Black Tennis Pros

American Taylor Townsend in Round 2 of 2019 Oracle Challenger Series-Houston.

The 2019 Oracle Challenger Series-Houston has met its own challenges with an unusually cold weather factor that has caused significant match suspensions and delays, but it hasn't prevented players from bringing their best efforts when they've been able to hit the courts.

On Wednesday, clad in warm attire, No. 2 seed American Taylor Townsend defeated Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-4.  Townsend continued her very strategic gameplay that entails a net game not commonly seen, at least not the way it's brought by Townsend.  This is the first event she's played since her ultra fab run at the 2019 U.S. Open where she reached the round of 16. 

On Thursday morning Townsend is scheduled to play fellow American Caroline Dolehide.

Unable to overcome their opponents, tenth seed Donald Young was defeated by qualifier Alexis Galarneau 6-3, 3-6, 0-6, ninth seed Whitney Osuigwe was taken out by Hungarian Dalma Galfi 5-7, 6-2, 2-6, and Mari Osaka of Japan was greatly dominated by sixth seed American Catherine McNally 2-6, 0-6.

American Donald Young

American Whitney Osuigwe

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This beautiful group of fans happens to include the mother of Sachia Vickery (2nd from Right), Ms. Paula Liverpool.

The 2019 U.S. Open Fan Week has taken off in a very busy, exciting, and depth of activities kind of way.  Central to Fan Week, of course, is none other than the Qualifying Tournament.  Fan Week expands and includes various genres of music, appetizing varieties of food styles, Featured Practices, and Legends Matches - Fan Week will not disappoint, and admission is free!

Walking by the Fan Week Center Stage is an event unto itself.  A multitude of activities is frequently taking place in various manners, from giving participating fans free gifts immediately, to entering them into drawings for even greater gifts, including the Grand Prize which includes tickets to the 2019 Men's Semifinals, photo on court, restaurant passes, and a prize pack of U.S. Open merchandise.  Fans can also stop by the Fan Access Pass Booth to win these prizes.




Results from today's Qualifying Matches:

Victoria Duval, USA  def. by  Xu Shilin, CHN   3-6, 2-6

Asia Muhammad, USA  def.  Basak Eraydin, TUR, 7-5, 6-1

Hailey Baptiste, USA  def.  Anna Bondar, HUN   6-3, 6-1

Heather Watson, GBR(8)  def. by  Mariam Bolkvadze, GEO   4-6, 2-6

Sachia Vickery, USA  def.  Francoise Abanda, CAN   6-4, 6-2

Elias Ymer, SWE(16)  def. by  Tallon Griekspoor, NED   5-7, 2-6

Donald Young, USA  def by.  Jason Jung, TPE(23)   3-6, 7(4)-6, 5-7

Darian King, BAR   def.  Malek Jaziri, TUN(5)   6-2, 6-4

Jay Clarke, GBR  def.  by  Mitchell Krueger, USA   7(2)-6, 4-6, 4-6

Sachia Vickery, USA

Francois Abanda, CAN

Donald Young, USA

Hailey Baptiste, USA

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Congratulations are in order for Donald Young, as the American has secured a wild card into the main draw of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open.

The fourth event in the 2018-2019 Oracle Challenger Series is underway at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and Young clinched one of the two men’s wild cards by advancing to the third round of the tournament and taking the leaderboard lead with 80 points going into his third round match against Lloyd Harris. Yong’s admirable run, coupled with several American losses yesterday, have cemented his claim to a main draw wild card into the 2019 BNP Paribas Open.

Full article here.

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Donald Young, Jr. In 2019 Oracle Challenger Series

 (Oracle Challenger Series) In a three-set tiebreak victory over World No. 267 Thai-Son Kwiatowski, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), World No. 214 Donald Young kepts his wild card hopes very much alive. By securing a second round appearance at Oracle Challenger Series Indian Wells, Young is guaranteed at least 5 ranking points which, when added to his current total of 70, places him even with fellow Americans Roy Smith and Reilly Opelka, neither of whom are playing the Indian Wells event.

A seasoned player who has spent 15 years on the ATP Tour, Young, who was once ranked as high as World No. 38, is no stranger to the BNP Paribas Open and hopes to capitalize on Oracle’s unique tournament format to earn himself a wild card.

Up next for Young is number 10 seed and World No. 122, Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland.

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Twenty-nine-year-old Donald Young has made the US Open main draw every year for 14 years, and continued to do so this year in a very exciting way. Young came through the qualifying rounds with true grit and workmanship. So great to see him continue to move forward.

Keep it movin' Donald Young!!

Eighteen-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime also powered through the 2018 US Open qualifying rounds thereby obtaining a spot in the main draw.Unbeknownst to him, round one of the tournament would pit him against friend and fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Win or lose, Auger-Aliassime is a sight to behold in the game.

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American Donald Young lost to Germany’s Benjamin Becker, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4


Sloane Stephens, ranked and seeded No. 18 at Wimbledon, was beaten by No. 109 Maria Kirilenko, who was ranked No. 10 in the world just a year ago. Plagued by shoulder and knee injuries, Kirilenko is on the comeback trail now—apparently with a vengeance.

“She's done well here in the past. I knew it was going to be tricky, but that's like every other Grand Slam first-round match,” Stephens said of the 6-2, 7-6 (6) loss.
This loss could drop her out of the Top 20 by the end of Wimbledon.


Court 12 was so brimful with charisma when Marcos Baghdatis and Dustin Brown faced one another in the first round that you wondered if there would be room for all that magnetism and the tennis too.

Brown came into this match on the up after his spectacular demolition of Rafael Nadal on the grass of Halle earlier this month, and many would have favoured him to down the former world No.8, who is now ranked 119 and needed a wild card to secure his place in the draw. But in the event a typically flamboyant display from the 6ft 5in German came at too great a price. It was Baghdatis who won 6-4, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(4).



Eighteen-year-old American Taylor Townsend enjoyed a wonderful spell on the red clay of the French Open last month, reaching the third round before bowing out to No.14 seed Carla Suarez Navarro, but was not able to fare as well at Wimbledon.

Townsend lost 7-5, 6-2 to Klára Koukalová of the Czech Republic, but is determined not to dwell on the loss.

“I definitely am not pleased about my match, but it's just a learning experience really,” she insisted. “I'm just going to take what I've learned over the past two slams. I'm going to go back home. I'm going to work extremely hard and get ready for the US Open Series. I have tons of tournaments to look forward to and a lot of great things are ahead, but it's time to just put my head down and work again.

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PARIS (AP) –  Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain thwarted a comeback attempt by Donald Young of the United States and beat him 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4 Saturday at the French Open, making John Isner the only American man in the fourth round.

The 41st-ranked Garcia-Lopez, who surprised No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the first round, is in the final 16 at a major tournament for the first time.

Young, who is from Chicago, was trying to pull off his first victory in a match after dropping the first two sets, but Garcia-Lopez closed it out after more than 3½ hours.

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In his post-match interview American Donald Young said, "I have actually never won a match outside of the U.S. on red clay.  So to win two here at the French Open, it means a lot."

Young advanced to the third round today after a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez.  This represents only the third occasion that he has been able to get this far at a grand slam tournament.

When asked whether he believes he's doing well because of the big stage and the greater challenge, Young responded, "Yeah, actually, I like the big stage a little more than the challengers and everywhere else.  I feel like I play better against higher level players.

"But, yeah, I just feel like I put the work in and I'm playing well.  I'm just letting my game flow and do what it does."

Awaiting Donald in the third round is yet another Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.




Tsonga The First Of The Frenchman To Charge Into Round 3

Austrian Jürgen Melzer fell to the mighty swings of France's own Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday. The No. 13 seed took the match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Post-match Tsonga stated that, "Jerzy is a difficult player. You never know exactly what to expect on court. I'm not really talking about his behavior but rather his game. He's rather unpredictable. He's very tall, he strikes hard. He can have a very high first ball, first-serve percentage, striking really hard ... so you have to find a way to neutralize him, and it's not always that easy."

Up next for Tsonga is the No. 22 seed Jerzy Janowicz of Poland.




Gael Monfils Flies Through Yet Another Round

The consistently acrobatic Frenchman Gael Monfils also moved through the second round in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1, eliminating Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff.  Struff put up quite a defense in the first set, but was not able to overcome the game of the 23rd seed.

Italian Fabio Fognini, the tournament's 14th seed, awaits Monfils in the 3rd round.

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On Day Three of the 2012 US Open, Round One of Men's and Women's Doubles began and were completed as follows:

WOMEN'S DOUBLES

Venus Williams, USA and Serena Williams, USA
Megan Moulton-Levy, USA and Lindsay Lee-Waters
6-4, 6-0

Racquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
Dominika Cibulkova, SVK and Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
4-6, 6-1, 6-2

Madison Keys, USA and Jessica Pegula, USA
Akgul Amanmuradova, UZB and Monica Niculescu, ROU
6-2, 6-2

MEN'S DOUBLES

Nicholas Monroe, USA and Donald Young, USA
Michael Llodra, FRA(7) and Nenad Zimonjic, SRB(7)
5-7, 6-3, 6-4

Raven Klaasen, RSA and Alex Bogomolov, Jr., RUS
Tatsuma Ito, JPN and Go Soeda, JPN
6-1, 6-3

Dustin Brown, GER and Christopher Kas, GER
Leander Paes, IND(5) and Radek Stepanek, CZE(5)
3-6, 3-6

James Blake, USA and Sam Querrey
defeated by
Treat Conrad Huey, PHI and Dominic Inglot, GBR
 6-1, 7(9)-6(7)

MIXED DOUBLES

Sloane Stephens, USA and Rajeev Ram, USA
defeated
Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA and Horia Tecau, ROU
6-2, 5-7, 1(10)-0(8)

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American Donald Young during 2012 US Open first round match again Switzerland's Roger Federer.

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Donald Young, 2012 Olympics, London

Andreas Seppi, Italy

It's back to the drawing board for American Donald Young who is now the holder of a fifteen-match losing streak. The fifteenth loss came in a place where winners go to win... the Olympic Games. Italy's Andreas Seppi defeated Young 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of play.

Which is why I have to admit that I too was surprised when Donald's name was released as one of the US's 2012 Olympians. He had not been having a great year, so why the selection?

Then again, we all know that Donald is a very talented lefty, who soared as a junior, but has just not been able to capitalize on that talent since joining the ATP Tour. So, in addition to the fact that others who may have gone, who are injured or out for other reasons, we could've done a lot worse than Donald Young.

Thankfully, he's still a young man and the promise is still there. It is the proof that is lacking.

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As the curtain goes up on the BB&T Atlanta Open, the questions that come rushing forward seem too numerous to count..First there is a tournament field that includes the top ranked American Mens players in the world, four of which will head back to the All-England Club for the Olympics in two weeks.

The early commitment from Andy Roddick was big for the image of this event. Roddick won his first career ATP title in Atlanta and remains popular despite a recent drop in rankings. A-Rod is looking to ramp up his game before heading back to England.

Mardy Fish is two-time defending champion of this event, and after dealing with health matters in the Spring, looks to be ready to go for a threepeat. Fish passed on a spot on the Olympic team and is expected to play at Washington instead. Atlanta will be he most talented field he will face until after the Olympics.

Then there is John Isner.The UGA alum and two-time runner up here is coming to town on the heels of a strong showing at Newport. A great week in front of a supportive crowd could give him the boosted he needs headed back to the scene of a disappointing early exit at Wimbledon.

There are still more questions than answers about players like Ryan Harrison. The first time Olympian is coming off a semi-final run at Newport.. Donald Young is bound for London too, but is in the throws of a 13 match losing streak. Perhaps playing before the home crowd will help he regain the form that made him a hit at the US Open last year. The more interesting story coming to the Atlanta tournament for me has to be Brian Baker, who at this time last year was ranked #752 in the world. The one time junior phenom is now an overnight sensation at age 27 and ranked 76 in the world.Look for a few folks to drive down from Music City to see Baker play in Hotlanta.

But the biggest question may be the new venue for Atlanta's ATP event. Atlantic Station is a shopping, entertainment and residential development in the heart of the city. It is an idea that is so fresh and outside of the box that some are wondering how the traditional tennis community will treat it.With over 150 thousand card carrying league tennis players in the metro Atlanta area, this is a city that has long been know for choosing to play rather than watch. Let's see if they will accept and embrace a new approach to professional tennis, not just for Atlanta but for the entire nation. Instead of Tennis Anyone it time to say Tennis Everyone...Enjoy the tournament Ya'll !!!!

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American Donald Young

American Donald Young has not fared too well in the first round of his last two tournaments.

Last week we saw the twenty-two-year old get knocked out of the first round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships by fellow American Michael Russell 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.

American Steve Johnson

On Monday night at The BB&T Atlanta Open, wildcard Steve Johnson was also able to send Young packing in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Young, who is currently ranked 58th in the world, will join the USA Olympic team in London next week.

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American Donald Young at 2012 Wimbledon Championships.

NEWPORT, RI (AP) — Michael Russell beat fellow American and seventh-seeded Donald Young, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, Monday in the opening round at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.

The tournament, the only one held on grass courts in North America, features a number of Olympians from 10 countries scheduled to play before heading to the London Games on Wimbledon’s grass surface later this summer.

Young, the 57th-ranked player in the world entering the week, is part of the US Olympic team.

Young dominated the opening set, winning 10 of 11 first-serve points and 16 of 18 service points overall. He closed the set in 25 minutes before the 96th-ranked Russell changed his attack.

‘‘It’s difficult on a grass court, it’s almost like you’re hitting and you keep waiting to see who’s going to get a bad bounce first,’’ Russell said. ‘‘I thought I was playing a little more aggressive in the second or the third set. Even when I did miss, I thought I was playing with the right style of play.’’

In the final set, Young fought off three match points in the ninth game before Russell closed it out when Young hit a backhand service return into the net on the final point.

‘‘Obviously I wanted to close it out when he was serving,’’ Russell said. “But like I said, in the third set I felt really comfortable in my serve and was able to serve it out, which was nice.’’

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Jo-Willie Tsonga, the No. 11 seed, imposed his bigger, higher-risk game on Fernando Verdasco and triumphed convincingly in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, in a marquee matchup of two sluggers known for their aesthetically pleasing, but also bruising, tennis.

The early Saturday evening match was technically the last of the day session, beginning roughly the same time as the Ashe night session, and day ticketholders packed the Grandstand to overflow, with lines stretching around the block to get in.

Surely, though, this will be Tsonga’s last match on Grandstand; next up, in the Round of 16, he plays the red-hot American Mardy Fish.


Despite her No. 28 seed, Serena came in as the consensus favorite and proved to be just that, dropping only three games in her first two matches against Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski and the Netherlands’ Michaella Krajicek, respectively. In the third round, the 29-year-old three-time Open champion looked poised to take a fourth, knocking out the No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 6-1, 7-6(5) on Saturday.

Next up, Serena will face No. 16 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the 2008 French Open champ, who has also breezed through her matches in straight sets. The road from there should only get tougher as five top-10 seeds remain: No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 2 Vera Zvonareva, No. 7 Francesca Schiavone, No. 9 Samantha Stosur and No. 10 Andrea Petkovic.


In front of a boisterous and supportive crowd on Sunday, American Donald Young defeated the No. 24 seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. Young played smart, gritty tennis, matching Chela’s consistent baseline game when he needed to and employing more offensive firepower than his higher-ranked opponent. Young hit 46 winners to Chela’s 19, and converted on five of 10 break point opportunities to take a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 win.

This latest upset for the No. 84-ranked Young continues a roll like no other he's had in the pros. His three wins here equal the number of Grand Slam victories he’s had in his entire career, having won two matches at the 2007 US Open and one match at the 2010 Australian Open. It follows on the heels of his second round win over the No. 14 seed Stanislas Wawrinka, a match that saw Young score the first five-set victory of his career. His ranking had fallen to No. 146 as recently as this past February, but Young came into the Open with the highest ranking he's had since May of 2008, and after this tournament it will climb much higher.

"This is what you work for, this is what you dream of," Young said after his win. "I'm just excited to be able to do this in New York, in my home country's major."


Friday was a day of missed opportunities for James Blake. The American, a quarterfinalist here in 2005 and 2006, found himself with a break advantage in both the second and third sets against No. 5 seed David Ferrer, but couldn't quite capitalize in front of a boisterous home crowd.

Ferrer, the Spaniard, broke back in each of the last two sets, winning the match 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Grandstand.

It was "The People's Court" to start the afternoon -- or at least seemed that way. Blake, once a top-10 player and a Harvard grad with New York ties, looked primed to capitalize on a maximum-capacity crowd that was loudly in his corner. 

For Blake, it was the first time since 2001 that he hasn't advanced past the second round at the Open. He has continued to climb his way back from a right knee injury this year and at one point was ranked as low as No. 173 in the world. He entered into the Open this year ranked 63rd.


American teenager Sloane Stephens lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 to Serbian Ana Ivanovic on Friday evening. She never really seemed able to find her footing, but did attempt to do so as the match went on. Unfortunately, sufficient response to give herself a fighting chance never materialized.

Post match she said “I was so caught up in being tight and nervous and not really handling the situation well to just freaking out, like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Stephens said. “I was thinking like a 10-year-old. Everything kind of got to me at the end. I tried to fight it as best I could. But at some point, it catches up to you.”

“My serve is something that I usually can count on, and today it wasn’t there.”

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American Donald Young owned, and took control of his game today in a way that he hasn't previously. It was clear from the onset of his match with Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka that Donald was in a mode of focus that kept him sufficiently centered to see the match through no matter what the outcome.

The outcome, however, was nothing short of incredible. The 84th ranked 22-year old who received a wild card into the Open, literally took the match that appeared to be in Wawrinka's pocket mid fourth set.

The steadiness that Young embraced to win the fourth set, endure a bit of a see saw in the fifth and just dominate the tie-break to win this match was powerful to watch.

Taking the 7-6 (7), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) win in 4 hours, 20 minutes set the Open up for a Friday that it could not have anticipated.

This win matches his best performance at a Grand Slam by reaching the third round, which he also accomplished at Flushing Meadows in 2007.

Donald's next opponent is World No. 24 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.

Keep it moving forward Donald, what a win!!!

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The No. 11 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga began his US Open campaign with a solid, straight-set win over Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan.

Tsonga showed no signs of the right arm injury that forced him to retire against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semis of Montreal in early August. His serve and forehand were firing on all cylinders, at least when he needed them to, as he secured a service break in each of the first two sets and jumped out ahead in the third for a comfortable 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Tsonga, his demeanor relaxed and confident, hit seven aces, 39 winners and had 29 unforced errors. The times the No. 82-ranked Lu did challenge Tsonga on his serve, the Frenchman overcame the threats with almost routine efficiency, by pouding serves and forehands to Lu's weaker backhand side.

Tsonga is now a solid 20-9 in Grand Slam matches in 2011, with a semifinal finish at Wimbledon in his last major. He also has two wins over Roger Federer in the past three months--one in the quarters at Wimbledon and the other in the round-of-16 in Montreal. A finalist at the 2008 Australian Open, Tsonga's hard-court suited game makes him one of the main challengers here to the big three of Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal.


In his first round match today at the U.S. Open, World No. 84 Donald Young, chalked up a win against Slovak Lukas Lacko, ranked 162nd in the world in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.


Post match Donald was asked about being the first American male to win on the new court, he said " It's awesome.  I didn't know that.  I'm just happy to win the first match and happy to be on that court, which is great. Yeah, I'm happy that's part of history."

When compared to fellow American Mardy Fish in that he seems to be a late bloomer, Donald responded, "Yeah, I mean, I think everyone's light turns on at their own time.  I'm starting to feel like mine is turning on.  Yeah, people do it at their own time.  Not everybody does it when everybody expects it to be done. I wish it could have been earlier.  It's starting to come now and I'm excited about it."

COMPLETE INTERVIEW HERE

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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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The inaugural Winston-Salem Open, a new tournament on the ATP World Tour, got underway on Sunday with five matches on the schedule. Two of those first-round matches were played and won byAmericans James Blake and Donald Young.

Blake ran his record in the city to a perfect 7-0 on Sunday night as he beat Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5, 6-1 in his first-round match in the Winston-Salem Open. 

This came on Center Court at the new Wake Forest tennis complex, not across the street at Joel Coliseum, where Blake is unbeaten in six Davis Cup matches. But that didn’t seem to matter to the 31-year-old New Yorker.

"It’s great coming back here," Blake said. "Just across the street. It’s a little different being out in this heat and humidity, but it still feels great. The crowd obviously was incredibly supportive. A little different atmosphere than Davis Cup, but it’s still a lot of fun. I remember the area well and it’s good to be back and hopefully I’ll continue to play the way I did tonight, and maybe even better."

Blake won twice here in his Davis Cup debut in 2001 when the U.S. beat India in a relegation match. He tacked on two more wins in the U.S.’s quarterfinal win over Spain in 2007, then won two more in a quarterfinal win over France the following year.

"Winston-Salem has been good to me," he said. "It was such an emotional week that first time playing against India, right after 9-11, my first Davis Cup, with Andy Roddick. We had a blast. I still remember so much from that whole week, really. To be back here, it seems like not long ago, but it’s been over a decade, so that’s a little crazy. But it’s been a lot of fun from then to now, and hopefully I’ll get some more wins, too."

Blake started slowly against Kukushkin, who came into the match ranked No. 62 in the South African Airways ATP rankings.

"He has a second serve that I feel I can attack," Blake said. "One of my biggest weapons is my second serve return, being able to hurt guys with that and make them think about it a lot. I was able to do that today. I feel like the courts are pretty good for that. Hardcourts are always better for me, but these feel like they grab the ball a little bit and it gives me time to go after the second serve. Today it was effective. I feel like the only times I didn’t return it well were when I was just trying to get the ball in the court and was getting a little too tentative. Which is something I do less and less the more confident I am. But in the second set I was pretty confident going after him the whole time."

Confidence, Blake said, seems to be coming to him more and more as the summer goes on. He won two matches in Cincinnati last week before losing to Roger Federer in the third round.

"I’ve won a decent number of matches this summer and I’ve been playing pretty well and feeling like once you get into that routine, that rhythm of winning matches, it seems to snowball," Blake said. "You just feel when it’s 5-all you’re going to win that set. You just feel good out there on the court and you can go for your shots. That’s what happened at the end of the first set and then in the second."


Donald Young needed just 68 minutes to close out a 6-3, 6-4 win over German Michael Berrer.

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2011 Men's Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Mardy Fish (USA)	185
2	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	100
3	Ernests Gulbis (LAT)	85
T-4	John Isner (USA)	70
	Gael Monfils (FRA)	70
	Radek Stepanek (CZE)	70
7	Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)	60
8	Ryan Harrison (USA)	50
9	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)	45
T-10	Kevin Anderson (RSA)	30
	Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)	30
	Viktor Troicki (SRB)	30
T-13	Nicolas Almagro (ESP)	25
	Tomas Berdych (CZE)	25
	Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA)	25
	Gilles Muller (LUX)	25
	Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)	25
	Donald Young (USA)	25
T-19	Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)	15
	Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)	15
	Marin Cilic (CRO)	15
	Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)	15
	Somdev Devvarman (IND)	15
	Ivan Dodig (CRO)	15
	Roger Federer (SUI)	15
	Richard Gasquet (FRA)	15
	Ivo Karlovic (CRO)	15
	Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)	15
	Rajeev Ram (USA)	15
	Fernando Verdasco (ESP)	15

   

2011 Women's Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Serena Williams (USA)	170
2	Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)	130
3	Samantha Stosur (AUS)	70
4	Vera Zvonareva (RUS)	60
5	Andrea Petkovic (GER)	50
T-6	Victoria Azarenka (BLR)	45
	Marion Bartoli (FRA)	45
T-8	Ana Ivanovic (SRB)	40
	Sabine Lisicki (GER)	40
10	Maria Sharapova (RUS)	30
T-11	Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)	25
	Lucie Safarova (CZE)	25
	Roberta Vinci (ITA)	25
	Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)	25
T-15	Marina Erakovic (NZL)	15
	Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)	15
	Petra Kvitova (CZE)	15
	Na Li (CHN)	15
	Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)	15
	Ayumi Morita (JPN)	15
	Shuai Peng (CHN)	15
	Francesca Schiavone (ITA)	15
	Sloane Stephens (USA)	15
	Jie Zheng (CHN)	15

Standings through Week 4

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