Black Tennis Pros

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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(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.

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Lukasz Kubot, Poland

Gael Monfils was dumped out of Wimbledon before the second week for the fifth time in five appearances, losing his third-round encounter against Lukasz Kubot of Poland, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

The athletic Frenchman, who has achieved a Wimbledon-best three third rounds at The Championships since his first appearance in 2005, returned to No. 3 Court after his match against Kubot was delayed overnight after yesterday's rain interruption.

But although he had been recuperating some form during the match, recovering from a set down against the tricky Pole, the momentum all came tumbling down the wrong way. Dropping the third set 6-3, things went from bad to worse as Monfils, the former junior world No.1, fell 4-1 behind in the fourth set.

Unable to redeem the break, it was simple business for the Pole to serve out the match in four sets, and progress to only his second fourth round at a Grand Slam.

Despite producing less unforced errors and more aces than his opponent, it was Kubot's staggering 50 winners that cost the Frenchman dear, and also Monfils' inability to convert break points when he had the opportunity, managing just three out of nine.

Kubot will next meet Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round on Monday, the winner going through to meet either Andy Murray or Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals.

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