Black Tennis Pros

NEW YORK (AP) - Even Venus Williams was surprised at how well she played after two months away from the game.

"I'm not sure I expected to be so sharp," Williams said.

In powering her way to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Vesna Dolonts at the U.S. Open on Monday night, Williams served up to 126 m.p.h. and hit six aces. She won the point on 15 of 20 trips to the net. She compiled a whopping 28-7 edge in winners against the travel-weary Russian.

All in all, Williams looked far more dangerous than the average unseeded player does. And, yes, she is unseeded at Flushing Meadows because she's ranked only 36th after entering the tournament having played only 10 matches over the last 50 weeks.

"I just want to play tennis," said Williams, whose seven Grand Slam singles titles include the 2000 and 2001 U.S. Opens. The 31-year-old American hadn't played a match since June 27, when she lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Then again, Williams is accustomed to missing time but still playing well. In 2010, she was sidelined between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open by a left knee injury, yet made it all the way to the semifinals in New York.
"Last year, I had little to no preparation also, too, so I hope can I play just as well as I did last year."

Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria

NEW YORK (AP) — Seventh-seeded Gael Monfils won his opening-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday, defeating Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4.

Monfils, who made the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows last year, was called for a double fault while facing break point at 5-4 in the third set. He challenged the call and the replay showed the ball squarely in. Given a second chance, Monfils saved break point then served out the match.

Dimitrov, ranked 52nd, was making his U.S. Open debut after making the second round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.

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Tenth seed Robin Haase took just 61 minutes to dismiss American James Blake 6-4, 6-1. Haase fought off nine of the 10 break points he faced on serve, while breaking Blake five times from eight chances

Former World No. 4 Blake had come into the second-round match with a 7-0 record in Winston-Salem, inclusive of six Davis Cup matches. Haase, currently at a career-high No. 42 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, extended his winning streak to six matches in his first tournament since claiming the Kitzbühel title earlier this month.

For Blake, it was his first loss ever in Winston-Salem. He was a perfect 6-0 in Davis Cup ties here and won his first-round match against Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5, 6-1 on Sunday night.

The 31-year-old New Yorker called it his worst performance of the summer hardcourt season.

"As I get to this age, I try to have a short memory about matches like that," Blake said. "It was just one of those days. Nothing seemed to be going right, wasn’t serving well, wasn’t returning well, just nothing was effective. It’s frustrating because the first round I thought I played pretty well, especially in the second set. I thought I was getting momentum and playing well. But that’s the worst match I’ve played all summer. It’s frustrating that it’s right before the Open, but the Open doesn’t start until next Monday so I’ve got some time to get on a practice court and get my confidence back hopefully."

Blake said he was disappointed not only for himself, but for the crowd that was clearly on his side.

"It’s a lot of fun to play in front of a crowd that’s cheering for you," Blake said. "It’s frustrating when you can’t come through for them. That’s the tough part of tennis. You feel great when you succeed in front of a home crowd and give them what they want, and it’s frustrating when you can’t. That’s what I’ve learned through the years. It’s a lot tougher to take when you feel like you’re letting others down. But they’ll get over it. They’ve still got Andy Roddick and John Isner to watch."



Fifty-second ranked Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov came back after losing a one-sided second set to defeat World No. 85 American Donald Young in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(2) in the second round at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina on Tuesday. The match lasted for two hours and three minutes.

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Grigor Dimitrov and Tsonga

WIMBLEDON - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed six match points to see off Grigor Dimitrov in a dramatic and emotional match that was interrupted by rain on three separate occasions.

The 12th-seeded Frenchman recovered from losing the first set to edge out the 20-year-old 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(8) but was made to work all the way in a contest that saw both players warm up four times due to the unforgiving weather.

If the world No.62 was nervous about his outing on the No.1 Court, he certainly didn't show it. Maybe it was because he had played Tsonga earlier this year in Rotterdam where the Bulgarian had put up a good show in a 6-4, 6-4 defeat, which gave him an idea of what it is like to face the French giant. In addition, he was well-acquainted with these lawns having picked up the Boys' Singles title in 2008.

He was firing on all cylinders in the opening set despite the rain, which started to fall after just two points and forced the umpire to suspend play a further two points later. As soon as they walked off, the rain stopped. It was a pattern that would be repeated throughout the encounter.

While much of the first set went with serve, it was always Tsonga who seemed under pressure. He seemed to be forever staving off break points. The ninth game was a classic example. Tsonga blasted two balls out and an unfortunate net cord handed Dimitrov three break points. The 26-year-old managed to save them but then faced another when Dimitrov fired off an outstanding return. Again Tsonga saved it and two aces later he had managed to hold, but it was a shaky game and did not bode well for the expected victor. An error-strewn tiebreak, in which Tsonga double-faulted and ballooned a forehand and backhand long, did not help and he lost it 7-4

Early in the second the rainclouds were once again closing in as the men continued their sparkling baseline game, with each taking their turn to pin each other to the back of the court. Tsonga broke for a 2-1 lead just as the heavens opened for the second time. When the Frenchman returned he looked notably sharper and went on to win the second and third sets 6-4.

However, Tsonga's form dropped in the fourth. He was broken in the opening game and when rain returned again to suspend play for a third time he trailed 3-0. Tsonga came out of the delay the stronger man, holding serve and then breaking. A precision lob looped over the Bulgarian's head to set up two break points at 3-3 and Tsonga engineered a forehand crosscourt winner to break and take the lead.

But by the time Tsonga was serving for the match at 5-4, his inconsistency returned. On his first match point he served a double fault before a second match point came and went and he was forced to kiss the game goodbye. A further three match points passed Tsonga by in the tiebreak but he eventually sealed it on his sixth and jumped over the net to help up his opponent who had collapsed to the ground amid all the excitement.

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