Black Tennis Pros

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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Press Release

Local Author signs book at US Open tennis event.

Author, Bernard A. Chavis, signed copies of his book “The Games of Tennis” An African American Journey at this year’s US Open tennis event.



September 9, 2008: Local Philadelphia area resident Bernard A. Chavis had a successful book signing at this year’s US Open Championships. This event is the largest attended sports event in the United States. Held annually in September at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on the grounds of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the event draws an access of 500,000 tennis enthusiast during the two week event. Mr. Chavis’s book chronicles his journey of breaking racial and cultural barriers in the sport of tennis. The book goes into the inner workings of the administrative side of the game and the obstacles and resistance to leveling the playing field of diversity in this “sport for a life time.” Mr. Chavis has held many administrative positions at the local, regional, and national levels of the USTA and tennis industry related organizations, including the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) and the Tennis Industry Association (TIA). He resides in the northwest suburb of Philadelphia in Meadowbrook, PA.

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