human spirit and what happens when people start to have hope in their lives.”



Ben Sayeski, president of the school’s governing board of directors, thanked the students for their help in testing what he called the school’s new model of education. He promised them it would spread to other schools.

“Much of the Agassi Prep model is based upon the fact that resources matter -- that two extra hours a day matter, that two extra weeks per year matter, that after-school opportunities matter,” Sayeski said during the commencement on Friday.

“With every single graduate attending college, you have more than done your part to make the case that resources matter,” he said. “But that’s not where it ends, because we’re going to take that message to the entire state. Every child in this state deserves the resources that you received and the outcomes that you got."

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ATP World Tour No. 6 Andy Roddick became the second Top 10 player inside a week to tie the knot as he and fiancée, Brooklyn Decker, exchanged vows in a candlelit ceremony before close family and friends in Austin, Texas on Friday.

Last Saturday, World No. 2 Roger Federer wed his long-time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in his hometown of Basel.

Roddick and Decker were joined in their celebration by former and current American players, Andre Agassi – with wife Steffi Graf - , Justin Gimelstob, James Blake and Mardy Fish, while Sir Elton John – a good friend of Roddick and Agassi - flew in from Las Vegas to perform for the wedding party.

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The United States and Switzerland draw even at 1-1 in the first round of 2009 Davis Cup play.

In the first rubber, after an impressive first set, James Blake was defeated by Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-7(3).

The second rubber paired Andy Roddick against Marco Chiudinelli whom Roddick defeated 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(5). This win brought Roddick his 30th Davis Cup victory, tying him in total wins with Andre Agassi in sixth place in American Davis Cup history.

Tomorrow’s doubles line-up will feature Bob and Mike Bryan against Yves Allegro and Wawrinka. The USA is favored against the team even with Wawrinka having won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with Roger Federer, beating the Bryan brothers in route to the final.

On Sunday in reverse rubbers, Roddick will face Wawrinka in the opening singles followed by Blake against Chiudinelli.

Photos by AP/Getty Images

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NEW YORK, N.Y. (February 26, 2009) - Andre Agassi will return to professional team tennis competition this summer, playing two matches for the Philadelphia Freedoms of the Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League. League officials announced Agassi's return when they released the 2009 schedule today.

The 2009 Advanta WTT Pro League schedule includes 73 matches in 10 markets, beginning July 2 and running through July 26. The Eastern and Western Conference Champions will battle for the Advanta WTT Championship title on July 26.

Agassi, who previously played World TeamTennis from 2002 to 2004, will play for the Freedoms on July 10 in Philadelphia and one road match on July 17 in Newport Beach, Calif. "Playing World TeamTennis is a great experience," said Agassi. "Team play is a terrific way to showcase tennis, especially for kids. WTT is competitive, it's fun and there's a really great energy from the fans. I'm looking forward to playing WTT again."

Agassi, who won 60 career singles titles including eight Grand Slam singles championships, is the only man to win all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal. One of tennis' true superstars, Agassi is also widely respected for his philanthropy. In 1994, he established the Andre Agassi Foundation which is dedicated to transforming U.S. public education for underserved youth. Agassi opened a public charter school in Las Vegas in 2001, the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, in one of the city's most socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods to improve lives through education. The school will have its first senior graduating class this spring.

"It's exciting to have Andre back in the Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League," said WTT CEO/Commissioner Ilana Kloss. "Not only is he one of the game's greatest ambassadors, but he has a unique connection with fans. He always brings something special to the court."

Agassi joins previously announced marquee players including Serena Williams (Washington Kastles), Venus Williams (Philadelphia Freedoms), Martina Navratilova (Boston Lobsters), John McEnroe (New York Sportimes); Anna Kournikova (St. Louis Aces), Michael Chang (Sacramento Capitals) and Bob and Mike Bryan (Kansas City Explorers).

Serena Williams will play four times for her Washington Kastles this summer. The 2009 Australian Open champion begins her WTT season with three road matches - July 9 in Boston, July 10 in New York City and July 13 in Philadelphia. Williams makes her only home appearance in Washington, D.C., on July 14.

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