Black Tennis Pros

Ten years after winning her first Rogers Cup presented by National Bank title, Serena Williams once again lifted the trophy of Canada's most important tennis tournament.

A lot has changed for the 13-time Grand Slam champion in the decade gone by, but one thing is still for certain - she sure is one impressive tennis player.

Williams won the title on Sunday in emphatic fashion, nailing an ace at match point to defeat Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2.

Though the contest was evenly matched through the first eight games, the American turned it up a notch to break at 4-4 and never looked back. She was dominant in the second set, ripping seven aces while losing just one first service point.

It was clear the championship meant a lot to her, as upon clinching victory she immediately jumped and spun around in elation. In her post-match press conference she talked about how Toronto was definitely a tournament she had targeted as an event she really wanted to win this year.

With her mission now accomplished and her 39th career title in her pocket, the 29-year-old should move up nearly 50 spots in the rankings to around the No. 35 spot.


Though Stosur's tournament ended with a loss, her successful week should help her gain confidence heading into the final Slam of the season. Prior to coming to Toronto, the Australian had lost in her opening round twice in a row, but she turned it around here and improved her play with each match up to the final.

Her performance means she'll move back into the Top 10 after spending just one week outside of the upper echelon of the sport. If she keeps it up, she'll definitely be in the conversation at the final Slam of the season.


With the entertaining final between Williams and Stosur now over, Rogers Cup wraps up a successful week of tennis. Though the back-end of the tournament was lacking in the star power provided by such players like Kim Clijsters, who retired in the second round, Maria Sharapova, who was a third-round dropout, and world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki who fell in her opening match, Williams shines brighter than almost anyone on the tour.

She now has two titles in just four tournaments played since her return to tennis following a year-long absence due to serious health issues, and both of those triumphs occurred on hard courts. She will no doubt be a huge threat at the US Open in two weeks times.

For now, the pair will head to the next tournament in Cincinnati, where a Rogers Cup re-match could occur in the second round as Stosur and Williams were drawn in the same quarter.

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On Saturday night, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia qualified for the final of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank after a match that never actually ended.

Djokovic was leading 6-4 and 3-0 when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who defeated Roger Federer on Thursday, retired due to a right arm injury.

There were some spectacular points in the two-sided first set. Until 4-4, things were running smoothly despite the three break points that went to Djokovic.

In the ninth game, the World No.1 broke Tsonga and ran away with the set.

As the second set got underway, it seemed that Djokovic had also broken Tsonga's spirit. At 2-0, the Frenchman asked the chair umpire to call the trainer, who came out at the next changeover and quickly saw that Tsonga couldn't go on.

Attack, defense

At the start of the match, Tsonga pulled out his best offensive arsenal, pushing Djokovic to the limit. Unfortunately for him, the world no.1 stood firm. All Tsonga could do was fold.

Slowed by pain in the second set, the Frenchman changed his game and rallied from the backcourt with the king of counter offensives to no avail.

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CINCINNATI, Ohio (AFP) — Venus Williams has pulled out of WTA Tour's Western and Southern Open tournament, complaining of a viral illness, organizers said on Friday.

It is the second consecutive year the American has withdrawn from the event as she skipped the 2010 tournament with a sore knee.

The world No. 34 was forced to withdraw from this week's Rogers Cup in Toronto with the same illness.

"I regret not having the opportunity to compete in the Western and Southern Open this year," Williams said. "I am making progress towards recovering from a viral illness that began affecting me last week, and have plans to return to the practice court in the coming days. I am optimistic that I will be ready for the US Open at the end of this month."

The 31-year-old American has been limited to three tournaments this year because of injuries and illness. She retired at the Australian Open in January because of a right hip injury and contended with hip and abdominal ailments through May.

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(L-R) Nicolas Almagro and Tsonga

A day after knocking out two-time Rogers Cup champion Roger Federer, Tsonga delivered another strong performance, dismissing the eighth-seeded Almagro in one hour and 28 minutes.

The Frenchman won 70 per cent of his service points, and saved three break points in the final game to lock up the quarter-final win. The victory increased Tsonga’s undefeated record against Almagro to a 5-0 mark. "I was a bit tired today. I lacked energy. The match yesterday took a lot of stamina, and today my energy level was low," admitted Tsonga. "Therefore, I decided to focus on only a number of return games and try to focus on holding my serve. It was a way for me to save the energy I had left, not playing hard every game."

 
Tsonga is into the semi-finals for the second time at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Canada, after reaching the final four in Montreal two years ago. The 26 year old is looking to win his first title in 2011, having finished runner-up in Rotterdam (l. to Soderling) and the AEGON Championships in London (l. to Murray). Tsonga's biggest title to date came on home soil, when he claimed the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris three years ago (d. Nalbandian).

The World No. 16 and Djokovic have met eight times, and Tsonga holds a 5-3 edge. Djokovic won their most recent meeting, defeating the Frenchman in four sets in the Wimbledon semi-finals. "The last match was very close, very intense, very important for both of us," Djokovic said. "He's been playing better in last couple of months. I think he increased his level. He's and all around player. He can play pretty well on all surfaces. He has a big serve. If he serves well, he can beat anybody. He showed that in previous couple of tournaments.

"So it's going to be tough one. It's a fast surface. I need to return well and hope that I can get some chances."

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Lucie Safarova, CZE

 (Reuters) - A battle-tested Serena Williams booked her spot in the semi-finals of the Toronto Cup on Friday after overcoming a sluggish start to grind out a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over Czech Lucie Safarova.

Williams, whose 11-month layoff with injury and health problems ended in June, was a shadow of herself in the first set but rallied with raw power and shot-making to wrap up the match without losing serve in the last two sets.

"I could have had a better chance in the first set but I lost some key points," Williams, who won the Stanford Classic last month and is on a nine-match winning streak, told reporters.

"It was all about maybe one or two points here that would've made a difference and some silly double faults that didn't make sense."


 
The third set went with serve until Williams broke world number 32 Safarova in an intense fifth game in which she unleashed several loud screams to get herself going.

The vocal strategy seemed to pay off as she wrapped up the match without conceding another game.

The former world number one, unseeded here because of her long layoff, faces her toughest test yet against Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who has not lost a set en route to the semi-finals and is the highest seeded player left in the draw.

Azarenka ended Kazakh qualifier Galina Voskoboeva's surprise run with a clinical 6-1 6-2 victory.

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World No. 1 Novak Djokovic improved to 7-0 against Gael Monfils, overwhelming the No. 5 seed 6-2, 6-1 in the Rogers Cup quarter-finals on Friday evening. He will square off against 13th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals, as Tsonga advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 8 seed Nicolas Almagro.

After facing a break point in the opening game, it was smooth sailing for the Serbian. Monfils held to get to 2-2, but Djokovic reeled off nine consecutive games to put the match out of the Frenchman’s hands. Monfils fought in the final game, creating two break point opportunities, but the top seed closed the door to seal the victory in one hour and 14 minutes. "I have played the best match of the tournament, no doubt. Everything was going well," said Djokovic. "I had a difficult game on two-all to hold my serve. After that, when I made the first break, it was incredible. 9, 10 games in a row. I'm happy to see my game is progressing each day."

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Round 1


Serena Williams, USA defeated Alona Bondarenko, UKR

Round 2

Serena Williams, USA defeated Julia Goerges, GER

Round 3

Serena Williams, USA defeated Jie Zheng(Q), CHN
4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Quarterfinal Round

Serena Williams, USA defeated Lucie Safarova, CZE

Semifinal Round

Serena Williams, USA vs. Victoria Azarenka, BLR



Round 1

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
Barbara Zahlalova Strycova, CZE and Iveta Benesova, CZE

Round 2

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
Su-Wei Hsieh, TPE and Galina Voskoboeva, KAZ


Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Heather Watson, GBR
Stephanie Foretz Gacon, FRA



Round 1

Gael Monfils (5) FRA, vs. BYE

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13), FRA defeated Fabio Fognini,ITA

Round 2

Gael Monfils (5), FRA defeated Alex Bogomolov, Jr. (Q), USA

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13), FRA defeated Bernard Tomic (WC), AUS

Round 3

Gael Monfils (5), FRA defeated Viktor Troicki (12), SRB

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13), FRA defeated Roger Federer (3), SUI
7-6(3), 4-6, 6-1

Quarterfinal Round

Gael Monfils (5), FRA defeated by Novak Djokovic (1), SRB

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13), FRA defeated Nicolas Almagro, ESP

Semifinal Round

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13), FRA vs. Novak Djokovic (1), SRB


Round 1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA and Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI
Alexander Dolgopolov, UKR and Dick Norman, VEL

Gael Monfils, FRA and Pablo Andujar, ESP
Sergiy Stakhovsky, UKR and Mikhail Youzhny, RUS

Round 2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA and Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI
Robert Lindstedt, SWE and Horia Tecau, ROU
6-4, 6-3

Round 3


Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA and Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI
vs.
Max Mirnyi, BLR and Daniel Nestor, CAN

Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Nicholas Monroe, USA

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American Ahsha Rolle has not beeen having a lot of match success as of late, but be damned if she hasn't been putting in the effort.

Along with eleven others on Saturday, Ahsha was added to the Rogers Cup main draw.

Come on Ahsha, you've got the goods girl, make it happen in Montreal!!

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MONTREAL — Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has withdrawn from next week's Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament with a knee injury.

Tournament director Eugene Lapierre said Friday Williams did not want to risk aggravating the tendinitis in her knee ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

She was the lone late withdrawal from the tier-1 event before the draw on Friday.

This year's tournament boasts seven of the world's top-10 players.

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Top seeds and two-time Rogers Cup champions Bob and Mike Bryan opened their title campaign in Toronto by defeating Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.

They next face Croat Mario Ancic and South African Jeff Coetzee, who reached the quarterfinals with back-to-back wins Thursday. They needed 54 minutes to get by Fernando Gonzalez and Andre Sa 6-3, 6-2 in their first round match, and then ousted Czech No. 8 seeds Martin Damm and Pavel Vizner 6-4, 6-3. Vizner won the Canada title last year with Indian Mahesh Bhupathi.

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