Black Tennis Pros

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American sisters Venus and Serena Williams celebrate after winning first doubles match of 2012 Olympics.

It was an especially good day for the Williams sisters in Olympic play at the All-England Club on Monday, as they went a combined 6 for 6 in sets won, including a straight set triumph in their first round doubles match.

After Serena beat Urszula Radwanska and Venus topped Sara Errani in singles, the 2000 and 2008 Olympic doubles gold medalists and reigning Wimbledon champions took on Romanians Sorana Cirstea and Simona Halep. The serve proved the difference, as the Americans lost just four points when getting their first serves in and were not broken while converting on 4 of 6 break point opportunities on their opponents' serve.



The 63 62 triumph upped the Williamses' Olympic record to 11-0 and their grass court record to 39-2. The competition gets tougher on Tuesday, as they square off with fifth-seeded Germans Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki.

"It feels like we just got out of Wimbledon, and we are back at it again," Serena Williams said. "So it felt really good."


Serena even left the door open to playing a third event this week, as the deadline to sign up for mixed doubles is Tuesday. "We'll see at 11am tomorrow," she said. "I'll keep you guys on your toes."

source:  wtatennis.com

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American Serena Williams

American Serena Williams

Britain's Heather Watson

Italy's Francesca Schiavone

Serbia's Ana Ivanovic

Serbia's Jelena Jankovic

Germany's Andrea Petkovic

Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki

Britain's (r)Anne Keothavong and (l)Laura Robson

Russia's Maria Sharapova

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands

India's Sania Mirza

Romania's Sorana Cirstea

Germany's Sabine Lisicki

France's Alize Cornet

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MIAMI, Fla. (www.sonyericssonopen.com) – The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open announced its wildcard entries and this year it features former World No. 4 James Blake and former World No. 1 Dinara Safina. A total of five wildcard slots were granted to the men’s draw and also include Jack Sock, Ryan Harrison, Milos Raonic, and Bernard Tomic. While six were given on the women’s side which feature Heather Watson, Sorana Cirstea, Sabine Lisicki, Madison Keys, and Coco Vandeweghe.

Women’s main draw begins on Tuesday, March 22, while the men’s main draw kicks off the following day on Wednesday, March 23. The qualifying rounds will be held Monday and Tuesday, March 21 and 22.

Tickets to the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open are on sale now and can be purchased by phone (305-442-3367) or via internet at www.sonyericssonopen.com. An electrifying two weeks of tennis conclude with the women’s final on Saturday, April 2 and the men’s final on Sunday, April 3.

Blake will make his return to Miami, hoping to improve on his career-best quarterfinal showings in 2006 and 2008. Safina made her last appearance on the purple courts in 2009 as the No. 2 seeded player advancing to the third round. She recorded her career-best finish in 2008 when she advanced to the quarterfinals.

Blake, always a fan favorite, earned his first ATP win in 2002 becoming the fourth African American to win an ATP title in the Open Era. In 2005, Blake grabbed the national spotlight at the U.S. Open when he played a thrilling five-set match in the quarter finals against his idol, Andre Agassi. From there, Blake’s career blossomed tremendously as he reached his career-high of No. 4 in the world in 2006 becoming the first African American to crack the top-10 since his role model, Arthur Ashe.

Safina made her professional debut in 2002. The Russian star recorded a breakout season in 2008 winning a career-best four singles titles. In 2008, she was awarded the WTA Most Improved Player, and was the first player in history to defeat three reigning World No. 1s in the same season (Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, and Jelena Jankovic). Safina reached a career-high rank of No. 1 in the world in 2009, and joined her brother Marat Safin as the first brother-sister combo to both achieve World No. 1 rankings.

In addition to Blake and Safina the tournament wildcards include many of the Tour’s next generation of tennis stars.

Men’s Main Draw Wildcards
James Blake
Jack Sock
Ryan Harrison
Milos Raonic
Bernard Tomic

Men’s Qualifying Wildcards
Gastao Elias
Filip Krajinovic

Women’s Main Draw Wildcards
Dinara Safina
Heather Watson
Madison Keys
Sabine Lisicki
Coco Vandeweghe
Sorana Cirstea

Women’s Qualifying Draw Wildcards
Michelle Larcher de Brito
Lauren Davis
Carina Witthoeft
Aleksandra Wozniak
Beatrice Capra
Sloane Stevens

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DUBAI — Venus Williams' bid to hang on to one of her two remaining titles made a reassuring start as she quashed the challenge of one of the tour's brightest young hopes to reach the last 16 of the Dubai Open.

The defending champion's 6-2, 6-3 win over Sabine Lisicki, the 20-year-old Wimbledon quarter-finalist, contained consistent serving, well-timed increases in pressure, and a conspicuously tight focus.

A good week here is important for the five-time Wimbledon champion's belief that, approaching her 30th birthday, she remains capable of winning more majors, and that need showed in the quality of her performance.

There was only one brief moment when it seemed that the hard-hitting but variable German might find sufficient control to get into the match - when she played a brilliant game to break Williams' serve for the only time, and edge up to 3-4 in the second set.

Williams responded immediately, applying extra pressure on her returns to break Lisicki's delivery a fourth time, then smartly closing out the match for the loss of only a point.

She had been put through her paces robustly by her father Richard, before the match, and it appeared to have helped.

"I still try to listen to him," she said, smiling, "and not to rebel against what he says."

The champion's sharp start earned her a meeting with Belarus' Olga Govertsova, a surprise survivor who is coached by her brother, and who brought down the 14th seeded Italian, Francesca Schiavone, in straight sets.

If Williams gets past that as she should, she could go on to a semi-final with the top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.

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American Venus Williams was ousted today by German Sabine Lisicki at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina 6-4, 7-6(5).

While the Wimbledon champion gave Lisicki quite a bit of help in defeating her today, Lisicki never backed down and basically took her game to Venus, whose response was inadequate.

Post match Venus said, "I wasn't expecting that and, you know, I'll try to come back next year and win. "I made a few errors at the wrong time and she played some great shots."

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Actor Daniel Sunjata

Photos WireImage

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