Black Tennis Pros

American Sloane Stephens after defeating Italy's Francesca Schiavone on day 2 of the 2012 US Open.

Judging by Sloane Stephens' performance on Louis Armstrong Stadium Tuesday evening, women's tennis is out with the old, in with the new. The 19-year-old American sensation stunned veteran Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4 in an intense first-round matchup that saw her upset yet another seed in Flushing Meadows, in the same fashion as she did in her debut here last year.

Stephens has had a stellar year since making her presence known at this event last year, when she reached the third round as a wild card and upset two seeds (No. 23 Shahar Peer and No. 16 Ana Ivanovic) en route. In her 2012 season, Stephens has tallied career-firsts, reaching the semifinals of two events, at Washington and Strasbourg, as well as a fourth round appearance at Roland Garros, all of which have played a part in her catapult up the ranks to No. 44. As for former French Open champ Schiavone, who played in her 13th Open this year, the last time she made a first-round exit in New York was in 2001.

The matchup between the rising, fresh-faced American and the fiery, theatrical Italian had high expectations, and the two players didn't disappoint in rally exchanges. Schiavone, the No. 22 seed, began the match with a severe case of service woes, double-faulting five times in her opening service game to hand the early break to Stephens on a silver platter. But her level of play picked up after that, and both players showed off their amazing court speed throughout the match, trading angled drop shots and tracking them down in winning efforts, much to the disbelief of the animated crowd.

Schiavone used high-looping topspin shots to keep Stephens behind the baseline, but the teenager countered her opponent's heavy spin by flattening it out with down-the-line winners, drawing a roar from the crowd with every winner she struck. Faced with battling not only Stephens' power and speed, but also the pro-American crowd and the chair umpire (the two exchanged a few words after Schiavone was warned for losing her temper), the 32-year-old Italian began to commit a slew of unforced errors (36 in the match) that eventually cost her the match.

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Sergei Bubka, Ukraine

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga passed the test posed by Ukraine's Sergei Bubka on Thursday afternoon, earning a straight-sets victory 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 to secure his spot in the third round.

With this win, Tsonga has yet to drop a set en route to the third round, and his tennis looks solid enough to propel him into week two of the US Open. The Frenchman hasn't been pushed in his early round matches, but that may change in his next contest, when he could potentially face No. 19 seed Fernando Verdasco.

Both men opened the match with fairly easy service holds, but in the eighth game on Bubka's serve at 3-4, Tsonga put the pressure on his opponent to reach break point at 15-40. A forehand that sailed wide from Bubka handed Tsonga the break and a chance to serve out the set, which he did handily.

The second set began just as the first, but a break point in Tsonga's favor came a bit earlier, at 2-2, and he converted to take the lead. But Bubka took the break right back in an exciting eighth game at 4-3. Bubka stepped up and produced a solid return game, exhibiting some amazing feel with touch drop shots that fell just out of Tsonga's reach. The crowd came alive when Tsonga charged full-speed the net to track down one of Bubka's drop shots, but when he couldn't reach it in time, he avoided a run-in with the net by leaping over it near the post.


A brief shift in momentum went in Bubka's direction, as his net tactics and aggressive offense allowed him to get back in the set with a 5-4 lead. But Tsonga would have none of it, and he, too, showed great hands at the net, breaking Bubka for a 6-5 advantage and closing out the second set on his serve.

Tsonga needed only 30 minutes to take the final set, breaking Bubka in the third game and never looking back.

Tsonga, who has never fallen before the third round at the US Open, is looking to susurpass his best result here, which was a round of 16 appearance in 2009 as the No. 7 seed. And as the No. 11 seed, his chances of accomplishing that goal are good, considering the high level of play he brings as he entered the event. Tsonga reached the semifinals at Montreal before retiring against Novak Djokovic with a right arm injury.

Bubka, a 24-year-old qualifier who packs a mean serve, leaves Flushing Meadows after having won his first career Grand Slam match here, a four-set win over Andreas Haider-Maurer. And considering this was only Bubka's first US Open main draw and fourth ATP Tour-level tournament, he can't be too disappointed with the early exit.

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Jill Craybas, USA

NEW YORK (AP) — All in all, 16-year-old Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla., thought her Grand Slam debut was "awesome."

As well she should. After all, Keys became the youngest player since 2005 to win a match at the U.S. Open by beating 37-year-old Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-4 on Monday.

Keys was playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, and appearing in a tour-level event for only the third time. At 455th, she is the lowest-ranked woman in the field.
"Obviously it was a good first day. It's just been awesome," Keys said. "I'm really excited, and hopefully I have another good match Wednesday."

She wasn't intimidated by the setting Monday, even though she never had played in a match this important or at a tournament this big.

"It's pretty crowded. There's lots of energy," Keys said. "So it's definitely an awesome experience."

Her secret to dealing with the hustle and bustle of the U.S. Open?

"I have two younger sisters who are always really loud and everything, so I'm kind of used to noise," Keys explained.


 Keys won her first WTA main-draw match in 2009 at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., when she was 14 — about a decade after she first took up tennis.

Her interest in the sport came about after seeing Venus Williams on TV at home.

"I was 4, and I walked through my parents' bedroom — I think they were watching Wimbledon or something — and I decided I wanted Venus' dress. They told me if I played tennis, they'd buy me a tennis dress," Keys said. "I said, 'All right, I'll try it.' I have been playing ever since."

Craybas, who lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., was playing in her 45th consecutive Grand Slam tournament — tied for the longest active streak — and 49th overall. But she is 111th in the WTA rankings and — like Keys — needed a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association to get into the main draw.

Craybas made her Grand Slam debut at the 1996 U.S. Open, about 18 months after Keys was born, and was the second-oldest entrant this year.

This was the 15th time Craybas has played at Flushing Meadows.

"I was told there was a pretty big age difference," Keys said, "but I wasn't really thinking about it."

Four 16-year-olds, all days or weeks younger than Keys — Vania King, Nicole Vaidisova, Sessil Karatantcheva and Alexa Glatch — won U.S. Open matches in 2005.

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