Black Tennis Pros

Serena Williams, USA after defeating American Coco Vandeweghe on Day 2 of the 2012 US Open.

Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams continued the fine form that signified a stellar summer by defeating compatriot Coco Vandeweghe in a rematch of their Stanford final. The younger Williams sister advanced to the second round 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour on a day in which Venus also won.

In the first set, Serena cruised to a 6-1 score in 24 minutes, benefitting from five double faults off her opponent’s otherwise big-serving game. Additionally, the top-ranked American struck nine winners, while converting all three of her break point chances.

After the match, the No. 4 seed discussed the windy conditions and reflected on her performance. "I mean, the match was so weird, the conditions were so tough, I couldn't really play my game. She couldn't really play her game. It's not the best opportunity to grade yourself."

With the win tonight, Serena’s record in first round Grand Slam matches improved to 48-1, having lost at the Roland Garros in the opening round earlier this year.

Early in the second set, Serena, last year’s runner-up to Samantha Stosur, consolidated on the tremendous play in the first to break Vandeweghe’s serve for a 2-1 lead. She wasted little time afterwards, wrapping up the match on her second match point after reeling off four more games.

With the win, Serena improved her record at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to 59-9, having won three titles in her career, including her first back in 1999.

Coming into the match Tuesday night on Arthur Ashe, Serena took titles at Wimbledon and the Olympics by winning a gold medal over Maria Sharapova at the All England Club. In doing so, Serena became the first tennis player to win the career “Golden Slam,” or claiming all four majors and a gold medal, in both singles and doubles. With the series of title wins, Serena notched a 19-match winning streak, which was eventually snapped in Cincinnati by surprise 2011 US Open semifinalist Angelique Kerber.

With five titles to her credit this year, Serena also leads the number owned by active players at 44 total.

Read the rest of this post...........

Caroline Wozniacki

In straight sets with an ailing toe, American Serena Williams polished off World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 to set a date in the final on Sunday with Australia's Samantha Stosur.  The match will be televised at 4pm on CBS.

Though Serena began the match making quite a few errors, she overpowered and out served Wozniacki unquestionably. Wozniacki was able to hang in there for some of those long power shot rallies, but at no time was she ever a threat to the "former" world no. 1.


Serena will turn 30 later this month and has won the US Open in 1999, 2002 and 2008. Following Wimbledon last year, a foot injury put her out of competition for the rest of 2010 and a mysterious illness earlier this year had her on blood thinners. The American returned to competition at Wimbledon earlier this summer, advancing to the fourth round.


Post match Serena commented how how elated she was, especially in light of being an American at the U.S. Open during the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 911 to a roaring applause from the fans.

TEAM SERENA!!

Read the rest of this post...........

On Wednesday morning organizers stated that former world number one, Serena Williams has pulled out of the Western and Southern Open, Cincinnati, Ohio with a toe injury.

Yet, anyone watching her match against Lucie Hradecka, CZE on Tuesday could see just how fatigued Serena was.

Williams was due to face Australian 10th seed Samantha Stosur in the second round, in a rematch of the Toronto Cup final she won on Sunday.

The 13-times grand slam champion suffered an "aggravation of a right toe injury" a statement from the organizers said.

Williams has won her last two tournaments since returning to competition in June after 11 months out with injuries and health problems.

After her straight sets victory over Czech Lucie Hradecka on Tuesday, Williams said she was wary of becoming tired before the U.S. Open later this month.

"I definitely don't want to overdo it. My main goal right now is obviously to do well," said Williams.

"And nothing against Cincinnati or Toronto or the Stanfords that I played, but this is all preparation. Everyone is preparing for the U.S. Open. So I have to be smart and make sure it's not too much."

Read the rest of this post...........

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.

Read the rest of this post...........

In today's quarterfinal action at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, American Venus Williams, who won her third round match against Italy's Francesca Schiavone on Wednesday, will meet Australian Samantha Stosur against whom she currently stands 3-0. All of those matches came in straight sets, and none of the sets went past 6-4.

It would appear that Stosur has her work cut out for her.

On the men's side, Frenchman Gael Monfils, who has been on the injury list as of late, will meet Spain's one and only Rafa. Rafael Nadal, who is undefeated on clay this season (12-0), holds a 5-1 career mark against Monfils.

Monfils obviously has his work cut out for him too.



Lastly, No. 1 doubles seeds Venus and Serena Williams who are well on their way to becoming the world no. 1 doubles team, will go up against Iraeli Shahar Peer and her Italian teammate Francesca Schiavone.

The sisters defeated Russian Maria Kirilenko and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Should be good tennis on tap for today!!

Read the rest of this post...........

You know you are part of something special when eight of the world’s top tennis stars are under the same roof.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Aussies Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur united as a tennis family today by taking part in the Hit for Haiti fundraiser at Rod Laver Arena.

The 90-minute exhibition match was organised in less than 24 hours. The charity event proved to be a huge success, with a sell-out crowd. Representing the colours of the Haiti flag, Team Red (Federer, Williams, Hewitt and Stosur) defeated Team Blue (Roddick, Nadal, Djokovic, Clijsters, and late substitute Bernard Tomic) 7-6. Former Grand Slam champion turned tennis analyst Jim Courier was the chair umpire for the afternoon.

Spectators over the age of 12 paid $10 to watch the entertaining match, buying their tickets on the door. Russian star Maria Sharapova donated $10,000, while $20,000 was also collected in tin cans around the arena and around the grounds at a packed Garden Square. Today, $159,000 was raised through ticket sales and public donations alone.

It is very rare that you are given an opportunity to see Williams and Djokovic exchange banter from across the court or see Federer doing push-ups during a match, and the crowd lapped up every minute.

As soon as the gates to Melbourne Park opened on Sunday, thousands of excited tennis fans flocked into Rod Laver Arena for the charity event. From the moment the players stepped onto court, the crowd knew they were in for a special treat. The players were wearing microphone headsets, which meant the crowd were able to hear them joke amongst themselves and tease each other during the match.

After the opening game, Djokovic gave Roddick a shoulder rub when he sat down. It’s also not very often that you see defending Australian Open champion Nadal playing the role of a ballkid, handing out water bottles and towels.

Tournament Director Craig Tiley was delighted with the outcome of the charity event.

“It’s fantastic to see the tennis family from around the globe band together to help make a difference in this time of need” Tiley said.

“I would like to thank the players, staff and everyone involved in pulling off this event in such a short amount of time.”

Haiti was decimated by a devastating earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Richter Scale last Tuesday. The United Nations has launched an appeal for hundreds of millions of dollars to try to help around three million people in need.

Donations can be made online to Partners in Health: www.pih.org

Read the rest of this post...........

The quarterfinal round of the Bank of the West Classic generated a rough day at the office for 2009 Wimbledon Champion Serena Williams.

Although Serena did seem a step or two off of her game, that wasn't her problem. A very focused and powerful Australian who goes by the name of Samantha Stosur was the issue.

After losing the first set, Serena managed to take the second from Stosur but never really seemed to have a solid grip on the match.

Of Stosur's play Serena said, "she had a lot of lucky shots; she's a good framer, but it's obviously all talent. She's mastered that."

"She played well and didn't do anything bad," Serena continued. She went for broke and struck all her balls as hard as she could. She never lets you get into a rhythm.

Of all of the WTA Tour players, I personally never saw Stosur with the potential for this level of effectiveness in singles. Stosur has quietly come up the sides and is a serious threat.

"It's one of the biggest, if not the biggest win of my career," Stosur said. "We don't always play our best tennis every single day. Maybe she didn't play her best and I played very well."

"At the end of the day you have to go out and play well," Stosur said. "I'd like to take it one more step. I'd love to make it to another final."

Impressive!

Read the rest of this post...........

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Venus and Serena Williams have won their fourth women's doubles title at Wimbledon by beating Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (4), 6-4.

The doubles final began a few hours after Serena beat Venus for the singles championship Saturday. It's the Williams sisters' second consecutive doubles title at the All England Club and their ninth Grand Slam doubles title as a pair.

They've also won the Australian Open together three times, including in January, along with the U.S. Open and the French Open once each.

Read the rest of this post...........

At the U.S. Open on Tuesday, American sisters Venus and Serena Williams both won their first round matches with relative ease. Each of their opponents experienced a couple of surge games, but insufficient to topple the dynamic duo.

During the day session, Serena defeated Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-4.

Post match Serena responded to the current discussion about Serbians Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic dominating the game. "I can't sit here and say someone is going to dominate when I'm still playing tennis."

Serena was then asked about being nervous during matches and how she finds the way to win. "I'm definitely mortal," Williams said. "And, yeah, I do struggle with self doubt.

"Sometimes when I'm in a match I do get tight and I get nervous.

"I always try to think of like, you know, current players that can work through that, like (Rafael) Nadal and (Roger) Federer.

"If they can do it I can do it too. So it takes me out of that moment."

On making a run at this year's event she said, "I don't know because I keep losing matches I shouldn't lose."

In the evening session, Venus defeated Australian Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3.

Regarding the win Venus said, “I thought it was just really straightforward tonight, nothing super special...I didn’t try anything too crazy.”

After a bit of a dust up in the first set, Stosur briefly got it together in the second set and took a 3-1 lead after breaking Venus' serve. It was short lived though, Venus came right back and leveled the set.

“That’s when I play my best, when I’m down,” Williams said.

Read the rest of this post...........