Black Tennis Pros

Gael Monfils and Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi final.

Frenchman Gael Monfils, who was 3-0 down in the first set before storming back to win five games in a row to take it 6-4, the defeat by Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece was hard to take, and one he pinned on his faulty serve. The defeat came in at 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.

“In terms of the game, I guess I had some opportunities,” the world No. 23 said.

“I couldn’t make them great today. I think I was up a break, and I didn’t serve that good starting the second set. It was big confirmation when he broke me back. Less first serve, less accuracy.”

Monfils has admiration for the Greek player, “He’s a great player. He just broke the top 10. He’s one of the best players in the tour.”

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Sloane Stephens participating in the 2019 Abierto Mexicano Telcel Kick Off

2016 event champion and No. 1 seed Sloane Stephens wasted very little time in accomplishing today's goal of shutting down Pauline Parmentier of France.  In one hour and nine minutes, Sloane moved into the next round with a 6-2, 6-2 win.

In the post match interview, Sloane stated,“I felt good out there. Obviously I like coming back here and playing here. I’m happy to get that first win under my belt after having not played since Australia.

“I’m happy to be playing well and happier to have another chance to get back out on the court.”

Up next, Brazilian qualifier Beatriz Haddad Maia.

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Frenchman Gael Monfils in round one of the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Championships

The Frenchman opens his first round of play in the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Championships with the same precision and consistency that he has always utilized at his best. In head to head competition, his opponent, Marin Cilic of Croatia, has never been able to prevail against Monfils in their four meetings. Cilic was defeated today 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

During one game Monfils makes a point by exhibiting one of his very athletic jumps to smash the ball and the commentator makes a very apropos comment, "That's worth the entrance money, isn't it, alone... just look at this!" Oh, how true. 

Monfils has kicked off a purposeful and productive 2019. Go Gael!!

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Gael Monfils, France and Damir Džumhur, Bosnia in the 46th ABN AMRO Tournament

(ABN AMRO) Gäel Monfils always performs well during the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. This year also, because the 32-year-old Frenchman was the first man that reached the semi-finals at Rotterdam Ahoy after he defeated Damir Dzumhur: 6-1, 6-2.

"A well-played match”, the Frenchman said who got the nickname 'Flying Frenchman’ three years ago during his way to the finals. "I’ve lost only three games, which is proof that the with my coach discussed tactic is doing great. The hard work in the off-season pays off and I would go back to the top as soon as possible.”

Monfils became sixth in november 2016 and is currently 33st of the worldranking. Saturday afternoon he will compete against the winner of the duel Jo-Wilfried Tsonga-Daniil Medvedev. "The opponent doesn’t matter to me, because it will be hard against both of them. Last week I’ve lost from Medvedev in Sofia and I know Tsonga already. If Jo-Wilfried wins, there will be a Frenchman in the finals anyway. "

Keep an eye on this man the upcoming days @Gael_Monfils 🇫🇷. The celebration says it all... 👉 #abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/YC4VA8HN7u

— ABN AMRO WTT (@abnamrowtt) February 13, 2019

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A 👏 for the first singles player into the @abnamrowtt quarter-finals... @iamgaelmonfils . . . . . . . . . #Tennis #ATPTour #Monfils

A post shared by ATP Tour (@atptour) on Feb 13, 2019 at 7:16am PST

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For a fourth day in succession the French stepped out on court at Wimbledon, but only Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will return for a fifth. Having given in to bad light at 9-9 in the final set on Wednesday, the Frenchman finally found a way past Sam Querrey on Thursday to post a 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 6-3, 14-12 victory and book his place in the third round.

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Gael Monfils reached a milestone Tuesday, recording his 300th match win by defeating Tunisian Malek Jaziri 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-4. Monfils, making his first appearance since 2011, has never advanced beyond the Wimbledon third round and called every grass-court win a "bonus" after the match.

The 24th-seeded Frenchman will next face Czech Jiri Vesely, who led 5-1 when Victor Estrella retired with a leg injury. "For me on grass, he is a good player," said Monfils. "It's hard for me to play on grass court. Basically, no matter what, is going to be tough match for me."

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Five-time Wimbledon Champion Serena Williams has her eyes on the prize - as usual. The world no. 1 eased through round one with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Anna Tatishvilli of Georgia. Serena is without a doubt the favorite to win.


'I have nothing to prove, nothing to hide, nothing to lose' ~ Venus Williams. There you go! It's all in the history books at this point and what will be, will be. Ms. Williams etched another win in the books, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 over Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain. WORK IT OUT VENUS!!


Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wasted little time in securing a place in the second round of Wimbledon when returning to Court One on Tuesday morning.

The 14th seed had been left frustrated by heavy late-evening rain which denied him the chance to serve for the match in an epic clash against Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Tsonga won the match 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.


Still buzzing from her first WTA title a few days ago, American teenager Madison Keys showed again why she is being tipped for a big future as she powered into Wimbledon's second round on Tuesday.

Hurling down 25 clean winners, including seven aces, she had too much weaponry for Puerto Rico's Monica Puig in a 6-3 6-3 win.

"It feels really good. There was definitely a moment on Saturday where I was like, this would be awesome if it happened every week," she told reporters after the match, calling the title her "biggest milestone" to date.


His unorthodox approach is well known, yet today he took this to new heights in his 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-4 victory over Tunisian lucky loser Malek Jaziri.

Monfils complained of injury, chatted frequently between points with his supporters and at the change of ends with the umpire, vacillated wildly in his intensity levels – sometimes he wouldn’t even attempt to run for shots, other times he would fling himself about the court in mad pursuit of them – and also produced some jaw-dropping tennis.

“On grass is never easy for me. (So) I'm very relaxed. I'm just the coolest than ever on grass,” he explained. “Then is hard for me to play like solid tennis, I will say, because I can't move. Actually I can't move. I don't feel comfortable. So I try to play just some part of the match. It was fun, so it's good for me.”

Monfils, seeded No.24, recovered from deficits of 1-3 in the first set and 1-4 in the second, finishing the match with a tidy stats sheet reading 50 winners to just 24 errors along with 17 aces. “For me, it's like shot after shot, just focus on my serve. If the ball is very short, I try to hit it and come to the net,” he surmised.


Heather Watson became the third British player to reach round two with an impressive straight-sets win over Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia at Wimbledon.

Watson came through 6-3, 6-2 on Court Three to follow up Monday's victories by Andy Murray and Naomi Broady.


Victoria Duval’s sugary manner and broad smile was understandable given she had won her debut match at Wimbledon, defeating 29th seed Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

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ATP Pro Circuit player Gianni Mina of France reached the semifinals of the French challenger in Blois, France this week. Mina was unable to reach the final however, he lost the semifinal to Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina 6-2, 6-1.

But his "YEAAAAAH!" face is priceless!

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PARIS — No. 23 Gael Monfils beat No. 14 Fabio Fognini 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 on Saturday to advance to the fourth round of the French Open and, oh, what a spectacle it was.

In their last meeting at Roland Garros, in 2010, Fognini won 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 9-7 in a controversial match that was suspended for darkness at 5-5 in the fifth set amid jeers. This time, there was no threat of darkness, and the highly anticipated rematch sizzled when it came to drama, but fizzled when it came to high-quality tennis.

After a nervous start in which he dropped the first set, Monfils rolled through the next two in entertaining fashion. The Frenchman began to suffer from fatigue, however, and completely gave away the fourth set, winning only six points. But Monfils came out firing in the final set, inspired by the constant cheers of “GA-EL, GA-EL” from the crowd. Showing off his trademark athleticism and shot making, he opened a 3-0 lead and avoided a late collapse.

During his post-match interview Monfils discussed coming back in the fifth set,  “I was pretty tired after the third [set], and I took my time. I was suffering with the long rallies. When I arrive in the fourth, he break me like straight away. I tried to break back, but I couldn’t. The first two points were too tough for me, and then it’s easy. I wanted to serve first in the fifth, so the only option I had is to take six‑Love. Why should I make any effort [when trailing that much]?”

Monfils was asked whether he could win a Grand Slam amid the ups and downs of his career, "For me, it’s not about ups and downs. It’s more about saving my ass every day [laughter].”

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga set up a last 16 meeting with Novak Djokovic as he dismissed last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz in front of a roaring Suzanne Lenglen crowd. What he lacked in perfect accuracy, the Frenchman more than made up for with bravura – it was the kind of day he relishes, galloping about the court in front of the home faithful. He beat the No.22 seed 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.


The two traded breaks at the start of the third as Tsonga’s concentration wandered a little. But halfway through the set the Frenchman breached Janowicz’s defences again – and this time it stuck. He closed out the match with a smash, to leave the crowd recalling memories of his epic quarter-final with Novak Djokovic two years ago when Tsonga somehow saw four match points go by. His ranking now is not as high as it was then, and the Serb is hungrier than ever for the title – but their fourth-round match this coming Sunday is an intriguing prospect, just the same.

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WAY TO GO TAYLOR!!

In the breath of fresh air that eighteen-year-old American Taylor Townsend brings to the courts, she convincingly advanced to the third round of Roland Garros today after taking out the 20th seed, France's own Alize Cornet.

She is now the youngest American woman to advance to the third round at Roland Garros since 2003.

Up next for Taylor is Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.

Matching Exits for the Williams Sisters

In what has to be one of the most unlikely unexpected combination of exits, both of the Williams sisters, World No. 1 Serena and 29th-seed-big-sister Venus both fell to their respective round two opponents.


Venus began her match well and it appeared that she would be able to contend well with nineteen-year-old Slovakian Anna Schmiedlova - not so.  As the American's game slowly dismantled, Schmiedlova picked up the pace, and control of the match as well, eventually winning 2-6 6-3 6-4.


Of  significantly greater shock was seeing the World No. 1 make her exit to Spaniard Garbine Muguruza - although her gameplay did not suggest that she was up for any task.  For whatever reason, Serena struggled throughout the match and committed a laundry list of 28 unforced errors. In a little over an hour, Muguruza had the win of her career under her belt.

Oh well...

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France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrates after setting Olympic record.

Fifth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga completed a remarkable second-round victory over Milos Raonic of Canada on Tuesday at the London 2012 Olympics Tennis Event.

Tsonga defeated Raonic 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 in three hours and 57 minutes on Court One. "At the end, I was just very happy for my country," said Tsonga. "I did it for them, and that's it."

It was the longest set (48 games) in Olympics tennis history, beating the previous record (38 games) that took place at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in a women’s doubles match, when Canadians Carling Basset-Seguso and Jill Hetherington beating Mercedes Paz and Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina 7-6, 5-7, 20-18. It was also the most games (66) in a best-of-three sets men's or women's match at the Olympics.

Tsonga hit 17 aces and 60 winners, while Raonic hit seven aces and 76 winners. Tsonga converted two of his five break point opportunities, while Raonic could only convert one of eight. Tsonga committed 27 unforced errors to 40 for Raonic.

The match was suspended due to rain at 1:23 p.m. local time, with Tsonga leading 2-1, on serve, in the third set. The encounter resumed at 4:03 p.m. and the deciding set lasted exactly three hours.

“I don’t think I can say too much about it now,” said Raonic. He later joked, “Maybe next time, I will sort of ask my opponent, ‘Do you want to play a long match and let’s take it seriously from 26-26?’”

Raonic saved one match point at 15-16, 30/40. At 20-21, he fell to 0/30 and was forced to save another match point en route to levelling the score. At 23-24, the Canadian dropped to 0/40. He saved one match point with an unreturned serve, but on the next point he was unable to scramble up a Tsonga drop volley.

"I think it is something good," said Tsonga. "To have some good matches like this at the Olympics. It's good for tennis, it's good for sports and I'm just really happy with the way I played today."

In the the third round, Tsonga will play Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who used his greater grass-court experience, to beat ninth-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-4 in 71 minutes.

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A morning of inclement Melbourne weather couldn’t dampen the mood of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as he took to the Yarra River on Friday.

Despite overcast skies and blustery winds, the smiling Frenchman looked right at home while checking out the city sights from the bow of one of the city’s many water taxis.

“I like [to] spend a lot of time on water, I like [to] swim, I like fishing also,” he said.

“I like [the] people here, I like [the] weather, Even if today, you know, it’s not really good. Usually it’s pretty warm and I like that.”

A crowd favourite at Melbourne Park for his cool demeanour and free-wheeling style, Tsonga is about to enter his fifth Australian Open.

However, the sixth-seed faces a tough initiation to the 2012 tournament with an opening round clash against the 67th-ranked Denis Istomin.

Even though he holds a 2-0 career record over the Uzbekistani, Tsonga expects the first round battle with an in-form Istomin – who has reached the quarterfinals at Brisbane and the semifinals at Sydney this season – to be far from easy. “He’s playing well for the moment. It’s going to be a tough first round but, you know, I’m in a pretty good shape,” Tsonga said.

That “pretty good shape” has already seen him net a 2012 ATP title in Doha, courtesy of a 7-5 6-3 win over countryman Gael Monfils in the final.

Tsonga, nicknamed Ali for his resemblance to the legendary boxing icon Muhammed Ali, will be hoping to pack a similar punch when the Australian Open begins on January 16. His aim will be to go one win better than his previous best result, which occurred in 2008 when he reached the final before falling to current world No.1 Novak Djokovic.

“I feel great, I’ve had some great moments [at the Australian Open] in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,” he recalled.

“[I] hope I will play a good tournament.

When he’s not lining up his trademark forehand drive on court, Tsonga plans to use his down-time to check out some of the many restaurants scattered throughout Melbourne’s CBD.

“Sometimes at night I go out for dinner…on the river, on Chapel Street.”

And when asked about what he liked to do most outside of tennis – the likeable Tsonga revealed a simple, but perhaps not surprising, answer.

“I like to laugh, I like to laugh a lot. I think for me it’s the best medicine,” he grinned.

Heading in to the first major of the year, a relaxed, care-free and well-fed Tsonga can only bode well for his aspirations of winning a Grand Slam tournament.

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Too much too soon?

"I'm going to have to figure that out," responded Serena with regard to whether she is overplaying. "Nothing against Cincinnati or Toronto or the Stanfords that I've played, but everyone is preparing for the U.S. Open. I have to be smart and make sure it's not too much."

Serena is currently topping the U.S. Open Series Leaderboard with 170 points, having won the last two titles. On Tueday at the Western and Southern Open, Cincinnati, Ohio, she began to rack up even more points with a first-round-straight-sets win over the Czech Republic's Lucie Hradecka, 3-6, 6-7 (5).

At the same time, the match took a gradual toll on Serena that was very evident in her play and body language as well. It appeared towards the end of the second set that she would either be withdrawing, or calling for the trainer. In typical Serena fashion though, neither occurred -- she trudged along and found a way to win.

Hopefully a good night's rest will do the trick for play on Wednesday... wouldn't want to see her have to drop out of the Series -- and definitely not the U.S. Open!


Jo-Wilfried Tsonga used a powerful serve and a spotless return game to pick up his first career win at the Western & Southern Open, 6-3, 6-4 over Marin Cilic in the first round on Tuesday.

Serving near 130 mph, Tsonga hit nine aces and took advantage of more than 20 unforced errors by Cilic. "It was really a fluid match," Tsonga said. "Like everything was easy for me today, to serve and everything."

"This morning in warmups, I was feeling really good," said Tsonga, who has been battling an arm injury. "And during the match I felt really good."

After beating Cilic for the first time in his career, Tsonga next will play qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the second round today or Thursday.


American wild card James Blake will meet Switzerland's Roger Federer in a repeat of the 2007 Cincinnati final. Federer holds a 9-1 record against the former World No. 4, with his only loss coming in the quarter-finals of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Blake, who currently stands at No. 84 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, comfortably rolled past Italian Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-2 in 58 minutes as he converted three of his five break points.

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On Saturday night, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia qualified for the final of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank after a match that never actually ended.

Djokovic was leading 6-4 and 3-0 when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who defeated Roger Federer on Thursday, retired due to a right arm injury.

There were some spectacular points in the two-sided first set. Until 4-4, things were running smoothly despite the three break points that went to Djokovic.

In the ninth game, the World No.1 broke Tsonga and ran away with the set.

As the second set got underway, it seemed that Djokovic had also broken Tsonga's spirit. At 2-0, the Frenchman asked the chair umpire to call the trainer, who came out at the next changeover and quickly saw that Tsonga couldn't go on.

Attack, defense

At the start of the match, Tsonga pulled out his best offensive arsenal, pushing Djokovic to the limit. Unfortunately for him, the world no.1 stood firm. All Tsonga could do was fold.

Slowed by pain in the second set, the Frenchman changed his game and rallied from the backcourt with the king of counter offensives to no avail.

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(L-R) Nicolas Almagro and Tsonga

A day after knocking out two-time Rogers Cup champion Roger Federer, Tsonga delivered another strong performance, dismissing the eighth-seeded Almagro in one hour and 28 minutes.

The Frenchman won 70 per cent of his service points, and saved three break points in the final game to lock up the quarter-final win. The victory increased Tsonga’s undefeated record against Almagro to a 5-0 mark. "I was a bit tired today. I lacked energy. The match yesterday took a lot of stamina, and today my energy level was low," admitted Tsonga. "Therefore, I decided to focus on only a number of return games and try to focus on holding my serve. It was a way for me to save the energy I had left, not playing hard every game."

 
Tsonga is into the semi-finals for the second time at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Canada, after reaching the final four in Montreal two years ago. The 26 year old is looking to win his first title in 2011, having finished runner-up in Rotterdam (l. to Soderling) and the AEGON Championships in London (l. to Murray). Tsonga's biggest title to date came on home soil, when he claimed the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris three years ago (d. Nalbandian).

The World No. 16 and Djokovic have met eight times, and Tsonga holds a 5-3 edge. Djokovic won their most recent meeting, defeating the Frenchman in four sets in the Wimbledon semi-finals. "The last match was very close, very intense, very important for both of us," Djokovic said. "He's been playing better in last couple of months. I think he increased his level. He's and all around player. He can play pretty well on all surfaces. He has a big serve. If he serves well, he can beat anybody. He showed that in previous couple of tournaments.

"So it's going to be tough one. It's a fast surface. I need to return well and hope that I can get some chances."

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