Black Tennis Pros

Félix Auger-Aliassime’s desert days come to a end in three epic sets in the third round of the #BNPPO19, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(5) to Nishioka.
It was a brilliant run and surely just another step on the road to the top for the 18 year old. 👊#FélixRising pic.twitter.com/N4GFMbXDzo

— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) March 12, 2019

Read the rest of this post...........

Read the rest of this post...........

World No. 1 Naomi Osaka at 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

The Australian and US Open champion, 21, was beaten 6-3 6-3 by France's Kristina Mladenovic in the Dubai Tennis Championships second round.

It was her first match since since splitting with Sascha Bajin last week.

Asked if she could block out reaction to the news she said, "I couldn't. This match is the result of that."

"I'm pretty sure as time goes on you guys will stop talking about it. For now, it's like the biggest tennis news, I guess.

"It's a little bit hard because I feel like people are staring at me, and not like in a good way."

"For sure there's no one that really thinks losing is fun," Osaka said during the Japanese portion of her press conference. "But for me, I've always been taught that when you lose, you learn more than when you win. I try to take that as really important advice because I think it is true."

Osaka, who had a bye in the first round, lost in 66 minutes in round two against a player who had not won a match this year before this tournament.

Despite the loss, Osaka will head to Indian Wells with the No.1 ranking intact as she prepares for another career milestone: defending a title for the first time in her career.

"I'm not really sure [how I'll feel] because I've never been a defending champion," Osaka said. "Hopefully I remember all the good times that I've had there, somehow start feeling better about myself.

"But I can't really say until I get there."

Read the rest of this post...........

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.”

Read the rest of this post...........

(L)Venus Williams, USA, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA and (R) Serena Williams, USA all celebrated wins during Sunday and Monday's Olympic Games.

Four-time Olympian Venus Williams walked off Wimbledon's cozy Court 2 gleefully waving her fist as fans chanted, "U-S-A! U-S-A!"

Twenty minutes later, at the other end of the All England Club, Serena Williams departed Court 1 with a triumphant grin and a shout of "Whooo!"

She waited an extra day because of rain to begin her bid for a record fourth gold medal in Olympic tennis, then defeated recent French Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy, 6-3, 6-1.

French number one, Jo-Wilfried Tonga, took down the Brazilian contender, Thomaz Bellucci, in a three-set match. He notched up a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 victory against the left-handed Brazilian to power into the second round.

Next in line for the French seed is the winner of the match between Japan’s Tatsuma Ito and Canada’s Milos Raonic.

Serena completed a July sweep of Poland's Radwanska sisters by beating Urszula in the second round, 6-2, 6-3. Federer also reached the third round, beating Julien Benneteau of France, 6-2, 6-2.

Venus Williams, also unseeded, drew a tough first-round foe in Errani, who has won four titles this year and is ranked a career-high No. 9. Williams served well, charged the net aggressively and appeared at ease on the Wimbledon grass, where she has won five of her seven Grand Slam titles.

"I've been working really hard on my serve," she said. "I really haven't had my serve where I wanted it this year. But I definitely worked a lot on it, so that way it would be a real weapon for me, which is what I'm used to."

Despite being diagnosed last year with an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue, she began 2012 determined to make the Olympic team. She won the gold in singles at the 2000 Games and teamed with Serena to take the gold in doubles in 2000 and 2008.

Because her opening match was delayed a day by rain, Williams will have to play six consecutive days if she reaches Saturday's final.

"I definitely expect everything to be tough on me almost nowadays," Williams said.

Over on Court 1, Serena's serve lacked its usual sizzle, and she was even broken once, but she still eliminated Radwanska with little drama. She defeated Radwanska's sister, Agnieszka, in the Wimbledon final this month.

Serena will next play Vera Zvonareva of Russia, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2010.

Read the rest of this post...........