Black Tennis Pros

Venus and Serena took no prisoners on the middle Sunday of the U. S. Open. The American sisters treated their opponents to some tennis lessons today!

Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli and Serbian beauty Ana Ivanovic looked in serious need of further practice when the Williams sisters were through with them today.

Both sisters convincingly dismantled the games of their opponents. The two young women looked more like target practice than learned opponents. I didn't have any expectations of Bartoli, but I did expect Ivanovic to put up much more of a fight than she did. I believe that she became intimidated and didn't know what to do. I guess not many people would the way Venus graced the court yesterday.

Serena's win came in at 6-3, 6-4, and Venus 6-4, 6-2.

Commenting after the match, Richard Williams said, “Serena reminds me of a pit bull dog and a young Mike Tyson, all in one. Venus reminds me of a gazelle that’s able to move, prance and jump. Venus looks as if she is really enjoying herself out there more than Serena is right now. If they get by everyone and meet each other, it will be an interesting match.”





Nadal takes out Tsonga



World No. 2 Raphael Nadal showed why he's world No. 2 even with a bad knee. He came out and put the pressure on a battle worthy Tsonga and barely won the first set in a tie-break. After that the Spaniard didn't look back. He moved well and took command of the court. eventually beating Tsonga by a score of 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 6-1.

WTA Tour Players

Serena Williams, USA vs Marion Bartoli, FRA
Venus Williams, USA vs Ana Ivanovic, SRB


ATP Tour Players

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA vs Rafael Nadal, ESP

For additional U. S. Open schedule information, click here.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga effectively guaranteed that Great Britain's Tim Henman would not win a Grand Slam Tournament in his tennis career lifetime by defeating him yesterday by a score of 7-6 (7/2), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Prior to the loss, Henman had already decided that this would be his last ATP Tour Grand Slam Tournament. The soon-to-be 33-year-old Englishman only has his country's Davis Cup clash with Croatia at Wimbledon next month to follow.

"Relief is not quite the right word but I am ready to get on with the next part of my life," he said.

"I've had a fantastic career - but there are a lot of exciting things ahead of me - two young kids and another on the way.

"I feel so clear in mind that time is time and that a couple of good matches at the Davis Cup and I will leave this sport a happy man."

Tsonga is also a happy man! He moves on to the 3rd round of the Open.

WTA Tour Players

Serena Williams, USA vs Vera Zvonareva, RUS
Venus Williams, USA vs Alona Bondarenko, UKR
Ahsha Rolle, USA, vs Dinara Safina, RUS


ATP Tour Players

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA vs Tim Henman, GBR

For more U. S. Open schedule information click here.

Think Jo-Wilfried is probably singing a little Tsong-a about his 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 win over the Spaniard Oscar Hernandez? (Ha Ha) Well Tsonga brought much game across the ocean and has moved right into the second round. The stats weren't that varied. The simple fact is that Hernandez came out on fire, but Tsonga got fired up in the second and third sets and made the match all his.

WTA Tour Players

Venus Williams, USA vs Ioana Raluca Olaru, Romania
Serena Williams, USA vs Maria Elena Camerin, Italy
Asha Rolle, USA vs Karin Knapp, Italy
Chanda Rubin, USA and Jamea Jackson, USA vs
Agnes Szavay, Hun and Vladimira Uhlirova, Cze


ATP Tour Players

Jo-Wilfried, Tsonga, France vs. Oscar Hernandez, Spain

WTA Tour Players:

Serena Williams, USA (8) vs. Angelique Kerber, Germany
Venus Williams, USA (12) vs Kira Nagy, Hungary
Jamea Jackson, USA (WC) vs Nicole Pratt, Australia

Note: Angela Haynes attempted to enter the main draw through the qualifying rounds, but was defeated in the 1st round by Pauline Parmenter of France, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.


ATP Tour Players:

James Blake, USA (6) vs Michael Russell, USA
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France vs Oscar Hernandez, Spain
Donald Young, USA (WC) vs Chris Guccione, Australia
Scoville Jenkins, USA (Q) vs Roger Federer

Note: Scoville Jenkins entered through the qualifying rounds. He defeated the following players:

Round 1: Oliver Patience, France 6-3, 5-7, 5-7
Round 2: Harel Levy, Israel, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
Round 3: Aisam-UL-Haq Qureshi, Pakistan 6-7, 6-2, retired

Excellent work Scoville Jenkins! And your reward? Roger Federer as your first round opponent. I am already in prayer. Bless you son.

Donald Young walked in the newness of life on Sunday, as he defeated Amer Delic in the first round of the Pilot Pen Tournament in New Haven, Connecticut. Young, who recently celebrated his 18th birthday, gave himself a belated birthday gift. This win is his first on the ATP Tour after 12 matches. Young is putting to good use the wildcard that he received into this tournament. He stated that this win is "a big relief."

The arrival of the Young one has been talked about for some time now. He's been coming up through the ranks with quite a bit of hype about his talent being bantered about. Of it, Young says, "I like the talk and the hype, but you don't really like it when it starts going negative. When it's all positive, it's awesome. But you've got to take the good with the bad." Good philosophy son, hold on to it. You'll need it.

Young's win over Delic today came in at 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. And for his reward, what does the Young one get? A second round match up with Nikolay Davydenko. That's cold. But he's in the big leagues now so the battle starts here. Good Luck! I'll be praying for you.



Tsonga Not Able to Sing Same Song as Young

Also in action at the Pilot Pen Tournament on Sunday was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. Tsonga was defeated by Juan Martin Del Portro of Argentina by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Tsonga served 10 aces but also had 6 double faults and a first serve rate of 54%. Del Portro's first serve percentage wasn't much better at 58%, but it was enough to pull out the win.