Black Tennis Pros

American Hailey Baptiste, Day 2 of 2019 Oracle Challenger Series, Houston, Texas.

Though the weather on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas was mildly warm, cloudy and overcast, it did not prevent exciting player action on the courts of the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Day Two of the 2019 Oracle Challenger Series.  Though some of the matches were suspended due to the serious weather issues that presented colder temperatures, rain and wind in the late afternoon, those matches that were completed provided impressive play, and brought out generous fan support. Two of those matches were played by Americans Hailey Baptiste and Evan King.

Hailey was able to defeat Bulgarian Elitsa Kostova 6-2, 6-4 and advance to the second round where she will meet Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

               Sherry Dishman, Hailey's Mom

Evan King

Americans Evan King and Raymond Sarmiento filled the seats on Court No. 1 with a match that drew lots of energy and excitement from the stands during the two plus hours of play.  Both players clearly wanted to see second round action, although it was Sarmiento that managed to claim the victory and defeat King 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Suffice it to say, the defeat lay strictly on the court, the two young men are good friends.  Sarmiento, who played collegiately at the University of Southern California, and King, who played at the University of Michigan, displayed their camaraderie at the net at the end of the match with an embrace.

“I’ve known Evan for years now,” said Sarmiento. “We’ve grown up together and we’re good buds. So, it’s tough playing a good friend on tour, but it was also one of the most fun matches I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, one of us had to lose.”

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EASTBOURNE, England -- Madison Keys claimed the first title of her career on Saturday when she defeated Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to win the Aegon Championships.

Playing in her first final, the unseeded 19-year old is the first American to win the event since Chanda Rubin won back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003, and she is the youngest American to win a singles title since Vania King (17 yrs, 254 days) triumphed in Bangkok in October 2006.

Keys' triumph also marks the first time that two American women have won titles in the same week since 2002, following Coco Vandeweghe's win, also on Saturday, at the grass-court Topshelf Open in the Netherlands.

It is the second defeat in the final for fifth-seeded Kerber, who fell to Tamira
Paszek in 2012, and the third time she has lost a final this year after defeats in Sydney and Doha. She was seeking her first title came winning Linz in October 2013.

"I'm so incredibly happy," said Keys, who on Monday should be ranked in the top 30 for the first time. "You know, it's one of those things where when you're training and you don't want to be there, you're tired or everything hurts, it's one of those things where you think of this moment, and, you know, it really helps push you through all the hard times.

"My serve was definitely a weapon today, and it really helped me through the entire time."

Keys' win came after she fired 17 aces and struck a serve clocked at 126mph, the fastest this year on the WTA Tour and one that if confirmed would establish her as one of the top five fastest servers since records began in 1989.

Most of the rallies were short and just one break of serve decided the first two sets, with Keys breaking to lead 3-1 in the first and Kerber 2-0 in the second.

"It's always not easy when somebody is serving like she did the whole match," Kerber said. "She played at a really high level."

Kerber fought off two break points as she served out the second set, and games went with serve in the third until the dramatic 12th game. Kerber held two game points to take the set to a tiebreaker before Keys claimed victory on her fourth match point.

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Serena Williams, USA after defeating American Coco Vandeweghe on Day 2 of the 2012 US Open.

Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams continued the fine form that signified a stellar summer by defeating compatriot Coco Vandeweghe in a rematch of their Stanford final. The younger Williams sister advanced to the second round 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour on a day in which Venus also won.

In the first set, Serena cruised to a 6-1 score in 24 minutes, benefitting from five double faults off her opponent’s otherwise big-serving game. Additionally, the top-ranked American struck nine winners, while converting all three of her break point chances.

After the match, the No. 4 seed discussed the windy conditions and reflected on her performance. "I mean, the match was so weird, the conditions were so tough, I couldn't really play my game. She couldn't really play her game. It's not the best opportunity to grade yourself."

With the win tonight, Serena’s record in first round Grand Slam matches improved to 48-1, having lost at the Roland Garros in the opening round earlier this year.

Early in the second set, Serena, last year’s runner-up to Samantha Stosur, consolidated on the tremendous play in the first to break Vandeweghe’s serve for a 2-1 lead. She wasted little time afterwards, wrapping up the match on her second match point after reeling off four more games.

With the win, Serena improved her record at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to 59-9, having won three titles in her career, including her first back in 1999.

Coming into the match Tuesday night on Arthur Ashe, Serena took titles at Wimbledon and the Olympics by winning a gold medal over Maria Sharapova at the All England Club. In doing so, Serena became the first tennis player to win the career “Golden Slam,” or claiming all four majors and a gold medal, in both singles and doubles. With the series of title wins, Serena notched a 19-match winning streak, which was eventually snapped in Cincinnati by surprise 2011 US Open semifinalist Angelique Kerber.

With five titles to her credit this year, Serena also leads the number owned by active players at 44 total.

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WASHINGTON, DC – The Kastles, who will be coached by Murphy Jensen, drafted Leander Paes, Angela Haynes, Coco Vandeweghe and Scott “Boom Boom” Oudsema during the league’s Roster Draft in Miami.

The four players will join Serena Williams, who is returning for her second season as a Washington Kastle. Williams makes her only home appearance for the Kastles on July 14 against the Newport Beach Breakers.

With their second pick in the draft, the Kastles selected Haynes, hailing from Compton, California, and previously ranked in the world’s top 100 in both singles and doubles competition.

She is currently ranked 137 in singles and 112 in doubles in the world.

Haynes reached the third round of the BNP Paribas tournament at Indian Wells in March 2009, and won the 2007 ITF Hilton Head championship.

Washington Kastles owner Mark Ein said, “We have a great schedule of world-class tennis stars coming to the nation’s capital this July and we can’t wait for the season to begin. We are grateful for the amazing fan support last year and for all the anticipation about the upcoming season.”

With the fourth overall pick, the Washington Kastles selected Paes, the world’s fifth-ranked doubles player and an eight-time Grand Slam champion.

Battling against the Kastles in DC this season are Venus Williams of the Philadelphia Freedoms (July 7), Anna Kournikova of the St. Louis Aces (July 8) and John McEnroe of the New York Sportimes (July 16). The July 7 match marks Venus Williams’ DC tennis debut.

The full schedule and more information about the Kastles and World Team Tennis can be found at www.washingtonkastles.com.

The Washington Kastles begin their second season of Advanta World TeamTennis (WTT) in July 2009. The Kastles, owned by Ein, a local entrepreneur, will be led by 10-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams.

The 34^th season of World Team Tennis, founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King, runs from July 2-26 and concludes with the Advanta WTT Championship Weekend.

Throughout the season, the Kastles will actively work with local charities and community organizations to share the mission of WTT and bring the game of tennis to the broader community.

For more information about the Kastles or to purchase tickets, visit www.washingtonkastles.com or call 202-4TENNIS/483-6647.

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The 2009 French Open isn't until the end of May, but qualifying has officially begun in Boca Raton this week.

Eight U.S. men and 11 women are competing for a wild card spot into the main draw as part of a reciprocal agreement with the French tennis federation in which two Americans get slots at Roland Garros and two French players get spots in the U.S. Open.

Jesse Levine, a 21-year-old from Boca Raton, is giving his friends and family plenty to cheer about as he reached Thursday's final against top seed John Isner. Levine, the No. 2 seed, beat Donald Young 6-1, 6-3 in Wednesday's semifinal and Isner knocked out Scoville Jenkins 6-3, 7-6 (7-1). The matches are being played on the clay at the Boca West Country Club.

Levine reached the final of this playoff last year before losing to Weston's Wayne Odesnik. He is determined to clinch the spot this time around, but realizes it won't be easy against 6-9 Isner, who is ranked 17 spots ahead of Levine at No. 113. The two players are friends off the court and know each other's games well, dating to their college days.

Levine played one season for the University of Florida in the spring of 2007 and snapped Isner's 46-match winning streak at the University of Georgia. They have played three times since turning pro, and Levine leads 2-1. Isner won their last meeting. Both players plan to compete at the French Open regardless of the result of the playoff match, but one will have the advantage of a main draw spot while the other has to go through the qualifying rounds there.

''John's serve is unbelievable,'' Levine said. ``He could have games where he serves four aces, so you have to focus on the things you can control against him. I'm very excited because I've played main draw of the three other Slams, but never made it at the French.''

The other four men who competed for the men's wild card were Evan King, 17, of Chicago; Michael McClune, 19, of Irvine, Calif.; Nathan Pasha, 16, of Atlanta, and Rhyne Williams, 18, of Knoxville, Tenn.

Eleven women are vying for a wild card: Kristie Ahn, 16, of Upper Saddle River, N.J.; Gail Brodsky, 17, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Beatrice Capra, 17, of Ellicott City, Md.; Lauren Embree, 18, of Marco Island; Nicole Gibbs, 16, of Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Madison Keys, 14, of Boca Raton; Christine McHale, 16, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; Asia Muhammad, 18, of Henderson, Nev.; Sloane Stephens, 16, of Fresno, Calif.; Stacey Tan, 17, of Lakewood, Calif., and CoCo Vandeweghe, 17, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

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HONG KONG (AP) - Venus Williams dominated Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to give Team Americas the victory over Russia in the Hong Kong team tournament, and finish her only warm-up event before the Australian Open without dropping a set in singles play.

In a rematch of the final of the season-ending WTA Championships in November, which Williams won in three sets, the American broke in the first and third games in the first set to go up 3-0. Zvonavera got one break back in the fourth game, but served four double faults and lost serve again in the seventh.

"We both wanted it so badly, so it was a very emotional match for both of us," Williams said. "I think I took the things that I learned from that match (in the WTA Championships) and used it today. That helped me a lot."

Williams continued to dominate the second set, racing to a 4-0 lead after again breaking Zvonareva in the first and third games. Up 5-2, Williams closed out the match with a forehand that clipped the net and dropped in.

The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion also beat top-ranked Jelena Jankovic and Russia's Anna Chakvetadze in straight sets in this tournament -- a lead-up event to the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 19 in Melbourne.

"It's definitely a great way to start the year with wins against such talented players," Williams said.

Earlier Saturday, Argentina's Gisela Dulko came from behind to beat Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to give Team Americas a 2-1 lead over Team Russia in the best-of-five final.

Both players struggled to hold serve in the first set, with Chakvetadze the first to hold in the sixth game. The world No. 18 broke again in the ninth to take the set.

Dulko broke in the ninth game of the second set and held in the next game to close the set.

Neither player dropped serve in the third set until Dulko broke through, again in the ninth game, and she served out to take the match.

Photos Getty Images

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HONG KONG (AP)—Venus Williams and Coco Vandeweghe of the United States lost in straight sets to Team Europe at an exhibition tournament on Wednesday.

Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal beat Team Americas 6-4, 7-5.

Williams will play Jankovic in singles on Thursday.

Photo Getty Images

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