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U.S. OPEN SERIES WINSTON-SALEM OPEN: Tuesday's Second Round Takes Out Both Blake And Young

Thursday, August 25, 2011

James Blake, USA during second round Winston-Salem Open loss.


Tenth seed Robin Haase took just 61 minutes to dismiss American James Blake 6-4, 6-1. Haase fought off nine of the 10 break points he faced on serve, while breaking Blake five times from eight chances

Former World No. 4 Blake had come into the second-round match with a 7-0 record in Winston-Salem, inclusive of six Davis Cup matches. Haase, currently at a career-high No. 42 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, extended his winning streak to six matches in his first tournament since claiming the Kitzbühel title earlier this month.

For Blake, it was his first loss ever in Winston-Salem. He was a perfect 6-0 in Davis Cup ties here and won his first-round match against Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5, 6-1 on Sunday night.

The 31-year-old New Yorker called it his worst performance of the summer hardcourt season.

"As I get to this age, I try to have a short memory about matches like that," Blake said. "It was just one of those days. Nothing seemed to be going right, wasn’t serving well, wasn’t returning well, just nothing was effective. It’s frustrating because the first round I thought I played pretty well, especially in the second set. I thought I was getting momentum and playing well. But that’s the worst match I’ve played all summer. It’s frustrating that it’s right before the Open, but the Open doesn’t start until next Monday so I’ve got some time to get on a practice court and get my confidence back hopefully."

Blake said he was disappointed not only for himself, but for the crowd that was clearly on his side.

"It’s a lot of fun to play in front of a crowd that’s cheering for you," Blake said. "It’s frustrating when you can’t come through for them. That’s the tough part of tennis. You feel great when you succeed in front of a home crowd and give them what they want, and it’s frustrating when you can’t. That’s what I’ve learned through the years. It’s a lot tougher to take when you feel like you’re letting others down. But they’ll get over it. They’ve still got Andy Roddick and John Isner to watch."

Donald Young, USA


Fifty-second ranked Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov came back after losing a one-sided second set to defeat World No. 85 American Donald Young in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(2) in the second round at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina on Tuesday. The match lasted for two hours and three minutes.

Source: atptennis.com




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Jamaican Dustin Brown Bringing The Heat In Johannesburg

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Black Tennis Pro's Dustin Brown, Jamaica, South African Open Second RoundDustin Brown, Jamaica
(Photo by © Reg Caldecott)


As the highest-ranked player to ever emerge from Jamaica, 6’ 5” serve and volleyer Dustin Brown could feel entitled to a little more recognition in his sports-loving homeland. But in a country most famous for being home to the world’s fastest man, Brown accepts that, for now at least, he will fly below the radar.

“Five months ago I’d go to Jamaica and go through customs and it would be a hassle getting into my own country even though I am the No. 1 tennis player from the country,” he said. “If Usain Bolt comes, of course he’s a lot bigger than me, he probably doesn’t have to go through customs at all. Now that my ranking has gone to 140, 150 I have been getting a little more media attention in Jamaica; I have been on the TV once or twice on the news.”

Playing just his second tour-level event at this week’s SA Tennis Open in Johannesburg, 25-year-old Brown is one match win away from becoming the first player representing Jamaica to reach a semi-final of an ATP World Tour event. Doug Burke, whose best South African Airways ATP Ranking was No. 175, is the only other Jamaican player to reach a tour-level quarter-final, which he did at Wellington in 1989.

Watch Highlights of Brown's second-round win in Johannesburg



Tall, wiry and sporting dreadlocks, World No. 141 Brown commands attention on the court with his athletic, serve and volley game. And, ironically, the boy from the beach is making his breakout in Johannesburg at elevation, where his big serve pierces the rarefied air. Asked about his speed – a Jamaican trait – Brown replied: “Short distances from the net to the baseline I’m fine, but I don’t know if I would be doing 100m sprints against Usain. That wouldn’t look too good.”

Brown was born in Celle, Germany in 1984 to his Jamaican father Leroy and his German mother Inge and lived in the country until 1996, when he moved to Jamaica. After finishing high school Brown played Futures in Jamaica until 2004, when he moved back to Europe, driving himself to Futures and Challengers in a camper van bought for him by his parents. Brown said that his eight years in Jamaica had a significant impact on his personal and professional development.

“It was good to see a harder side of life. In Germany as a 10 or 11 year old you have a computer, a Gameboy, but in Jamaica…. It was good for me personally, mentally and also for my game to get a little tougher and not to whine about everything, which you tend to do if you get pampered all the time. In Jamaica there was not a lot of pampering.”

Before this week Brown’s lone main-draw ATP World Tour appearance came at Newport in July 2003, when he lost in three sets to five-time ATP World Tour Doubles Champion Bob Bryan.

Last year Brown broke through on the ATP Challenger circuit to compile a 29-16 match record, winning his first title at Samarkand, Uzbekistan in August while reaching four other finals -- Karlsruhe, Germany (as a qualifier), Almaty, Kazakhstan, and back-to-back events in November in Eckental and Aachen, Germany.

One year ago he was playing the Spain #4 Futures event (at which he reached the quarter-finals) and he was ranked No. 465. He finished last season a year-end best No. 144 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

In Friday's quarter-finals, Brown will meet eighth-seeded Frenchman Stephane Robert.



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Tsonga Seeking First 2009 Title In South African Final

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Black Tennis Pro's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga South African Open SemifinalTop seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga eased past Frederico Gil 6-3, 6-4 at the SA Tennis Open on Saturday to set up an all-French final at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament at the Montecasino in northern Johannesburg. Earlier, fifth seed Jeremy Chardy (pictured) had saved three match points as he defeated World No. 13 David Ferrer 1-6, 7-6(9), 7-6(4).

It is the first all-French final on the ATP World Tour since Gilles Simon defeated Julien Benneteau in the Casablanca final in May 2008. It will be the first meeting between Tsonga and Chardy.

World No. 14 Tsonga advanced to his fourth ATP World Tour final after breaking serve three times from four opportunities in his 64-minute victory over first-time semi-finalist Gil. The right-hander, who has yet to drop a set this week, reached his first ATP World Tour final at the 2008 Australian Open (l. to Djokovic) and later that year captured his first two ATP World Tour titles at Bangkok (d. Djokovic) and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis event in Paris (d. Nalbandian).

Despite missing three months of the 2008 ATP World Tour season with a knee injury, the Le Mans native finished inside the Top 10 at No. 6 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings and qualified for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai (now re-named the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals to be held at London’s O2 Arena in November).

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