Black Tennis Pros

Venus and Serena Williams during doubles win at Wimbledon 2009

Just when American tennis had reached its lowest point in the Open era, the Williams sisters have announced they both plan to return next week to competition after long layoffs, expecting to play the Eastbourne tuneup tournament on grass and then Wimbledon.

Serena Williams, in particular, was a question mark. She hasn't played competitively since capturing the Wimbledon title last summer and soon afterward stepping on a shard of glass at a Munich restaurant. Serena endured two rounds of surgery for cuts to her foot, then an emergency procedure in March to remove a blood clot from her lungs, a frightening condition.

Serena Williams released a statement through her agent, Jill Smoller, confirming her intention to play again beginning with the first round at Eastbourne next Tuesday. Wimbledon starts the following Monday, June 20, when Serena Williams would likely play on the first day as defending champion.

"I am so excited to be healthy enough to compete," Serena said. "These past 12 months have been extremely tough and character building. I have so much to be grateful for. I'm thankful to my family, friends and fans for their support. Serena's back!"

Venus Williams, meanwhile, has not played since retiring during a third round match at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury.

In the absence of the Williams sisters, no American man or woman has contended for any major title, and none made it into the second week at the French Open. Mardy Fish is now the top-ranked U.S. men's player at No. 9. Serena and Venus are still ranked among the highest of American women. Serena is 25th and Venus is 32nd, while Bethanie Mattek-Sands is at No. 31.

Serena, 29, has won 13 majors, including four Wimbledons. Venus, 30, has won seven majors, including five Wimbledons. Together, they have captured nine of the past 11 Wimbledon titles.

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Frenchman Gael Monfils walks off court after losing quarterfinal match to Roger Federer.

Just one day after the French Open's No. 9 seed, Frenchman Gael Monfils put on an incredible display of tennis in his defeat of  Spaniard David Ferrer, the beat was turned around and Monfils was made to dance... to the tune of Roger Federer. Switzerland's tennis wonder put on a clinic for which Monfils could not find a response.

Roger Federer celebrates QF win.

Monfils had chances in the match, but could never get enough distance between him and Federer in set or seize any type of real momentum in the match on a windy day on Philippe Chatrier. He did lead 3-1 in the first set and the crowd pulled for him with all their worth, but he was inconsistent with his serve and off the ground, barely winning over 51 % of his service points and committing a whopping 53 unforced errors while nailing only 24 winners.

"My biggest weak point was I couldn't serve at all. It was serious handicap," Monfils said. "With more serves I would have been more dangerous."
The 2009 Roland Garros champion had chances to steamroll through the third set, but Monfils hung tough and forced it into a tiebreaker. But there, Federer committed only one unforced error. He whacked two forehand winners to open sudden death and then closed Monfils out with a big serve and a forehand down the line.

"He changes the pace, and he changes the pace so quickly," Monfils said. "This hurts. He's the only one almost to hurt you that much, that quickly. All of a sudden he strikes the ball."

"Roger is always present and has a lot of ambitions still," Monfils said. "But Novak plays so well, it's going to be an incredible match. I'll be the first one to watch it."

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Frenchman Gael Monfils celebrates 5-set win over Spaniard David Ferrer.

ROLAND GARROS - Gael Monfils has a flair for the dramatic, and the last French contender in the men's singles certainly provided plenty of excitement in a charged-up 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 1-6, 8-6 win over Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer on Monday.


Monfils needed four match points to close the match out, but even though the Spaniard is known as one of the toughest men on tour, the 24-year-old out-gutted him when it mattered most.



He fought off a break point in the 13th game of the final set and after flubbing his first two match points with nervous ground strokes and watching Ferrer nail a flying down-the-line forehand winner on the third, Monfils played a brilliant final game and took the match with sliding forehand winner. The Parisian went wild, as did the sell-out crowd on Suzanne Lenglen.


"It's one of my best matches of my career," Monfils said. "Every time I have a tough fight here and I play five-setters here."



Rocky Road

The match was suspended for darkness after three hours on Sunday with Monfils leading 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 0-2. He had twisted his ankle in the final game but, after a rocky fourth set where he was not moving comfortably at all, he recovered nicely in the fifth.


Ferrer, who was attempting to reach his first Roland Garros semi-final, said that failing to convert the break point at 6-6 in the decider was crucial in the outcome of the match. "Maybe a bit of a stress and anxiety," said Ferrer. "I had three forehands that were off the court and also I was not perhaps focusing enough. I had this break point which unfortunately I couldn't control. I wanted to win this point, but I didn't do it."


Monfils had spent two months battling a wrist injury in the winter and early spring, but has been a force at Roland Garros almost regardless of his condition. He seems to have set up residence at Suzanne Lenglen court where he has pulled off some monumental victories.


"I don't know if it's my favourite court - I like them both - Chatrier and Lenglen," he said. "But whatever the time, whatever the court, whenever I'm in Roland, I love playing."



Big Test To Come

Monfils will face no.3 Roger Federer in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, to whom he lost in the semi-finals in 2008 and in the quarter-finals in 2009. While he knows that he has a huge task ahead, Monfils did score a win over the Swiss great last autumn in Bercy.


"It's a different match altogether," he said. "People don't talk about Roger a lot, but he's had very easy wins against all his opponents since the beginning of this tournament. So it's going to be a very difficult match, even more difficult than the ones I played in the past.


"It does matter for me, knowing I managed to beat him here in [Bercy]. It's going to be favourable because it's going to help me relax more. This is something I knew in the past, but I also thought he played better than I did. I was also younger in my head, so it's going to be a bit different this time."

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Photo by Burkhart/Savannah Morning

James Blake sees only one challenge at a time. His ultimate challenge is to return to the upper echelon of men’s professional tennis.

Winning at the Savannah Challenger helps get him closer to that goal.

Blake made another positive stride Tuesday. He played solidly, wasn’t broken on serve and defeated qualifier Morgan Phillips from Great Britian 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of the $50,000 tournament at the Franklin Creek Tennis Center at The Landings on Skidaway Island.

“It was a good match to get into (the tournament), and hopefully it’ll be even better (today),” said Blake, who advanced to meet Ricardo Hocevar from Brazil today on Center Court, approximately at 3 p.m.

“I was hoping for a win, so that was all that really matters.”

The former No. 4 player in the world before being set back by a knee injury is using the Challenger series to build his ranking. He won the $75,000 Sarasota Challenger on Sunday and looked to continue his momentum in Savannah. He is currently the 109th-ranked player in the world. He is the No. 8 seed in the 32-player main draw in Savannah.

“(The knee) felt OK,” Blake said. “It was a little tougher moving my feet today. The wind was tough, and it can get a little tricky. It’s important to move your feet.”

A crowd of about 400, the biggest weekday crowd in the three years of the Savannah Challenger, came out to see probably the biggest name from men’s tennis to ever play here.

Blake gave a show in professionalism, playing at relaxed pace and rarely looking flustered on the breezy afternoon with temperatures in the mid-80s.

Blake broke Phillips in the fourth game of the first set and the third game of the second set.

He used crisp ground strokes to keep Phillips off balanced and mixed in big serves and a power game with finesse drop shots.

“I served well, that was good, and that’s one thing that can translate from one court to another,” Blake said. “Otherwise, I need to move my feet better, and if I do that, I think the rest of my game will follow my footwork.”

Phillips admitted being nervous until the fifth game of the match.

“I never played someone in the top 10 so it was a big match for me,” he said. “It took me a little time to realize I didn’t have to be so fine.”

Blake remained in control and even took some time to have a playful interaction with the chair.

After pointing out a ball mark to show a shot “wasn’t even close,” the official came down to check the spot.

“It’s out, but not that far out,” the official said.

Taking a closer look, Blake rethought his original position.

“You’re right, you’re right,” he said, laughing before getting ready to play the next point.

“I give umpires enough of a hard time when they say it’s not even close,” Blake said after the match. “He gave me back what I give to umpires.”

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Spaniard David Ferrer

ROLAND GARROS - 9:30 p.m. Play Suspended - But what drama before. Monfils took a tumble at deuce on his own service, twisting the front of his left foot as he got caught up in the clay. Ferrer asked if he was ok, LaMonf gave him the thumbs up, got up, served and Ferrer broke. So we'll come back tomorrow at 2-1 Monfils in sets, but Ferrer serving at 2-0.




 

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