Black Tennis Pros

2019 BNP Paribas Open 3rd round contender Venus Williams takes out fellow American Christina McHale.

The 2019 BNP Paribas open becomes more watchable with every match in which the legendary Venus Williams prevails. There will never be any forgetting of the power, precision and dedication that she brought to the game when she originally hit the pro circuit, and to see her effect any measure of her tremendous talent in 2019 is pure joy.

In a relatively balanced match against American Christina McHale, Venus exercised a level of shot placement throughout the match that lead her to a 6-2, 7-5 win.

Next up for Venus is World No. 97 Mona Barthel of Germany.

Keep it movin' Venus!!

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(Upper left) Venus and Serena Williams, USA, (lower left) Sloane Stephens, USA, (center) Heather Watson, Great Britain, (right) Simone Pratt, Bahamas.

2012 USA Fed Cup Team

Americans Venus Williams and Captain Mary Joe Fernandez during press conference in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Sloane Stephens, USA during practice.

Great Britain's (r)Heather Watson during practice.

Serena Williams, USA and Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, at Official Draw Ceremony.

Simone Pratt, Bahamas also practicing.

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Serena Williams, left, pulls New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's jersey out of a box, before putting it back, while making a Super Bowl prediction during a Fed Cup tennis news conference in Worcester, Mass., Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012. Williams, who is part of the Fed Cup team competing against Belarus this weekend in Worcester, decided to pick the New York Giants. At right is US captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

Members of the US Fed Cup team pose with jerseys as they make each make a Super Bowl prediction during a news conference in Worcester, Mass., Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012. From left to right is Christina McHale (New York Giants), Serena Williams (New York Giants), Mary Joe Fernandez (New York Giants) and Liezel Huber (new England Patriots)

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2007 USA Fed Cup Team (l-r) Vania King, Lisa Raymond, Venus Williams, Serena Williams

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Venus Williams will return from illness and her sister, Serena, will play Fed Cup for the first time in nearly five years after being selected to the U.S. team to meet Belarus in a Feb. 4-5 World Group II match at Worcester, Mass.

U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez announced the team, also containing Christina McHale and Liezel Huber, late Tuesday.

"I am looking forward to having Serena and Venus on the team for the first time since I became U.S. Fed Cup captain," Fernandez said. "They bring so much to this team, not only for what they can do on court, but the influence they will have on Christina and the rest of the team."

It will be Venus Williams' first appearance in a sanctioned competition since the U.S. Open, when she revealed she had Sjogren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain.

Serena Williams, who lost in the fourth round at the Australian Open, has not played Fed Cup since 2007.

The 19-year-old McHale, ranked a career-high No. 42, will be making her second consecutive appearance and third overall for the American team. Her highlights last year included a win over No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki at Cincinnati and a run to the third round of the U.S. Open.

South African-born Huber, 35, has won six of her eight career matches for the U.S. Fed Cup team.

The winner of the Worcester match will advance to the World Group playoff and a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title in 2013.

Victoria Azarenka, who is expected to lead the Belarus team, will face defending champion Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday.

"Victoria is playing the best tennis I have seen from her, so we are excited to be facing Belarus in our first match in the United States in two years," Fernandez said.

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Sloane Stephens, an 18-year-old wildcard, was the first of the American rising stars to shine, showing calmness and calculated aggression beyond her years as she upset Shahar Peer, 61 76(4). After losing the first set, the No.23-seeded Peer tightened the screws on her unforced errors and built a 5-3 lead in the second set; but Stephens calmly tucked the win away in straight sets.

"I told myself when I woke up this morning, I have to focus, be aggressive and play my game. I stuck to that pretty well today," Stephens said. "When she broke me for 5-3 I thought, 'Oh man, this is going to be a long night.' I hung in there. I got my momentum back at 4-5. That helped me in the next few games."

A day after one of America's top players - Venus Williams - had to withdraw from the tournament, Stephens was asked her opinion. "I actually went back home to my hotel to watch her play, and when I got back, the caption said, 'Venus Withdraws.' I said, 'Oh my God, what the heck happened?' I was distraught because I really wanted to watch her play. She was playing great the first day. But I love her. I was sad. I hope she gets better soon.

 
"Venus is beautiful. I like how she's willing to take risks with her outfits. That's definitely something most players won't do, so that's a step up. She's just an awesome person. Everything she's done for the sport of tennis, she's just an amazing person. She's so classy and elegant. That says a lot.

"They changed tennis. They changed women's sports in general. An inspiration to all women and all girls that play sports."

Stephens was asked about the recent pessimism in the media about the future of American tennis. "I don't even think about it. Fun fact: Christina, Irina and myself are all in the third round of the US Open and playing the PanAm Games together. It's awesome."

Not to be outdone, the far more experienced but still very young Vania King made the third round as well, upsetting No.29 seed Jarmila Gajdosova shortly afterwards, 62 60. King, 22, has been to the third round of Grand Slams three times now, also doing it here in 2009 and at the French Open earlier this year.


Stephens, King, Christina McHale, Irina Falconi and last but not least Serena Williams make it five American women in the third round of the US Open, the most at this event since 2004 (there were eight that year - Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Lisa Raymond, Amy Frazier, Chanda Rubin, Angela Haynes and, of course, the Williams sisters.

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American Shenay Perry has been replaced on the US Fed Cup Team. World No. 215 Christina Mchale has been called in for the replacement.

Perry, ranked 148th, is suffering from a wrist injury and US Captain Mary-Jo Fernandez decided to call up the 17-year-old Mchale.

Fernandez stated, "Due to Shenay's wrist injury, I felt it would be best to (choose) Christina. Christina has had a great week of practice."

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