Black Tennis Pros

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sent an early warning to his rivals that he is again ready to challenge for the Australian Open crown after a sold warm-up at Kooyong.

The world number 10 was a surprise finalist in 2008 as he cut a swathe through the draw - including wins over Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal - before falling to Novak Djokovic at the last hurdle.

Tsonga showed no signs of the wrist injury that forced him to pull out of the first two tournaments of the year as he easily disposed of German Tommy Haas 6-4 6-3 in only 74 minutes at the AAMI Classic exhibition. He will take on Spanish world number nine Fernando Verdasco in the final on Saturday.

"My game is improving match after match, I'm playing better and better every day and I think I will be ready for the big event," said Tsonga, who will take on Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round at Melbourne Park.

"I feel good and I'm very confident."

Earlier in the day, Fernando Gonzalez - himself a surprise finalist in Melbourne in 2007 - beat Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 7-6 (9-7).

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Round 1

(1)Scoville Jenkins, USA defeated (WC) Jack Sock, USA

Nicholas Monroe, USA defeated by Marius Copil, ROU

(WC) Devin Mullings, BAH defeated by Juho Paukku, FIN

(Q)Marcus Fugate, USA defeated Bogdan-Victor Leonte, ROU
4-6, 7-5, 6-0

(WC)Evan King, USA defeated by Eric Prodon, FRA

Round 2

Scoville Jenkins, USA defeated Marius Copil, ROU
3-6, 7-6(2), 6-1

Marcus Fugate defeated Eric Prodon, FRA

Quarterfinal Round

Scoville Jenkins, USA defeated by Morgan Phillips, GBR

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated by Marco Mirnegg, AUT


Round 1

Mashona Washington, USA and Aurelie Vedy, FRA
Johanna Larsson, SWE and Stephanie Vongsouthi, FRA

Brittany Augustine, USA and Amanda Fink, USA
Eva Birnerova, CZE and Alina Jidkova, RUS

Angela Haynes, USA and Catalina Castano, COL
Christina Fusano, USA and Courtney Nagle, USA

Ahsha Rolle, USA and Tiya Rolle, USA
Jorgeline Cravero, ARG and Maria Irigoyen, ARG

Quarterfinal Round

Mashona Washington, USA and Aurelie Vedy, FRA
Eva Birnerova, CZE and  Alina Jidkova, RUS

Angela Haynes, USA and Catalina Castano, COL
Karolina Kosinska, POL and Teodora Mircic, SRB

Semifinal Round

Mashona Washington, USA and Aurelie Vedy FRA
Karolina Kosinska, POL and Teodora Mircic, SRB

Final

Mashona Washington, USA and Aurelie Vedy, FRA
defeated
Jorgelina Cravero, ARG and Maria Irigoyen, ARG
6-0, 6-2


Round 1

Nicholas Monroe, USA and Artem Sitak, RUS
Scoville Jenkins, USA and Gregory Ouellette, USA

(WC)Evan King, USA and Jack Sock, USA
Marcus Fugate, USA and Timothy Neilly, BAH

Quarterfinal Round

Scoville Jenkins and Gregory Ouellette, USA
Daniel Cox, GBR and Joshua Milton, GBR

Marcus Fugate, USA and Timothy Neilly, BAH
Denys Molchanov, UKR and Vladimir Obradovic, SRB

Semifinal Round

Scoville Jenkins, USA and Gregory Ouellette, USA
Stefano Ianni, ITA and Deniss Pavlovs, LAT

Marcus Fugate, USA and Timothy Neilly, BAH
Haydn Lewis, BAR and Daniel Yoo, KOR

Final Round

Marcus Fugate, USA and Timothy Neilly, USA
defeated by
Stefano Ianni, ITA and Deniss Pavlovs, LAT
2-6, 2-6

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SYDNEY (AP)—Top-seeded Serena Williams struggled in the Sydney International final Friday, committing 40 unforced errors in a 6-3, 6-2 loss to fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia.

Williams also appeared to hurt her left knee during the match but later downplayed any suggestion of an injury. She said she still plans to play singles and doubles with her sister, Venus, at the Australian Open next week.

“I think she played well,” Serena Williams said, “I made about a thousand and two unforced errors … it’s better now than later, I guess.”

When asked about her left leg, which she appeared to favor during the match, she said: “I was struggling a little bit, but, you know, I hate to make any excuse. I think she definitely deserves all the credit for what she did.”

Williams said she felt great heading into the season’s first major, where she is the defending champion.

“I feel like I have more than enough matches under my belt,” she said. “I feel like I’m really ready and fit. Even though I didn’t play great today, I feel like I can play much better.”

Earlier, former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5) victory over Mardy Fish of the U.S. Baghdatis will play Richard Gasquet, who beat French compatriot Julien Benneteau 6-3, 7-5.

The 28-year-old Dementieva became the first woman to defend her Sydney title since Martina Hingis in 2001-2002.

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American Shenay Perry marched into the second round of women’s qualifying at Australian Open 2010 on Thursday, beating Melanie South of Great Britain 6-3 6-3.

Perry is ranked 108 in the world and the third seed in the women’s qualifying draw.

Perry sealed the straight-sets win with a backhand winner down the line, her 26th for the match. The American will now meet Ivana Lisjak of Croatia, who knocked out Russian Elena Chalova 6-4 2-6 6-4 earlier on Thursday.

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American tennis star James Blake was a popular drawcard as the MLC ballkids were officially welcomed to the 2010 Australian Open today.

Dressed in their bright magenta-coloured Lacoste uniforms, this year’s group of 316 ballkids was received by notable figures including tournament director Craig Tiley and the former top-five ranked Blake.

Blake told the group their contribution is vital to the success of the tournament.

“The players appreciate everything they (ballkids) do. We work pretty hard out there and it means a lot to not have to go and pick up the balls.”

Before having a hit with two of the ballkids on show court three, Blake made some pledges to the group.

“I promise to be as nice as I possibly can to you all. And if I win the tournament you will be the first people I thank,” Blake said.

There’s plenty of incentive for the ballkids to work hard, too. Each individual receives an exclusive gift from Tennis Australia to thank them for their efforts, and the two best performers – one boy and one girl – receive the MLC Ballkid Award of a cheque for (AU) $1000 and a trophy that is presented to the recipients on Rod Laver Arena.

Ballkids work shifts of 45 minutes on court, followed by 45 minutes off court. In order to protect them from Melbourne’s sun and intense heat, the ballkids wear legionnaire hats and UV protected sunglasses. They are also provided with water bottles and wear special ‘coolits’, which are cool padded neckties.

Returning ballkid Steven Clark said he thoroughly enjoyed the 2009 tournament.

“We all had a lot of fun and we got to service the best players in the game.”

The final selection of ballkids for this year’s Australian Open includes 20 who have traveled from Korea and numerous children from other parts of Australia.

They are aged between 12 to 15 years old and have had a rigorous training schedule that has included five on-court sessions.

More than 1000 applications were received for the 316 positions, and trials to pick the final group began at local tennis clubs in April 2009.

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