Black Tennis Pros

(L-R) Serena Williams, USA, Sloane Stephens, USA, James Blake, USA, Venus Williams, USA and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France all shown post-match on Day 4 of the 2012 US Open.

American Sloane Stephens, the youngest player in the top 50 at age 19, defeated qualifier Tatjana Malek 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in Louis Armstrong stadium Thursday in a three-set match filled with momentum shifts and heavily contrasting styles of play.

After a slow start in the second set, the easy power and athleticism of Stephens dealt with the variety of spins and shots coming off the Malek racquet to advance to the third round, tying her best showing at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center.

Heading into his second round match against Marcel Granollers, James Blake knew it wouldn't be easy going up against the 6-foot-3 Spaniard. He'd lost to him before in the title match on the clay courts of Houston in 2008.

And so it was here, under the lights of Louis Armstrong stadium, where Blake's best tennis came through again, as he defeated Granollers 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round here for the first time since 2010. Already waiting for him in the next round is a tall order, literally, as big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic will face off against him.

Serena Williams advanced a few steps in from the baseline and celebrated the point, bent over two balled fists and screaming “Come on!”

During her 6-2, 6-4 win Thursday over Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the second round of the US Open, many members of the crowd echoed this cry, trying to push the three-time Open winner on an afternoon when she fought through unforced errors – 24 in all -- inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

In a huge upset, and a major head-scratcher, 23-year-old Martin Klizan of the Slovak Republic, ranked No. 52 in the world, took out the No. 5 seed Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Tsonga looked out of sorts for most of the match, enough for many to wonder about his health, to try to explain a lackluster performances at such a significant venue.

The big serving Tsonga showed less firepower throughout the match than his unheralded opponent, who has had most of his success on the pro tour on clay court Challenger events.

Klizan, more aggressive and determined throughout, had 5 aces to Tsonga’s 4, and hit 32 winners to Tsonga’s 28.

The second-round blockbuster between sixth seed Angelique Kerber and two-time champion Venus Williams was hyped as one of the matches to watch at the US Open. With a 12:19 a.m. finish on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the matchup lived up to its billing, as Kerber outlasted Williams 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in a gripping battle.

The clash began with five straight breaks of serve, before the left-handed Kerber ended the streak in the sixth game to lead 4-2. Williams was unable to find a rhythm, hitting 36 percent of her first serves into play, committing five double faults and winning two of 14 points on second serve to lose the first set in 31 minutes. The American dropped all four of her service games.

Post match Venus said, "Today I felt American for the first time at the U.S. Open," Venus said. "So I've waited my whole career to have this moment, and here it is.

"I was fighting her today and, unfortunately, myself," Venus said afterward. "I couldn't put more than two points together without making a few errors. I didn't help myself out today."

"When you're ready, you're ready," Venus said of Roddick. "If I was out there and people were killing me, maybe time to hang it up. But I just have to find the answer within myself. I'm playing my game and eventually [the shots] will land."

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Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Venus Williams, USA (23) defeated Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, ESP
6-0, 6-2


Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Gael Monfils, FRA (9) vs. Lukasz Kubot, POL
Rain Delay


Ladies' Doubles - 1st Round

Raquel Kops Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
defeated
Johanna Larson, SWE and Jasmin Woehr, GER
7-5, 6-2

Heather Watson, GBR and Jocelyn Rae, GBR
vs

Sophie Lefevre, FRA and Evgeniya Rodina, RUS



Mixed Doubles - 1st Round

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
vs.

Doninika Cibulkova, SVK and Lukas Dlouhy, CZE

Dustin Brown, GER and Vania King, USA
vs.
Elena Baltacha, GBR and Kenneth Skupski, GBR
Rain Delay

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American Venus Williams celebrates third round 2011 Wimbledon Championships win.

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

(Reuters) - It made not a scrap of difference where Venus Williams played Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez at Wimbledon on Friday.

Center Court, court 16 or the local weed-strewn park... it would still have resulted in a thrashing.

As it was the five-times champion paraded her skills on Court One and duly reached the last 16 with a 6-0 6-2 victory to seal a re-match with Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova who she surprisingly lost to last year.

Pironkova beat second seed Vera Zvonareva and with twice grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova also exiting Williams's half of the draw and the road to a July 2 date on Center Court is beginning to look a little less precarious.

After a few polite questions about her performance, reporters attempted to drag Venus into the court scheduling debate which flared up after her sister Serena, the reigning champion, was dispatched to the badlands of Court Two on Thursday.

Just like her Spanish victim, however, they were batted away with the minimum of fuss.





"Court Two's a solid court," said the 31-year-old, who played her first round there. "I'm grateful that it didn't rain when I played on Court Two.

"When I played on center I was grateful to be able to play that match when it rained and I was under the roof. So it's all worked out pretty well for me so far.

"I think you made your own observations already. I think go ahead and write what you feel is the truth and what's right."

After her near three-hour battle against 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm in the second round, Williams was back to her brutal, dominating best on Friday.

Her serve peaked at 120mph and she lost just two points when her booming first delivery hit the mark.

The fact that she has just returned from a five-month injury break has ceased to be an issue and few, it seems, are looking beyond another all-Williams final.

"I'm in the next round. That's my main goal regardless whether I play amazing, whether I play halfway decent, doesn't matter. It's just about finding a way to win," the 23rd seed said. "As long as I find a way to win that round, I'm good. So for me it's not about any level."

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Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round

Venus Williams, USA (23) vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, ESP


Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round

Gael Monfils, FRA (9) vs. Lukasz Kubot, POL


Ladies' Doubles - 1st Round

Raquel Kops Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
vs.
Johanna Larson, SWE and Jasmin Woehr, GER

Heather Watson, GBR and Jocelyn Rae, GBR
vs.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS and Vera Zvonareva, RUS


Mixed Doubles - 1st Round

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
vs.
Doninika Cibulkova, SVK and Lukas Dlouhy, CZE

Dustin Brown, GER and Vania King, USA
vs.
Elena Baltacha, GBR and Kenneth Skupski, GBR

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