Black Tennis Pros

In a battle of the Frenchmen, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet played a first round match held over from Tuesday because of rain at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia/ATP World Tour Masters 1000, Rome, Italy.

In close to two hours, Gasquet defeated Tsonga 7-6(2), 6-4.

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On Tuesday afternoon at the Boar's Head Inn, Charlottesville, Virginia, the Boyd Tinsley Women's Pro Tennis Tournament began. American Angela Haynes and Croatian Mirjana Lucic were the marquee match for the first round of this event.

Lucic, a 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist, defeated second seeded Haynes 6-4, 6-2.

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Italy is hoping the Williams sisters decide to skip the Fed Cup final in November. Either way, though, the 2006 champions plan to host the United States in the best-of-five series on the slowest clay they can find.

"I hope the Williams sisters don't come," Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "If they do come, we'll try to beat them. It's not impossible on clay. (Flavia) Pennetta has already beaten Venus more than once."

The 14th-ranked Pennetta beat Venus Williams twice last year _ including a victory at the French Open _ although Venus won their last two meetings.

Italy beat Russia 4-1 and the United States edged the Czech Republic 3-2 in the semifinals last weekend. The Williams sisters _ Venus and Serena _ skipped the trip to Brno, and Fed Cup rookies Alexa Glatch and Bethanie Mattek-Sands lined up for United States captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

The Nov. 7-8 final immediately follows the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, and Barazzutti expects the Williams sisters to play there. Italy would like to host the final in the south to play outdoors on slow clay to soften the impact of the Williams sister's fierce groundstrokes.

"We're definitely going to play on clay _ very slow clay _ and if possible, outdoors," Barazzutti said. "First we need to determine if we can play outdoors, then we'll choose the most uncomfortable setting possible. Uncomfortable in the sense that it suits us and not the Americans."

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DOUBLES

Round 1

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Sarah Borwell, GBR
defeated
Su-Wei Hsieh, TPE and Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
3-6, 6-3 [10/5]


Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA


SINGLES

Round 1

James Blake, USA defeated by Victor Crivoi, ROU
5-7, 3-6

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated by Richard Gasquet, FRA
6-7(2), 4-6


DOUBLES

Round 1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA and Julien Benneteau, FRA
defeated
Ross Hutchins, GBR and Andy Murray, GBR
6-4, 6-4

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Jordan Kerr, AUS
vs.
BYE

James Blake, USA and Mardy Fish, USA
defeated
Simon Aspelin, SWE and Wesley Moody, RSA
7-6(4), 6-1

SINGLES

Round 1

Ahsha Rolle, USA defeated by Ashley Weinhold, USA
3-6, 2-6

Angela Haynes, USA defeated by Mirjana Lucic, CRO
4-6, 2-6


DOUBLES

Round 1

Angela Haynes, USA and Alina Jidkova, RUS
defeated
Brittany Augustine, USA and Tiya Rolle, USA
6-1, 6-2

Ahsha Rolle, USA Alexandra Mueller, USA
defeated
Tarakaa Bertrand, USA and Nicole Rottmann, AUT
6-2, 6-3

Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Brittany Augustine, USA
Tiya Rolle, USA


SINGLES

Round 1

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated by Carsten Ball, AUS
1-6, 2-6

Timothy Neilly, BAH defeated Andrea Falgheri, ITA
7-5, 6-4

Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated Carlton Fiorentino, USA
6-3, 6-2


Round 2

Philip Simmonds USA vs. Johannes Robert Van Overbeek, USA

Timothy Neilly, BAH vs. Alexander Domijan, USA


DOUBLES

Round 1

Marcus Fugate, USA and Robbye Poole, USA
defeated by
Andrea Falgheri, ITA and Stefano Ianni, ITA
2-6, 2-6

Jarmere Jenkins, USA and Christian Guevara, USA
defeated
Jack Anton, USA and Lance Lvovsky, USA
6-0, 6-2

Timothy Neilly, BAH and Ronald Perry, USA
defeated by
Raian Luchici, ROU and Tigran Martirosyan, ARM
6-1, 3-6 [7/10]

Devin Mullings, BAH and Carlton Fiorentino, USA
defeated by
Joe Bates, USA and Ricky Flach, USA
4-6, 3-6


Quarterfinal Round

Jarmere Jenkins, USA and Christian Guevara, USA
defeated by
Raian Luchici, ROU and Tigran Martirosyan, ARM
4-6, 3-6

Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Jarmere Jenkins, USA

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ROME — James Blake struggled with the windy conditions and lost to Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi 7-5, 6-3 Monday in the first round of the Rome Masters.

Blake lost the opening five games against the 112th-ranked Crivoi, rallied to make it 5-5 - saving three set points along the way - then was broken at love to end the first set.

With intermittent rain falling in the second set and the wind swirling on the makeshift secondary stadium court at the Foro Italico, Blake wasted a 2-0 lead and handed Crivoi his first victory on tour this year.

With sixth-ranked Andy Roddick taking a break from the tour following his wedding, the 16th-ranked Blake was the top American in the draw. Blake has now lost both of his matches on clay this year, falling to Guillermo Canas in Houston at the beginning of the month.

Source: The Canadian Press
Photos by AP

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