Black Tennis Pros

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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Sometimes it is hard to know who bears the greater frustration – Gael Monfils, or those watching a player with such blockbuster talents struggle to translate his game for grass. The No.24 seed launched a late comeback against 20-year-old Wimbledon debutant Jiri Vesely, but ultimately bowed out 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-7(3), 6-4.

“I’m always frustrated when I play on grass,” said Monfils, who has never reached the second week at Wimbledon. “For me, it’s a court where I cannot feel comfortable, and if I cannot feel comfortable I cannot use my conditioning. My main thing is playing physically, and I can’t on grass. It’s not fun at all, for me. It’s very frustrating.”

Hate to see him go, NOBODY plays tennis like Monfils!


Britain's Heather Watson does not shy away from a battle. She has developed quite the reputation for getting herself out of tight corners, running and running until her opponent quite simply has enough. For a passage of time, that’s exactly what she did against Kerber, a fearsome figure on the other side of the net with two Grand Slam semi-finals to her name.

“I started very poorly,” she admitted. “A lot of unforced errors. Didn't serve very well. The set kind of went just very quickly.”

 “I didn't want to play her today as who she was,” Watson said. “I wanted to play her as just the person that's - I wanted to play the tournament. I didn't care who it was. Just wanted to get on the next round.”

“The second set I kept fighting through,” Watson said. “I found my way. I think from both of us there was some unbelievable tennis. I managed to take that second set and was very pleased with how I was playing. I thought I played very well.”

“With more experience playing these top players, I think, you know, next time I'll learn to take my opportunities.”

Watson lost to Kerber 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

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Huge cheers greeted the entrance of Gael Monfils onto Philippe Chatrier Court. The crowd barely registered Andy Murray’s arrival, save for a smattering of jeers.

Murray smirked as he walked onto the court, clearly accepting of his fate of having to enter a cauldron of vociferous Parisian support for a home-grown player. Perhaps he even relished the challenge. It seemed that way judging by his level of play, both early in the match and at its bizarre and dramatic end; he completed a 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0 victory that sends him into a blockbuster semi-final against top seed Rafael Nadal.

Despite the somewhat hostile environment Murray immediately got to work, hitting crisply and consistently and always giving Monfils a look at an extra ball. The Frenchman could not match this level of steadiness – gesticulating and looking generally uncomfortable out there in the process – and Murray promptly broke service en route to a 3-0 lead.

The mercurial Monfils did settle, and despite the strong winds found his range. Cranking up the power on his forehand, 0-3 became 3-3, and now we had a contest. Games progressed on service until the tenth game, where Murray was able to extract some errors from Monfils’ racquet and score set points. On the second, they junk-balled their way through a mind-numbing 34-shot rally, ending only when Murray finally pulled the trigger on a backhand and played an inside-out forehand winner off the short reply.

Patiently working the ball around, Murray skipped out to a 2-0 in the second set. Monfils slapped a limp backhand halfway up the net to make it 4-0, and by 5-0 it was shades of the Frenchman’s fourth set fadeout against Fabio Fognini in the third round. His feet were not moving, his effort was suspect and he was simply rushing to the line to deliver services without preparing.

Down 5-1, Monfils at least made the contest a little more interesting in a dramatic seventh game. A ball fell out of Murray’s pocket mid-rally which drew whistles from the crowd and protests from Monfils, crescendo-ing to a level at which Murray conceded the point rather than playing a let. The seventh seed required five set points to finally subdue the more animated Monfils.

This new version of the Frenchman persisted into the third set. He was alive in all of the games, keeping his nose in front as the set progressed on service until 5-4. In that tenth game, Monfils’ relentless power extracted an error to give him two set points, and when Murray netted a backhand a few points later, Monfils was back in the match.

Monfils had all the momentum in the world following a service break in the fourth game of the fourth set. The Chatrier crowd was in full voice and he played to them, lapping up their energy and confidently hitting out. The lead was soon 4-1; Monfils had won 12 of the past 15 points. Murray, woefully despondent, now could not seem to clear the net, and soon the Frenchman had levelled at two-sets-all.

By this time it was 9:20pm, and in the fading light Murray requested the match be suspended. Amid the incensed whistles of the crowd his request was denied, and they played on.

Cue an outrageous momentum swing. Murray’s crucial hold – and subsequent celebration – in the first game seemed to completely take the wind out of Monfils’ sails. His forehand began flying as Murray found his range again; soon the Scot had a break, and consolidated it with the help of a blazing passing shot winner to move up 3-0.

So complete was Monfils’ capitulation that he would finish the set not even attempting to play Murray’s shots, and by winning just seven points to 24. The rollicking Chatrier crowd of just 20 minutes earlier now sat in stunned silence.

Monfils’ 61st unforced error saw the final stanza over in just 24 minutes.

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James Ward

Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga set up a meeting with Britain's own Andy Murray in the final of the AEGON Championships on Sunday at the Queen's Club when he beat British No. 2 James Ward in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(7).


After Ward failed to convert a couple of break points of his own, Tsonga was able to serve out the set. Even when Ward had a chance to level the match after breaking for a 4-2 lead in the second set, Tsonga broke back to force a tie-break.


Both players had chances in the breaker, but it was Tsonga who came through as Ward missed a passing shot on the Frenchman's second match point.

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I have NEVER seen Russian Nikolay Davydenko this emotion filled at the end of winning any match that I've ever seen him play. You know Davydenko, he's pretty low key. When he wins he's pleased, and when he loses he pleased...comme si, comme ca, it's all good, right on.

Well, at least that's how he was before he was so brutally saddled with being the face of illegal betting inside of tennis. COME ON! Davydenko? I know that looks can be deceiving, but Davydenko?

In the wake of that pitiful investigation, Davydenko's game went south quick, fast and in a hurry. He had become one of my favorites on the tour, especially for being so nonchalant in scraping the court with his opponents behinds so unsuspectingly. The guy was just masterful at maintaining the most even temperament I'd ever seen on court.

Now that he's been cleared, looks like Davydenko has his groove back and this time with a passion! After defeating Britain's Andy Murray in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinal of the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai yesterday, Davydenko got his tennis yell on. I for one am glad to see it. I am glad that he's recovering his game, and this time putting some feeling into it... in yo face!

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