Black Tennis Pros

Frenchman Gael Monfils into the fourth round of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open

ATP Tour - Gael Monfils’ resurgence continued on Monday in Indian Wells, as the 18th-seeded Frenchman defeated Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-0, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The 32-year-old, who advanced to the semi-finals in his past three events, is now 14-3 in 2019. He captured his second ATP 500 trophy in February at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

Thanks to his early-season efforts, World No. 19 Monfils is back inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since July 2017. He will face a stiff test in the next round against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber.

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Venus Williams in 2019 BNP Paribas Open post-match interview.

Great match Venus Williams!!

Having been one of the 2018 BNP Paribas Open semi finalists, here at the 2019 tournament Venus Williams has maintained her fight and prevailed over World #3 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win.

In a 2 hour 27 minute match, with not one single ace, Venus managed to either keep Kvitova at bay, or come back from a single and double break down.

In her post-match interview she stated, "I think everybody felt those ups and downs with me, I could feel the collective sigh, or the collective roar, it's unbelievable, I never want to let you down".

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Venus Williams ended a roller coaster match today against Germany's Andrea Petkovic with words of wisdom during her post match interview saying, "Every day is not your best day out here, but it doesn't mean that the heart and desire isn't there".

Venus, currently ranked at #36 on the WTA Tour, had a rough day at the office at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA. Nonetheless, whether it was fatigue, or otherwise, she was able to work her way through winning the first set at 6-4, but then turned around and lost the second set 0-6, she then returned to sufficient form to take the third set and match at 6-3.

Hopefully Venus will be able to maintain form in the next round, as she is scheduled to play a great competitor in the Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova.

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The 18-year-old from Montreal crushed Cameron Norrie of Britain 6-3, 6-2 in the first match on centre court on Thursday at the ATP Tour Masters 1000 event.

Auger-Aliassime, ranked 58th in the world, had 20 winners — 12 more than the 48th-ranked Norrie.

The Canadian got 80 per cent of his first serves in and had the same percentage for first-serve points, well above Norrie's 59 per-cent success rate on the latter stat.

Auger-Aliassime converted on all three of his break-point opportunities and won all his service games.

The result continues an impressive stretch for Auger-Aliassime, who moved well inside the top 100 for the first time in his career after making the final and quarterfinals, respectively, in his past two events on clay in Brazil.

Auger-Aliassime will next face No. 9 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who got a first-round bye. The 20-year-old Tsitsipas made headlines in Toronto last year when he advanced to the final of the Rogers Cup.

No. 13 seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and No. 24 seed Denis Shapovalov will join Auger-Aliassime in the second round after getting first-round byes.

On the women's side, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., was scheduled to play a first-round match later Thursday against Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., had Thursday off after winning her first-round match on Wednesday.

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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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American Taylor Townsend

(Oracle Challenger Series) In a highly-anticipated WTA matchup vital to determining who will earn the wild cards into the main draw of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, No. 9 seed Taylor Townsend took on fellow American Sachia Vickery on day two of play in Indian Wells. It was Townsend who came out on top, besting Vickery in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 in a match that took just over an hour to play.

Townsend is coming off of a strong performance at the Oracle Challenger Series Newport Beach just last month, where she reached the quarterfinals in singles and was a doubles finalist alongside partner Yanina Wickmayer.

Holding 29 points on the Road to Indian Wells Leaderboard coming into the week, she will give herself a chance to earn one of the wild cards into the 2019 BNP Paribas Open if she can have her best Oracle Challenger Series performance yet.

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Twenty-one-year-old Naomi Osaka has consolidated her U.S. Open Grand Slam Title with a consecutive title taken at the 2019 Australian Open.

This title acquisition was no easy victory for Osaka. Twenty-eight-year-old Petra Kvitová of the Czech Republic definitely intended to seal her 2019 Australian Open journey with a victory also.  Both women brought the intensity and fight that makes a final worth watching.

The three-set match that endured many ups and down from both players, ending in Kvitová being defeated 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4

Naomi and her father Leonard François

Post match Osaka said, "For me, Grand Slams is something you dream about playing as a kid," said the new top-ranked player in the world, during her press conference. "I don't ever want to waste this opportunity. So those are the biggest motivating factors for me."

"I had dreams that I would win this tournament, every time I have a dream, somehow I accomplish it, I still feel like it's a very strange moment. Like, I feel like I'm living right now, but it's not necessarily real, if that makes sense."


“I feel like it hasn't really sunk in,” admitted Osaka, who snapped a streak of eight different female Grand Slam champions in the past two years.

“Maybe in the next tournament I play, if I see the No.1 next to my name, I'll feel something. But for now, I'm more happy that I won this trophy.

“I would assume my next goal is to win the next tournament I play. Like, I'm going to have to play Indian Wells again. Of course, I'd love to win that again and then play Miami and hopefully win that. I think people that can win Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back, it's usually the best players in the world.

“I feel like I'm going with the flow. That's sort of been my motto my whole life.”

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MIAMI, March 25 (Reuters) - Serena Williams believes the United States needs to get more tour events if it is to address the lack of American women in the top 100 -- and she could be willing to play a role in bringing about that change.

The world number one is followed by her sister Venus, number six in the rankings, but the only other American women in the top 100 are Bethanie Mattek (37) and Jill Craybas (85).

The anticipated flood of talent following the emergence of the high-profile Williams sisters has not happened with the rankings dominated by East Europeans -- or as Serena puts it: "It seems like there are 12 Russians in the top 10".

"I just think, when I was growing up there were lots more tournaments in the United States, a lot more American players, now there are five or six tournaments and no American players.

"You don't see the players, they are in Europe and Asia which is where all the players are coming from," Williams told Reuters in an interview arranged by the WTA Tour's sponsor Sony Ericsson.

In recent years, a popular WTA tournament in San Diego has been dropped and Williams said this could have a knock on effect on attracting young girls to the sport.

"We have got to get tournaments back, like San Diego which was well established but was cancelled. Those tournaments were the ones I grew up watching. I grew up going to (the event at) UCLA because it was close to me. My Dad would take us there and I wanted to be a tennis player because of going there," she said.

ENTICE TALENT

The 27-year-old Williams said she could be interested in a role, after her playing days are over, trying to entice tournaments back to the U.S and developing young talent.

"That could be interesting it would be fun to get a lot of support back -- that is the only way we will get the players," she said.

Williams though has not completely given up hope on the next generation of players making the breakthrough.

"There are a few American players coming up, they are really, really young and haven't got attention yet and you never know.

"I didn't get much attention when I was very young, I came out of nowhere. I am hoping the same thing can happen," she said.

Despite her sadness at the decline of U.S. tennis, Williams boycotts one of the biggest events in Indian Wells -- where she was jeered by the crowd in 2001 after Venus pulled out of a semi-final clash with her sister.

Although that event has become one of the new mandatory tournaments, with penalties for non-attendance, Williams skipped this year's edition and says she has no intention of ever returning.

"I don't play Indian Wells, I haven't played it for forever and I will never play it again. After that bad experience there is no need for me to go back, I've been there and I left in glory," she said.

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Something must be in the air in Indian Wells, not Big Jo!

Truth is, in a featured match on Monday evening at the BNP Paribas Open, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was ousted by Russian Igor Andreev 7-5, 6-4.

Six aces and a moderate serving day were not sufficient to keep the powerful Frenchman in California. And to make matters worse, Andreev served worse than Tsonga! However, Andreev was able to capitalize on a couple of breaks of Tsonga's serve.

Oh well, next...

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INDIAN WELLS, CA - MARCH 16: Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic and Leander Paes of India play Juan Martin Del Potro and David Nalbandian of Argentina at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 16, 2009 in Indian Wells, California.

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Wow... I totally didn't see this coming.

In second round play at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California today, world no. 9 Gael Monfils of France was ousted by American John Isner, currently ranked at world no. 147. Isner defeated Monfils 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-4.

Monfils did not muster much defense or offense as Isner did not face any break points on serve, and broke Monfils three times in the one hour, 58 minute match.

This is the first time that Isner will advance to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

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In what was otherwise routine first and second round play at a tennis tournament, American James Blake and Finland's Jarkko Niemenen played a match worthy of a quarterfinal in second round play at the the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

In a match that went back and forth with Blake winning the first set 6-3 and Niemenen the second set 6-7(6), Blake ramped up his play and took Niemenen out in the third set 6-3.

It was well worth staying up for the length of the match.

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March 16, 2009 - James Blake

Hello once again. I hope everyone is doing well. It’s been a very good tournament so far. The crowds have been amazing and the weather has been great.

I managed to get through my first match even though I lost the second set. It was nice and warm during the day, but I played the second match of the evening session and it was a cool night, which made the conditions a little bit slower. I was happy to win and now I can focus on my next match.

When you play on the tour, there are no easy matches, no matter who you play. Sometimes you might see a score of a match that may look like an easy win, but I’ll tell you with the depth in men’s professional tennis these days, there are no easy wins and every match is tough.

In my first blog earlier this week, I mentioned that this tournament will always be special for me because I reached the final here in 2006, but there is something that happened in nearby Rancho Mirage at the beginning of my pro career that was also very special.

It was back in 2000, the year after I turned pro, when I came to the desert to play in a USTA Challenger at the Mission Hills Country Club. The week before, I had lost to Andy (Roddick) in the second round at a Challenger in Burbank, but in Rancho Mirage everything started to click.

I beat Bob Bryan in the first round and I went on to reach the finals, where I beat Cecil Mamiit to win the tournament. It was the second Challenger title of my career. I remember getting the winners’ check for $3,600, but the important thing was the confidence it gave me. It was a really good feeling I had knowing that I could compete on the tour with those guys.

One interesting thing I remember from that tournament was that Bob (Bryan) was debating just concentrating more on doubles. I have to smile knowing I may have had something to do with him and his brother becoming one of the best doubles teams of all-time.

For sports fans, this is an awesome time of the year. Besides all of the tennis going on, there is the upcoming NCAA men’s basketball tournament. I always get together with friends and fill out tournament brackets.

If you didn’t already know, I’m a big North Carolina Tar Heels fan and I’m pretty happy they got the top seed in the South region. I hope they go all the way this year.

Besides following the basketball tournament, I’ll be following major league baseball as soon as the season starts. I’m also a big Mets fan and I hope new relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez will help the Mets into the playoffs this year.

My coach is telling me it’s time to hit the practice courts, so I’ll say good-bye for now.

All the best.
James

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March 14, 2009 - James Blake

Greetings from Indian Wells everyone.

The good folks at the tournament here have asked me to put together a short blog this week, so I was more than happy to do it.

I love coming to Indian Wells at this time of the year when the weather is nearly perfect for playing tennis. For the most part, I play well here and I have a lot of good memories from the tournament.

In 2006 I had a “dream” tournament when I won five straight matches to get to the finals. It would have been great to win that last match and take the title, but Roger (Federer) was just too tough that day.

I’ve already noticed that this year’s tournament has a little bit of a different feel here because it has a new sponsor, BNP Paribas. I’m familiar with them because they sponsor Davis Cup and they’re a pretty big tennis sponsor in Europe.

The other day I happened to check out the men’s qualifying draw which was played this last Tuesday and Wednesday. I was happy to see guys like Kevin Kim, Robert Kendrick, Todd Widom, Michael Russell and Brendan Evans get to the main draw.

These guys spend a lot of time on the USTA challenger circuit during the year and they work hard, so it’s nice to see them win a couple of matches and get into the main draw of a big tournament like the BNP Paribas Open.

Sometimes as an American tennis player, you hear fans ask, “What’s wrong with American tennis?” If you look at the first round of the main draw, you’ll notice quite a few Americans won first-round matches including Kendrick, Widom and Russell. I was also happy to see Taylor Dent come through with a win. He’s been training hard during his comeback.

When I got here, someone asked me if I had brought my golf clubs with me. I actually didn’t this year, but who knows maybe if I have a chance later, I’ll get out on the greens.

Speaking of golf, I’ll never forget the time a couple of years ago when I went golfing at the Dunes at the La Quinta Resort here with my coach Brian Barker, Mardy Fish and Scott Humphries.

We were on the seventh hole, which is 202-yards and a par three. I used a four iron and I drove the ball, but didn’t see it drop because it rolled behind a little hill. When we got closer to the hole, I didn’t see any balls down there and then I started thinking it might have gone in.

Sure enough, it was a hole-in-one. To tell you the truth, I was excited, but it wasn’t my first one. I actually hit one about four months earlier back home in Florida.

I just found out that I’ll be playing Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the featured match on Saturday night on Stadium Court. I’ve beaten him in all five of our previous head-to-head matches, but four of the five matches have gone to three sets. He’s a dangerous player and I certainly won’t look past this match.

If you’re at the tournament in Indian Wells, I hope you have a good time at the BNP Paribas Open. There is going to be some great tennis during the two weeks.

Until next time.
James

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A lot of men and women showed up in Indian Wells, California to play in the BNP Paribas Open. So why is it that their participation isn't the interest around the internet?

The big story is NOT about those who showed up, but about those two African-American women who did not.

Nothing has changed - It's so old!

Did anybody really believe that a rule change would MAKE Venus or Serena Williams return to Indian Wells? If you did, you understand none of which you write.

We'll see them in Miami soon... on with the dudes and dudettes who have been gettin' busy for the past few days!

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Since turning pro within a year of each other nearly a decade ago, Andy Roddick and James Blake have become friends and travel partners, shared Davis Cup duties and carried American hopes on their backs.

But the best male players of the current generation have taken a radically different approach when it comes to the voice in their ears.

Since joining the circuit in 2000, the cannon-serving, forthright Roddick has engaged no less than seven coaches on a part- or full-time basis. Blake, who spent two years at Harvard before jumping to the pros in 1999, has had one.

"I've always said about tennis, it's a very individual sport," 13th-ranked Blake said in a conference call last month. "What works for one will never work for another."

Roddick and Blake will be vying for the BNP Paribas Open title at Indian Wells, Calif., during the next 10 days

"I don't think it was a conscious decision or anything I set out at 18 years old" to have so many different voices over the course of the career, Roddick says. "I don't think it's something that you can generalize."

Roddick began his 2009 campaign with new coach Larry Stefanki, a former pro and veteran coach who has worked with a number of top players. Stefanki replaced Jimmy Connors, who Roddick parted ways with last spring.

Blake is in Indian Wells with Brian Barker, the only coach he has had since age 11.

Blake is much more the exception than the rule. Most players switch coaches throughout their playing days as priorities change and relationships become stale. Compensation, travel and logistics also play a role.

Finding the right mix can be tricky, as Roger Federer learned last week. The Swiss No. 2 could not come to terms with former pro and ESPN commentator Darren Cahill after inviting him for a trial run to his second home in Dubai last week. Cahill, with two young children, didn't want to travel as much as Federer required.

Both Americans say there are pros and cons to their different approaches.

"For me, I would not be nearly as successful with someone that didn't know me as a person, and know my strengths and weaknesses on the court," says Blake, who at 29 has finished in the top 10 two of the last three years.

Roddick joked that mimicking Blake would "require me finding a coach that could put up with me for nine years."

Blake praised Barker for knowing the nuances of his game and for being as much friend as mentor, as when he supported Blake through his comeback in 2004 following a broken neck, the death of his father and a vision-blurring disease.

"I credit him with making me the best player I can possibly be, and absolutely maximizing my potential," says Blake, adding that "we are going to be friends for life, that's not even a question."

"One of the things that makes our bond strong is that there have been so many ups and downs," Barker says.

Former No. 1 Roddick, 26, likes to pick the brain of some of game's best minds, and it has often paid quick dividends.

He rode his early association with Brad Gilbert in 2003 by storming through the summer hardcourt swing and winning the U.S. Open. He has also started strong with Stefanki, reaching the Australian Open semifinals and winning last month's indoor tournament at Memphis.

"There's been a couple of times in my career where it's really jump-started my playing just by having a fresh voice," Roddick says.

The downside is the getting-to-know-you process, along with periods of transition.

"Obviously, continuity is a good thing, and there have certainly been times where I've been without someone or in transition and you're just kind of trying to make due," Roddick said.

With 37 titles and a Davis Cup championship between them, the two Americans must be doing something right, even if they have chosen opposing coaching paths.

"If he had the same coach the whole time he wouldn't be as good as he is, said Blake of Roddick. "If I had changed coaches, the way he has, I wouldn't be as good."

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American Angela Haynes secured her place in the BNP Paribas Open women's main draw, defeating Slovakian Jarmila Groth 6-3, 7-6(2) in the final round of qualification Tuesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The 24-year-old Californian saved all five point break points faced on serve in the second set before going on the close out the match in the tie-break.

Haynes will be playing in the Indian Wells main draw for the fourth time, having received wild card entry in her past three appearances. She reached the second round in 2005 (l. to Sharapova) and ‘08 (l. to Hantuchova).

The French contingent faltered in their qualification bid with Stephanie Foretz (pictured) the only woman from her country to make her way into the main draw. The 104th-ranked Foretz ousted compatriot Camille Pin 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes, and will be making her fifth appearance in the Indian Wells main draw. Frenchwomen Aravane Rezai, Severine Bremond, Julie Coin and Mathilde Johansson all followed Pin out of the qualification draw.

Source

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Editor's note:

WTA Chairman and CEO Larry Scott on Wednesday formally announced changes in the circuit's calendar and other rules and standards, including on-court coaching, the rankings system and mandatory player commitments. Many of the questions from reporters afterward concerned the Williams sisters' stance that they will not play at Indian Wells -- which will be one of four mandatory events in 2009 -- because of a racially tinged incident in the stands there in 2001. That's where ESPN.com writer Bonnie D. Ford decided to start when she had a chance to sit down one-on-one with the former player and ATP executive.

Bonnie D. Ford: You made this announcement Wednesday morning, you put all this work into these reforms, and yet much of the press conference was dominated by an incident that happened seven years ago, that involves two of your hundreds and hundreds of players, albeit two of the most important ones. How personally difficult and frustrating is it for you that you haven't been able to get closure on this?

Larry Scott: I'm disappointed that there's not an easy solution, but by the same token, I'm looking at moving on, the sport's moving on, the tour's moving on, and I don't think it's going to hold us back from making the type of progress we need to make. As I've dug into the issue, I've gotten heightened empathy for how Serena and Venus feel about the situation and I also feel empathy for the tournament. I've tried to do what I can to bridge gaps. You can only do so much. I respect where they're coming from.

Ford: Do you have any realistic hope that there's going to be movement on this between now and March?

Scott: Not for the 2009 tournament. I'm not expecting they're going to play; they've told me they're not planning on playing. If they do, it's a bonus. I think everyone's expectations are managed. I'd like to think that by the time both Venus and Serena's careers end, fans at Indian Wells will see them again, but I'm certainly not predicting that.

Ford: And the promotional activities players can do in lieu of attendance, they've agreed to do that, so you don't anticipate a suspension coming out of this?

Scott: No.

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