Black Tennis Pros

Venus Williams played Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinal round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Venus Williams was enjoying a very spirited and competitive run at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open. Unfortunately, in her ninth meeting with Germany's Angelique Kerber, Venus was eliminated from the quarterfinals 6(3)-7, 3-6.

Venus is currently scheduled for the upcoming Miami Open March 18-31.

"I want to thank you for everything you gave me this week"

Thank you, @Gael_Monfils 👊#BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/tjCw4J1snv

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 15, 2019

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On Continue !! ➡️ 1/2 🎾💪🏾💥#TsongaTeam @opensuddefrance #osdf19

A post shared by Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (@tsongaofficiel) on Feb 8, 2019 at 3:21pm PST

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Fin de match ! Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 🇫🇷l’emporte face à Jérémy Chardy 🇫🇷! Un match très serré qui se termine au bout de 3 sets (6/7, 7/6, 6/4)! @tsongaofficiel affrontera ce samedi Radu Albot 🇲🇩. #OSDF19 🎾

A post shared by Open Sud de France (@opensuddefrance) on Feb 8, 2019 at 3:06pm PST

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On est déjà samedi ? Avant de se coucher 😴 : le programme de ce samedi 9 février à l’#OSDF19 🥳!

A post shared by Open Sud de France (@opensuddefrance) on Feb 8, 2019 at 3:11pm PST

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@australianopen was an absolute movie for me. Still in disbelief. I wanna thank everyone who pushed me to make this run y’all know who you are. I couldn’t be more grateful. #betheexample #movedifferent #dreamchasin #bigfoeonthecomeup

A post shared by Frances Tiafoe (@bigfoe1998) on Jan 26, 2019 at 8:41am PST

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World No. 1 Serena Williams hit the ground running at the 2015 Australian Open Quarterfinal, and did not let up until her work was done. Worthy opponent Dominika Cibulkova got in some of the bright and brilliant shot making that she is known for, but at no time was she ever a threat for the World No. 1.

Dominika Cibulkova

The five-time Australian Open Title holder will meet unseeded American Madison Keys, who has played an incredible tournament, and who had to defeat the elder Williams, Venus, to meet Serena. While Keys has shown what she is made of throughout the entirety of the tournament, nothing makes me believe that she will get by Serena.

While there was great hope from of lot of fans, including myself, that there would be an all-Williams semifinal, seeing Madison Keys ascend to this level is just as rewarding.

In her post match interview Serena barely had a voice, she stated, "I have to keep my answers short because I keep coughing. I've been sick the past few days, and it's just getting worse and worse, but hopefully it will get better."

"I heard there's a virus going around with a lot of the players, and I think I caught it."

If we've learned anything about Serena, we know she'll be ready.

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Well, it wasn't the match that I expected, nor was it the outcome I hoped for ~ but it is indeed a good sign.

It is incredible to have watched American Madison Keys grow up and elevate herself and her game to its present position. This 19-year-old young woman came into the 2015 Australian Open Tournament with nothing to lose, and has lost nothing.

Casey Dellacqua, Petra Kvitova, and Madison Brengle all had their Australian Open hopes dashed as Keys continued to mount an offense and defense that would bring her to this point. 

Playing this quarterfinal match against her idol, tennis legend Venus Williams, appears to be the icing on the cake at this tournament for her.

“The moment is definitely sweeter being able to play Venus,” said Keys, who got into the sport after admiring a Williams tennis dress at the age of four. “It’s amazing – you just have to embrace the moment – I did, and I get to enjoy another moment in the next round.”

With a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Venus, Madison is headed to the semifinal round of the 2015 Australian Open ~ what a moment!

Moment killer:  Venus' baby sis' awaits her ~ God bless you.

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Frenchman Gael Monfils celebrates 5-set win over Spaniard David Ferrer.

ROLAND GARROS - Gael Monfils has a flair for the dramatic, and the last French contender in the men's singles certainly provided plenty of excitement in a charged-up 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 1-6, 8-6 win over Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer on Monday.


Monfils needed four match points to close the match out, but even though the Spaniard is known as one of the toughest men on tour, the 24-year-old out-gutted him when it mattered most.



He fought off a break point in the 13th game of the final set and after flubbing his first two match points with nervous ground strokes and watching Ferrer nail a flying down-the-line forehand winner on the third, Monfils played a brilliant final game and took the match with sliding forehand winner. The Parisian went wild, as did the sell-out crowd on Suzanne Lenglen.


"It's one of my best matches of my career," Monfils said. "Every time I have a tough fight here and I play five-setters here."



Rocky Road

The match was suspended for darkness after three hours on Sunday with Monfils leading 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 0-2. He had twisted his ankle in the final game but, after a rocky fourth set where he was not moving comfortably at all, he recovered nicely in the fifth.


Ferrer, who was attempting to reach his first Roland Garros semi-final, said that failing to convert the break point at 6-6 in the decider was crucial in the outcome of the match. "Maybe a bit of a stress and anxiety," said Ferrer. "I had three forehands that were off the court and also I was not perhaps focusing enough. I had this break point which unfortunately I couldn't control. I wanted to win this point, but I didn't do it."


Monfils had spent two months battling a wrist injury in the winter and early spring, but has been a force at Roland Garros almost regardless of his condition. He seems to have set up residence at Suzanne Lenglen court where he has pulled off some monumental victories.


"I don't know if it's my favourite court - I like them both - Chatrier and Lenglen," he said. "But whatever the time, whatever the court, whenever I'm in Roland, I love playing."



Big Test To Come

Monfils will face no.3 Roger Federer in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, to whom he lost in the semi-finals in 2008 and in the quarter-finals in 2009. While he knows that he has a huge task ahead, Monfils did score a win over the Swiss great last autumn in Bercy.


"It's a different match altogether," he said. "People don't talk about Roger a lot, but he's had very easy wins against all his opponents since the beginning of this tournament. So it's going to be a very difficult match, even more difficult than the ones I played in the past.


"It does matter for me, knowing I managed to beat him here in [Bercy]. It's going to be favourable because it's going to help me relax more. This is something I knew in the past, but I also thought he played better than I did. I was also younger in my head, so it's going to be a bit different this time."

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TOULON, France — Jo Wilfried Tsonga’s unbeaten run in the Davis Cup ended Sunday when the Frenchman was forced to retire with a sprained ankle against Simon Greul of Germany.

France had already qualified for the quarterfinals after Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber and Christopher Kas on Saturday for an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Tsonga retired while trailing 4-6, 6-2, 1-0. The former Australian Open runner-up is expected to play the BNP Paribas Open starting next week at Indian Wells, California.

"I preferred to stop because it hurt me when I walked," Tsonga said. "It should take a few days before returning to normal. I will undergo scans tomorrow morning."

Julien Benneteau, who was named as a replacement for Gael Monfils, then gave his country a 4-1 victory with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Benjamin Becker in the last meaningless singles match. Benneteau won 83 percent of the points played on his first serve and broke his opponent four times.

On Friday, Gael Monfils and Tsonga won the opening singles against Kohlschreiber and Benjamin Becker respectively.

France will play Spain at home in the quarterfinals July 9-11. France’s last victory over Spain dates back to 1923.

"We won’t be favorites," Tsonga said. "They are the best and it’s a good moment to write history."

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At the Bank Of The West Classic in Stanford, California on Thursday, American sisters Venus and Serena Williams set up their quarterfinal matches with wins over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva and Hungary's Melinda Czink respectively.

Serena started the day with a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over Melinda Czink. After looking strong in the first set, Williams trailed the entire second set until prevailing in the tiebreaker.

Subsequently, Venus cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set and looked to be in complete control midway through the second frame with a 5-3 lead. But Alla Kudryavtseva won back-to-back games to tie the set at 5-5 before Williams swiped the next two games for a 6-1, 7-5 triumph.

In Friday's quarterfinal matches Venus will go up against Russian Maria Sharapova, and Serena against Australian Samantha Stosur. I think the Serena/Samantha match will be the one to watch.

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Well folks, it is done. American James Blake has had his eighth shellacking by Swede Roger Federer and must try again to get to the top of a grand-slam tournament. Federer defeated Blake 7-5, 7-6(7/5), 6-4.

It wasn't ugly though, Blake did what few are able to do, he pushed Federer hard throughout the match. Federer has been pushed before during the Australian Open, and nearly toppled by Serbian Janko Tipsaravic. But only the elite few have had the ability to bring the man of steel down.

"He seems like one of the guys in the locker room," Blake said. "Then you go out there, he beats you. You come back in the locker room and he's one of the guys."

"Playing against James, it's always great fun," said Federer, dressed in all-black again for a night match. "He's dangerous when he's even behind in the game. He made some incredible shots."

I really like Roger Federer and honestly want to see how far he can ride this bullet train. At the same time, when someone like James Blake is having such a great tournament, I really wanted to see him at the finish.

"I really went in thinking I had a good chance to win," Blake said. "I thought I played pretty well. But he came up with some of his best at the right times, and that was the difference."

Ah, c'est la vie!

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What the French Toast was that?! American Venus Williams and Serbian Ana Ivanovic put on one of the worst grand-slam tournament matches I've ever seen in my life! I felt like I was moving in slow motion. It was terrible. By the time that match was over I didn't care who won, just make it stop....please!

There is a reality to it and that reality is, after a total of nine double faults, 69 unforced errors and nine breaks of serve, Ana Ivanovic "won" the match, "defeating" Venus 7-6(7/3), 6/4.

Good Grief! Skee Stylus, I'll gladly take the hit for this call.

"I have to give a lot of credit to her," Williams said. "She played really well, made a lot of good shots. She's definitely improved on everything in her game. That's really what it takes at this level. You want to keep improving and playing, because we're all improving."

"And I think Serena and I, we don't have anything to prove. We get out there and we play our best ... I don't get too caught up in what the next person thinks."

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Defending champion American Serena Williams simply could not pull her game together sufficient to move into the semifinals today. She looked tired and lackadaisical throughout the entire match. Serena appeared to try to modify and control her game to fit whatever may have been ailing her, but it did not work. That big booming serve of Serena's couldn't even save her today.

At one point both ladies were receiving medical treatment.

Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who had all kinds of issues in her initial match, played just well enough, and benefited greatly from Serena's errors, to pull out the win and move into the semis. Serena was defeated 6-3, 6-4.

In the post match interview Serena said, "I'm not going to sit here and make excuses, I lost because Jelena played better than me and I made too many errors..... I think regardless, the match was on my racquet, and I gave it away.

"I didn't move the way I traditionally want to move, and I wasn't feeling 100 percent. But as an athlete you know not every day you're going to feel 100 percent, and some days you have to win feeling 30 percent."

Sorry to See Serena go, hope all is well.


And the day just went down hill from there. Serena went ahead and joined big sister Venus in their third round doubles match. It too went the way of Serena's singles match. Zi Yan and Jie Zheng of China defeated the sisters 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Man, what a let down. Just a day ago both sisters were riding high, winning matches and all was well with the tennis universe. What a difference a day makes.

I certainly hope whatever ails Serena does not attach itself to Venus.

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