Black Tennis Pros

Caroline Wozniacki

In straight sets with an ailing toe, American Serena Williams polished off World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 to set a date in the final on Sunday with Australia's Samantha Stosur.  The match will be televised at 4pm on CBS.

Though Serena began the match making quite a few errors, she overpowered and out served Wozniacki unquestionably. Wozniacki was able to hang in there for some of those long power shot rallies, but at no time was she ever a threat to the "former" world no. 1.


Serena will turn 30 later this month and has won the US Open in 1999, 2002 and 2008. Following Wimbledon last year, a foot injury put her out of competition for the rest of 2010 and a mysterious illness earlier this year had her on blood thinners. The American returned to competition at Wimbledon earlier this summer, advancing to the fourth round.


Post match Serena commented how how elated she was, especially in light of being an American at the U.S. Open during the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 911 to a roaring applause from the fans.

TEAM SERENA!!

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First Lady Michelle Obama started playing tennis after she finished Harvard Law School but had always wanted to attend the US Open.

She was finally able to make it for the very first time Friday.

She started the morning in SmashZone, the premier fan interactive attraction at the US Open. She played some 10 and Under Tennis with a group of kids from the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program, along with tennis stars Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, James Blake, Katrina Adams, Mal Washington and USTA Chairman of the Board and President Jon Vegosen, promoting tennis as a great way for children to stay active and healthy, which is a central part of her Let’s Move! Initiative, which works to combat childhood obesity.

The USTA and the First Lady teamed up earlier this year to encourage young people across the country to get active, try tennis and lead healthy lifestyles. Components of the collaboration included a public service announcement, which has aired nationwide featuring the First Lady along with tennis legends Stefanie Graf and Andre Agassi, as well as 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.

“I have been trying to get to the US Open my entire life. This is the first time I have been here. I couldn’t get here last year, so, yes, I am excited to be here,” the First Lady said. “I am so incredibly excited to finally be at my first US Open, but I am equally excited and proud to be standing in partnership with the USTA and all they have done for hundreds of thousands of kids across this country. You are an example of what we can do when we put our minds to it.”

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Might as well!

ESPN "sports broadcaster" Chris Fowler brings entirely too much speculation, scuttlebutt, innuendo, partiality and outright foolishness to tennis commentary. While he's certainly not alone, his sneaky delivery just makes it nastier.

Sounds like these insipid reality shows to me!

Take this morning prior to the start of the first Western and Southern Open match. He found it necessary to go in on Serena Williams withdrawing from the tournament yesterday with a "mysterious toe injury," and "yet she could go on a roller coaster ride. Huh?!?!?!

And went on to talk about others who are out, including Kim Clijsters, seemingly accepting their reasoning for being out as legitimate; I'm guessing because they had not been to a theme park.  All the while sporting a Cheshire Cat grin and laughter that I'm guessing supposedly makes it okay.

I'd have more respect for the guy if he just came straight out and said he didn't believe that Serena has an injury than to punk out behind silly suggestives.

New commentator please -- fifteenth request!

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2011 Men's Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Mardy Fish (USA)	185
2	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	100
3	Ernests Gulbis (LAT)	85
T-4	John Isner (USA)	70
	Gael Monfils (FRA)	70
	Radek Stepanek (CZE)	70
7	Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)	60
8	Ryan Harrison (USA)	50
9	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)	45
T-10	Kevin Anderson (RSA)	30
	Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)	30
	Viktor Troicki (SRB)	30
T-13	Nicolas Almagro (ESP)	25
	Tomas Berdych (CZE)	25
	Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA)	25
	Gilles Muller (LUX)	25
	Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)	25
	Donald Young (USA)	25
T-19	Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)	15
	Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)	15
	Marin Cilic (CRO)	15
	Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)	15
	Somdev Devvarman (IND)	15
	Ivan Dodig (CRO)	15
	Roger Federer (SUI)	15
	Richard Gasquet (FRA)	15
	Ivo Karlovic (CRO)	15
	Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)	15
	Rajeev Ram (USA)	15
	Fernando Verdasco (ESP)	15

   

2011 Women's Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Serena Williams (USA)	170
2	Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)	130
3	Samantha Stosur (AUS)	70
4	Vera Zvonareva (RUS)	60
5	Andrea Petkovic (GER)	50
T-6	Victoria Azarenka (BLR)	45
	Marion Bartoli (FRA)	45
T-8	Ana Ivanovic (SRB)	40
	Sabine Lisicki (GER)	40
10	Maria Sharapova (RUS)	30
T-11	Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)	25
	Lucie Safarova (CZE)	25
	Roberta Vinci (ITA)	25
	Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)	25
T-15	Marina Erakovic (NZL)	15
	Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)	15
	Petra Kvitova (CZE)	15
	Na Li (CHN)	15
	Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)	15
	Ayumi Morita (JPN)	15
	Shuai Peng (CHN)	15
	Francesca Schiavone (ITA)	15
	Sloane Stephens (USA)	15
	Jie Zheng (CHN)	15

Standings through Week 4

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Ten years after winning her first Rogers Cup presented by National Bank title, Serena Williams once again lifted the trophy of Canada's most important tennis tournament.

A lot has changed for the 13-time Grand Slam champion in the decade gone by, but one thing is still for certain - she sure is one impressive tennis player.

Williams won the title on Sunday in emphatic fashion, nailing an ace at match point to defeat Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2.

Though the contest was evenly matched through the first eight games, the American turned it up a notch to break at 4-4 and never looked back. She was dominant in the second set, ripping seven aces while losing just one first service point.

It was clear the championship meant a lot to her, as upon clinching victory she immediately jumped and spun around in elation. In her post-match press conference she talked about how Toronto was definitely a tournament she had targeted as an event she really wanted to win this year.

With her mission now accomplished and her 39th career title in her pocket, the 29-year-old should move up nearly 50 spots in the rankings to around the No. 35 spot.


Though Stosur's tournament ended with a loss, her successful week should help her gain confidence heading into the final Slam of the season. Prior to coming to Toronto, the Australian had lost in her opening round twice in a row, but she turned it around here and improved her play with each match up to the final.

Her performance means she'll move back into the Top 10 after spending just one week outside of the upper echelon of the sport. If she keeps it up, she'll definitely be in the conversation at the final Slam of the season.


With the entertaining final between Williams and Stosur now over, Rogers Cup wraps up a successful week of tennis. Though the back-end of the tournament was lacking in the star power provided by such players like Kim Clijsters, who retired in the second round, Maria Sharapova, who was a third-round dropout, and world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki who fell in her opening match, Williams shines brighter than almost anyone on the tour.

She now has two titles in just four tournaments played since her return to tennis following a year-long absence due to serious health issues, and both of those triumphs occurred on hard courts. She will no doubt be a huge threat at the US Open in two weeks times.

For now, the pair will head to the next tournament in Cincinnati, where a Rogers Cup re-match could occur in the second round as Stosur and Williams were drawn in the same quarter.

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2011 Men's Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Mardy Fish* (USA)	160
2	Ernests Gulbis (LAT)	85
T-3	John Isner (USA)	70
	Gael Monfils (FRA)	70
	Radek Stepanek (CZE)	70
6	Janko Tipsarevic* (SRB)	60
7	Ryan Harrison (USA)	50
T-8	Novak Djokovic* (SRB)	45
	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga* (FRA)	45
T-10	Kevin Anderson (RSA)	30
	Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)	30
	Viktor Troicki (SRB)	30
T-13	Nicolas Almagro (ESP)	25
	Tomas Berdych (CZE)	25
	Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA)	25
	Gilles Muller (LUX)	25
	Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)	25
	Donald Young (USA)	25
T-19	Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)	15
	Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)	15
	Marin Cilic (CRO)	15
	Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)	15
	Somdev Devvarman (IND)	15
	Ivan Dodig (CRO)	15
	Roger Federer (SUI)	15
	Richard Gasquet (FRA)	15
	Ivo Karlovic (CRO)	15
	Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)	15
	Rajeev Ram (USA)	15
	Fernando Verdasco (ESP)	15

   

2011 Women's Standings

 

Place	Player	Points
1	Agnieszka Radwanska* (POL)	130
2	Serena Williams* (USA)	115
3	Vera Zvonareva (RUS)	60
4	Andrea Petkovic (GER)	50
T-5	Victoria Azarenka* (BLR)	45
	Marion Bartoli (FRA)	45
	Samantha Stosur* (AUS)	45
T-8	Ana Ivanovic (SRB)	40
	Sabine Lisicki (GER)	40
10	Maria Sharapova (RUS)	30
T-11	Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)	25
	Lucie Safarova (CZE)	25
	Roberta Vinci (ITA)	25
	Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)	25
T-15	Marina Erakovic (NZL)	15
	Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)	15
	Petra Kvitova (CZE)	15
	Na Li (CHN)	15
	Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)	15
	Ayumi Morita (JPN)	15
	Shuai Peng (CHN)	15
	Francesca Schiavone (ITA)	15
	Sloane Stephens (USA)	15
	Jie Zheng (CHN)	15

 Standings through Friday, August 12

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Ladies' Singles 4th Round

Venus Williams, USA (23) vs. Svetana Pironkova, BUL (32)

Serena Williams, USA (7) vs. Marion Bartoli, FRA (9)



Gentlemen's Singles - 4th Round

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA (12) vs. David Ferrer, ESP (7)



Ladies' Doubles - 2nd Round

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
vs.
Cara Black, ZIM (14) and Shahar Peer, ISR (14)

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WIMBLEDON, England -- Serena Williams has been known to say she isn't satisfied with this or that aspect of her game, even after easily winning a match, say, 6-3, 6-2.

So it was somehow refreshing to hear Williams actually praise herself after a victory by that very score over 26th-seeded Maria Kirilenko at Wimbledon on Saturday.

Yes, only five matches since returning to the tour after nearly a full year off because of a series of health scares, Williams produced a performance worthy of the 13-time Grand Slam champion that she is. And then Williams talked the talk of someone finally ready to concede that British bookmakers might very well have been right to make her the pre-tournament favorite.

Asked whether she was surprised by the odds, the seventh-seeded American smiled widely and said: "I wouldn't bet against me."

After hitting 10 aces and compiling a 32-9 edge in winners against Kirilenko, Williams termed the showing her "best I've played since I came back."

"I was a little more consistent, and I played mygame more," said Williams, trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles. "Wasn't as tight and nervous and uptight. I was able to relax more today."


She was part of a parade of past champions who breezed into the fourth round Saturday, joined by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova, who all were straight-set winners, too. Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, seeking her first Grand Slam title, and two-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who is now 44-1 in 2011, also moved on.

Serena explained she'd been playing tentatively until Saturday.

"You're always thinking, 'I can get hurt again.' You just kind of have to let those thoughts go or anything could happen," Williams said. "And I wasn't thinking that at all today. It was just a big difference."

On Monday, she'll face 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli. Other fourth-round women's matches include Williams' older sister Venus vs. No. 32 Tsvetana Pironkova, who upset the five-time Wimbledon champion a year ago; Wozniacki vs. No. 24 Dominika Cibulkova; and Sharapova vs. No. 20 Peng Shuai.

After beating Kirilenko -- her first straight-set victory in five matches since returning -- Williams revealed another, if less serious, mishap from her annus horribilis: She scraped her right shoulder and face when she fell off her pink bicycle during a ride near her home in Florida in October.


"I'm thinking, 'Oh, nooooooo,"' Williams recounted, as though replaying her words in slow motion. "All I thought was, 'Don't fall on my face. Don't fall on my face.' When I fell on my face, I was like, 'No!"'
Since then, she's been sticking to stationary bikes.

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WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Serena Williams wonders why she and her older sister Venus have played once each on Court 2 at Wimbledon this year — instead of Centre Court or Court 1.

After winning her second-round match Thursday on Court 2, four-time Wimbledon champion Serena was asked about being put in that venue, where five-time champion Venus won Monday. Each also has played one match on Centre Court this week.

"They like to put us on Court 2 — me and Venus — for whatever reason," Serena said. "I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe one day we'll figure it out."

Told of Serena's comments, tournament spokesman Johnny Perkins said there was no intentional snub, noting that several factors go into scheduling decisions, including TV broadcasting considerations, where players stand in the draw, and what ticket-buyers want to see.

"I don't think it's anything deliberate, clearly," Perkins said. "It's a hugely complex jigsaw puzzle. Everyone probably looks at it from their own point of view, so she's obviously quite entitled to."

The Williams sisters have combined to win nine of the past 11 Wimbledon singles championships, including Serena's titles in 2009 and 2010.

"I don't really think about it. I don't make it a big issue," Serena said about the scheduling. "I think at some point, maybe I should."

Stacey Allaster, the head of the women's professional tennis tour, said in a statement: "Serena Williams is a four-time Wimbledon singles champion, the defending champion of Wimbledon and a 13-time Grand Slam singles champion. I share her disappointment."

WTA CEO Allaster continued: "Scheduling decisions at Wimbledon are made by the All England Club and only they would be able to explain the rationale behind their decision for the scheduling of Serena's match today."

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick have had all of their matches scheduled for Centre Court or Court 1 so far this year.

"Yeah," Serena said, "they're never moved across."

The Court 2 she played in Thursday was built before the start of the 2009 tournament and holds about 4,063 spectators — 7,330 fewer than Court 1, and 10,916 fewer than Centre Court. For years before that, the name "Court 2" at the All England Club was assigned to a venue about half the size and a few minutes' walk away.

That old Court 2 was known as the "Graveyard of Champions" because of a series of surprise losses by top players — including Serena against Jill Craybas in the third round in 2005. That particular match actually originally was scheduled for Centre Court but was shifted when others there went long. Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras — in his final match at the All England Club — all lost on the old Court 2.

After watching his daughter defeat Simona Halep of Romania 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 at the new Court 2 on Thursday, Richard Williams downplayed the issue of court placement.

"I can't say where she should be," he said. "I don't do the scheduling."

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Simona Halep

WIMBLEDON - Though still some way short of her awesome best, the defending champion Serena Williams is safely through to the third round at the 125th Championships following a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over the 19-year-old Romanian Simona Halep.

Another layer of the rust accumulated during her 49-week absence from the game was shaken off as Williams gradually warmed to her task, converting an erratic start into a rousing finish.
Unusally for a title holder, Williams was required to play outside the two main courts, though the No.2 is of course a show court, and an impressive one at that.

This is the first Wimbledon appearance for Halep, the former Junior Roland Garros champion who stands at No.58 in the world rankings after zooming up more than 100 places in the past year. Though she stands only 5ft 6in she makes up in power and pace what she lacks in height. In the opening set she ran Williams relentlessly from side to side and led 3-1 when the American dropped serve on her ninth unforced error in just four games.



Halep's deep, accurate services kept Williams very much on the back foot until in the seventh game, when Halep took a tumble attempting a sharp turn and damaged her left leg. An extended break ensued while a trainer was summoned to treat the injury and although the teenager eventually resumed, the edge had disappeared from her game and her speed. Still, she clung on to her lead and jumped for joy when she closed out the set after 37 minutes.

Subsequently there was not a lot for Halep to be joyful about. Having seen the warning, Williams duly heeded it, tightened her own game and took control, at one point bellowing "C'mon, fight".

Though she landed only 39% of first serves on target in the second set, Williams won it with ease in 42 minutes, levelling the match with a net cord that dropped dead on the Romanian's side of the net. With Halep now demoralised and unrecognisable as the eager youngster who had started so brightly, the third set was embarrassingly one-sided.

But the better players awaiting Williams deeper into the draw will have noted that she required four match points to wrap up the win and committed 19 unforced errors.

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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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