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
I must have been half asleep when I reviewed the main draw just before the U. S. Open began. Because I also missed the fact that Chanda Rubin is entered into the doubles draw and is partnered with.........none other than Jamea Jackson whom I thought we had seen the last of in this year's Open. Two fantastic revealations at once. I haven't seen Chanda Rubin play in quite a while and this extends Ms. Jackson's time at the Open.
Rubin and Jackson are on schedule for play tomorrow against the doubles team of Agnes Szavay of Hungary and Vladimira Uhlirova of the Czech Republic.
I hope that they have fantastic play and put their first win under their belt.
Good luck ladies!
Jamea Jackson could not prevail in her first round U. S. Open match today. She lost to opponent Nicole Pratt 6-3, 4-6, 0-6. Jackson had a 1st serve percentage rate of 53% to Nicole's 70%, there were no aces served during the match, and Jackson served 8 double faults to Pratt's 3. Jackson also had a whopping 55 unforced errors to Pratt's 19. At the same time she did at least have 36 winners to Pratt's 10.
But no matter the numbers, the end result was Jackson being defeated. I so hoped that she could have made at least a short run. Better luck next time.
James Blake is on a mission yall. He's got faith in himself and in his game. He proved it today in a tough straight sets win over another American, Michael Russell. The win came in at 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)
But there's one problem with having a plan, your opponent doesn't care. Michael Russell made it his personal issue to find every flaw possible in Blake's game plan and come out the winner. Russell played like a mad man whipping balls cross court, quickly getting to balls and even managing to break Blake's serve.
With the exception of aces, Blake had 13 to Russell's 5, the stats were even on this one, it was damn near anybody's game except for one thing, the Blake factor. Blake has elevated himself mentally and physically to be able to play the big points, serve a necessary ace, and whip a ball that very few else could've reached cross court.After the festivities both Venus and Serena Williams played their first round matches.
Venus kicked it off by whipping the snot out of her opponent (all kinds of ugliness) Kira Nagy of Hungary in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. Ms. Kira was hearing 120 something mph serves whiz by her head all night. Venus lost focus for a bit after she slipped and fell in her snazzy new "EleVen" sneakers that matched her really cute outfit, and gave up 3 games during the match. Other than that, it was a fairly uneventful match. 
Up next, baby sis' Serena's match was another story. Her opponent, Angelique Kerber of Germany came to play. She put up a real scrape in the first set, giving Serena all kinds of trouble. She continued it into the second set and made our girl work. Serena got so frustrated during the match that she tore off a cute little blow that was attached to her dress. Now we all know that Serena has a second gear that none of the other players have, so of course she shifted into it and won the match in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.I've always loved the written word, whether I've been reading or writing it. It is on nights like this that I'm reminded why I love it so much. When the visual is not available, or when our ability to be present is not an option, it is the written recording of events that allow us to mentally transport ourselves to that time and place, and be present at any given moment in time. And what a moment in time we witnessed last night, the opening events of the 2007 U. S. Open. Okay, here's the blow-by-blow.
Afterwards, Ms. Rashaad introduced a personal friend of Althea Gibson's, fomer New York City Mayor David Dinkins. He spoke with conviction about what was really going on in America with civil rights struggles for Black people from lynchings to segregated WWII barracks, and a ten years to come Brown vs. The Board of Education. It was hard times when Althea Gibson was growing up trying to make her mark in the world. 
What an incredible group of women. I cried more each time one of them and their achievements was announced, it was incredible. The honorees seemed very happy, which made it even better.
A player that we've heard and probably know the least about was feeling the spirit of Althea Gibson all up and through that joint. Ms. Asha Rolle took it to world No. 18 Frenchwoman Tatiana Golvin in a 2-set win with a score of 4-6, 6-1, 2-6.
The entire match was not televised, but specific segements were shown post match. One of them being when Rolle fell to her knees and drummed her fists on the court in happiness after a challenge proved that she had indeed won match point.
Rolle had a 61% serve rate to Golovin's 63%, she served 6 aces to Golovin's 1, and served 2 faults to Golovin's 1. Rolle had a lot of unforced errors, 37, to Golovin's 18. She obviously felt she had nothing to lose and went for her shots.
Introduce yourself to the world Ms. Rolle, we're glad to make your acquaintance!
There's very little information on this player, but I'll dig around and see what I can find. I was not even previously aware of her until tonight as she was shown about to close out the first set of her match against Tatiana Golovin of France. She is not listed on the WTA roster at all.
What I did find out though is that she's a 22-year old from Miami Shores, Florida and entered the main draw of the U. S. Open by way of a wild card. I understand that she also was entered into the main draw of the 2006 U. S. Open by way of a wild card.
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