Black Tennis Pros

Venus Williams, USA waves to the crowd after defeating fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

It was a slow start for Venus Williams on Arthur Ashe stadium Tuesday afternoon, but once the two-time champion found her groove, there was no stopping her.

Unseeded here for just the third time in 14 appearances, the elder Williams advanced to the second round with a decisive 6-3, 6-1 win over fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Williams fell down early to Mattek-Sands after holding game points in the first game, losing that and the second to trail 2-0. The 31-year-old then kicked into high gear, at one point rolling off 12 straight points to help her build a 5-2 lead.

Serving for the first set at 5-3, Williams belted three straight aces to lead 40-love, and then closed the set off with a service winner to complete it in just 29 minutes.

It wasn’t much different in the second—sans a slow start—for Venus. She broke to begin the set and continued with deep, penetrating groundstrokes to go up 4-1, her serve cooperating well but giving Mattek-Sands plenty of trouble.

Mattek-Sands called for the trainer at 4-1 down in the second, but it only seemed to be delaying the inevitable. Williams won the next two games with ease, closing out the match in just 62 minutes.

Williams had won all three of their previous encounters, including here three years ago in the second round. Mattek-Sands, once ranked as high as No. 30, needed a wildcard to get into the Open after a series of injuries had dropped her ranking to No. 212 this year.

Venus improved her record in the first round of Slams to 53-4, having lost in the opening round of Wimbledon against Elena Vesnina just two months ago. But she has appeared rejuvinated this summer, getting to the third round at the Olympics and then making a run to the semifinals at Cincinnati, losing to eventual champion Li Na.

Two years ago Venus made an inspiring run to the semifinals here, losing in dramatic fashion to Kim Clijsters, the eventual winner. In the second round Venus will face Angelique Kerber, the German who took her out at the Olympics in two tiebreak sets and was a surprise semifinalist here a year ago.

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

American Serena Williams

American Serena Williams

Britain's Heather Watson

Italy's Francesca Schiavone

Serbia's Ana Ivanovic

Serbia's Jelena Jankovic

Germany's Andrea Petkovic

Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki

Britain's (r)Anne Keothavong and (l)Laura Robson

Russia's Maria Sharapova

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands

India's Sania Mirza

Romania's Sorana Cirstea

Germany's Sabine Lisicki

France's Alize Cornet

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

The U.S. Fed Cup Team is in Lievin, France this week to open its 2010 season against the French team. U.S. Captain Mary Joe Fernandez is leading a team of Liezel Huber, Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Shenay Perry in what the team hopes will be the first victory on the way to the 2010 Fed Cup crown. During the days leading up to the competition on February 6-7, different team members will be blogging each day about practicing, their daily adventures, team bonding and more. After Huber started the week off, Perry follows in the second blog as she talks about the first team practice, the clay court and playing Charades. Check back each day to see who is writing next!


Shenay Perry - February 3, 2010

Hi Everyone! After Liezel's great leadoff blog yesterday, it is my turn today. The entire team has now arrived here in Lievin – we got here yesterday – and today was the first day of team practice, which I thought went pretty well. It was short this morning but we did do a few two-on-ones so it was a good, productive hit. I hit with both Melanie and Liezel and we did a few one-on-one circuit drills as well when one of us took a break.

This is the first time I have played Fed Cup since 2006 and my first with Mary Joe as captain but for me the team had already meshed before we even got here. This was the first day we have all been together but Bethanie and I both attended the same tennis academy as teenagers so we have been friends for a long time and I know both Melanie and Liezel pretty well. So I think it is going great so far with our team bonding.

Today was my first day out on the clay court at the stadium. It is indoors, which is a good thing since it poured rain yesterday and today. I think the surface is pretty similar to the one at Roland Garros. It plays a little quick, which I think will be good for us, and it had some good bounces for a clay court. As a whole, I feel all right on clay, I guess my results speak for themselves as I have played pretty decently on clay in my career. As long as I have the results, I feel comfortable!

I know the team has a tradition of playing Charades and/or Pictionary during Fed Cup week and I am a little nervous about it. I am just hoping someone will pick me for her team and if they do that I do not get booted for being too bad! I have heard there are plans in the works to play tonight for the first time so it looks like I will probably be forced into it. Wish me luck!

Shenay

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...........

WOMEN'S SINGLES

Round 1

Venus Williams, USA defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
6-1, 4-6, 6-2

Stephanie Foretz, FRA defeated by Kirsten Flipkens, BEL
1-6, 6-4, 4-6

Serena Williams, USA vs. Klara Zakopalova


WOMEN'S DOUBLES

Round 1

Venus Williams, USA and Serena Williams, USA
vs.
Andrea Hlavackova, CZE and Lucie Hradecka, CZE

Stephanie Foretz, FRA and Camille Pin, FRA
vs.
Lucie Safarova, CZE and Vladimira Uhlirova, CZE


MEN'S SINGLES

Round 1

Josselin Ouanna, FRA defeated Marcel Granollers, ESP
7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 7⁷-6², 6-1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA vs. Julien Benneteau, FRA


Gael Monfils, FRA vs. Bobby Reynolds, USA

James Blake, USA vs. Leonardo Mayer, ARG


MEN'S DOUBLES

Round 1

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Jordan Kerr, AUS
vs.
Jaroslav Levinsky, CZE and Igor Zelenay, SVK

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

In a fairly uneventful match at the French Open just a short while ago, American Venus Williams, all decked out in a very Springy 'EleVen' creation, halted any possibility for fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands by taking her out in a three-set defeat.

Venus served well and basically cruised through the first set, taking it 6-1. In a slight turn of events Mattek-Sands stepped up her game in the second set, started to return better and made a competitive set out of her 6-4 win.

Mattek-Sands winning ways were short-lived though. Venus turned the heat right back up in the third set winning it 6-2.

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

Italy is hoping the Williams sisters decide to skip the Fed Cup final in November. Either way, though, the 2006 champions plan to host the United States in the best-of-five series on the slowest clay they can find.

"I hope the Williams sisters don't come," Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "If they do come, we'll try to beat them. It's not impossible on clay. (Flavia) Pennetta has already beaten Venus more than once."

The 14th-ranked Pennetta beat Venus Williams twice last year _ including a victory at the French Open _ although Venus won their last two meetings.

Italy beat Russia 4-1 and the United States edged the Czech Republic 3-2 in the semifinals last weekend. The Williams sisters _ Venus and Serena _ skipped the trip to Brno, and Fed Cup rookies Alexa Glatch and Bethanie Mattek-Sands lined up for United States captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

The Nov. 7-8 final immediately follows the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, and Barazzutti expects the Williams sisters to play there. Italy would like to host the final in the south to play outdoors on slow clay to soften the impact of the Williams sister's fierce groundstrokes.

"We're definitely going to play on clay _ very slow clay _ and if possible, outdoors," Barazzutti said. "First we need to determine if we can play outdoors, then we'll choose the most uncomfortable setting possible. Uncomfortable in the sense that it suits us and not the Americans."

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

The USA stormed into the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas final with victory over the Czech Republic after doubles pairing Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber came back from match point down to win the fifth and decisive rubber 2-6 7-6(1) 6-1 against Kveta Peschke and Iveta Benesova.

This victory for the USA is a particularly proud moment for team captain Mary-Joe Fernandez who has coached her team to the final of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas in her first year as captain.

“The doubles was a really emotional match, there were so many ups and downs,” she said. What a fight though. They showed a lot of heart and a lot of courage and that’s what Fed Cup’s about. It’s about the team and working together and they found a way to win the match and it’s a thrill to be in the final.”

In the final in November the USA will meet Italy, who won their semifinal tie against Russia this weekend by four rubbers to one. The tie won’t be an easy one for the USA, as the Italians showed their strength defeating the ITF’s number one ranked team in Castellaneta Marina this weekend.

The Italians have won the Fed Cup only once before in 2006 when they defeated Belgium in the final. The Americans by contrast have not won a Fed Cup title since 2000 and Mary-Joe Fernandez is hoping that her team’s cause in November will be helped by the addition of the Williams sisters.

“Venus and Serena are the best players in America and basically the whole world so hopefully they can play. You have to pick your best team so I’ll be calling them and getting them ready.”

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

On Wednesday in the doubles quarterfinal round of the BNP Paribas Open, Americans Mashona Washington and Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost their quest for the doubles title.

The American ladies had all kinds of trouble holding serve, thus allowing the Spaniards break after break. Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez severely ousted the Americans 6-1, 6-2.

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

Teamed with another American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Mashona Washington has reached the doubles quarterfinal round of the BNP Paribas Open. Washington and Mattek-Sands took out the very formidable team of Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova and Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo.

Washington and Mattek-Sands are scheduled to play Spaniards Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears were defeated by Iveta Benesova and Barbara Zahlavova of the Czech Republic 1-6, 5-7.

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