Black Tennis Pros

For the ninth time at the ninth time of asking, Andy Roddick saw the United States Davis Cup by BNP Paribas team into the next round – and this time the next round is the Final, and a home shot at the defending champions, Russia.

Roddick wasn’t quite at his best against Jonas Bjorkman, a late replacement for the originally nominated Thomas Johansson who was suffering from stomach problems, but he used all attributes of his game to beat the Swede 62 76(3) 64 and see off the Americans’ jinx at the Scandinavium.

The arena, scene of three previous US Davis Cup debacles, seemed to have given up hope of staging a fourth home upset, the rows of red seats much less full than they had been on Friday and Saturday when home hopes were high.


Roddick Maintains Davis Cup Record

One of the reasons for the absence of home hope on the final day was that Roddick’s reputation as a Davis Cup competitor precedes him. He has never lost when playing to see his country win the decisive point, and his devotion to tennis’s premier team competition was evident when he said afterwards: “If I don’t win another match between now and the final but we win the final, I’ll take that.”

“This is my No. 1 priority for the rest of the year, and I’ll be discussing my tournament schedule with Jimmy [Connors, his coach] and Patrick [McEnroe, his team captain] to make sure I look after my body and it’s right where it needs to be for the final.”

Only once was Roddick truly threatened, and that came in the fifth game of the second set. Bjorkman, at 35 still a very useful returner of serve, finally got a good connection on three of Roddick’s serves and earned himself two break points. In doing so, he caused Roddick to stumble and fall, so the American asked for the court to be wiped dry. The couple of minutes this took didn’t please either Bjorkman or the crowd, and Roddick was booed as he stepped up to serve at 15-40. Bad move!

Americans Celebrate Semifinal Victory

The booing merely geed up Roddick, he duly delivered four unreturnable serves, and the danger was over. Once Bjorkman had taken six points to get going in the tiebreak, and Roddick had broken in the fourth game of the third set, the match was over as a contest, and Roddick won in just over two hours. He sank to his knees on the carpet court that had been so much more preferable to the Americans than the clay the Russians chose for last year’s semifinal in Moscow.“It’s what you practise for,” said Roddick in an on-court interview. “It’s what you work for. I’m so proud to be part of this team, I’m so proud of my teammates, I wouldn’t trade this team for any in the world. I love these guys, and we get another shot at winning the Davis Cup, so I’m really happy right now.”The victory was a triumph for positive thinking among the Americans. Their jinx at the Scandinavium seemed to have reared its ugly head on Friday when all four players woke up with flu-like symptoms. But they came through, and ultimately with something to spare, as the Swedes were also struggling with their health.

First final in USA since 1992

Aside from Thomas Johansson’s temperature, Joachim Johansson was so sore after his three-setter against Roddick on Friday that he was replaced for the final singles by Simon Aspelin who had never played a tour-level singles match before. He got four games against James Blake, the American’s 61 63 victory making the final score 4-1.The Americans will host the final (30 November – 2 December) for the first time since 1992, when one of the greatest line-ups in the competition’s history featuring four past, present and future world No. 1s – Sampras, Courier, Agassi, McEnroe – beat Switzerland 3-1 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Source -- Davis Cup Official Website

Jon at Chemeric Day Dreams has tagged me with a 'Show Me Your Computer Desktop Meme', that's not too bad. The only thing it reveals is that I am a proud TREKKIE!! Check out my tribute desktop, all the captains with their respective ships. Cooooooool huh?!

This is an immediate capture, no clean up or anything. I don't keep a junkie desktop, I'm organized like that. I too auto-hide my task bar because I don't want anything on the screen other than what I'm working on, and the captains.

Jon also tagged:

Roland
Sharon
Joanne
Opal

Tag rules under the cut:

[TAG STARTS HERE]

My Desktop Free View Instruction:

A. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun.

Over the years I've learned to accept the kindness and graciousness of others because I've learned that it's about them and what they want to give. So this morning, from one of the warmest and most giving persons that I have met since I began my blog, I accept the 'Nice Matters Award.' That person is Cyperpenguin at "Music Unbound: We Don't Need No Stinkin' Genres!" (Don't you just love that title?) Interestingly, something Cyperpenguin didn't know about me is my great love of music of all kinds, so the title of her blog truly suits me.

I like this award because I'm a firm believer that nice does matter and this award will serve as a constant reminder.

Thanks Cyberpenguin, have a blessed weekend!

There’s a line in ‘Waterloo’, the song that launched the iconic Swedish pop group Abba in 1974, that runs: “The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself.” That could very easily be Sweden's omen going into this weekend’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas semifinal that sees the home side as distinct underdogs against the powerful United States.Three times the Americans have visited Gothenburg’s charismatic Scandinavium arena, three times it’s been a semifinal or final, and three times the visitors have left with their tails between their legs. But for it to happen a fourth time, something highly unexpected will have to happen over the next three days, and at the very least Thomas Johansson looks like he must beat James Blake on the opening day of the tie. The line-up for the weekend is:

Friday
Joachim Johansson (SWE) v Andy Roddick (USA)
Thomas Johansson (SWE) v James Blake (USA)

Saturday
Simon Aspelin/Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) v Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA)

Sunday
Thomas Johansson (SWE) v Andy Roddick (USA)
Joachim Johansson (SWE) v James Blake (USA)

Johansson Returning After Eight Months

True, it’s hard to predict the opening rubber, in which the big-serving Joachim Johansson (no relation to Thomas) plays his first match for eight months against the biggest server in world tennis, a man he beat in five sets at the 2004 US Open. But assuming Andy Roddick wins that – and everyone in Gothenburg acknowledges that the longer the match goes on, the more Roddick’s chances increase – the pressure would be on the elder Johansson to beat Blake, given that the US have the world’s best doubles pair parading their near-perfect Davis Cup record on Saturday.

The 32-year-old Johansson certainly fancies his chances. “I think it’s a better match-up for us,” he said after Thursday’s draw. “I got beaten pretty badly by Andy at the US Open, so we tried to avoid that on the first day. Joachim and Jonas have both been playing well, so we had a number of options, and we’ve chosen this one.”

Blake could well find himself in the all-too-familiar position of being the weak link targeted by the opposition, but it doesn’t worry him. “I think of it as just another match,” he said. “There’s always a ton of pressure going into a Davis Cup live match. Each match is critical, but then you only have to get to three. I’ve had some experience playing Davis Cup matches, and I know how to deal with the pressure hopefully.”

Potentially Tricky Doubles For The Bryans

Not that Saturday’s doubles is a foregone conclusion. The Bryans will start favourites against Bjorkman and Aspelin, but with Aspelin having just won the US Open with Julian Knowle (and beating the Bryans en route) and Bjorkman still ranked 11th in doubles, the twins recognise that this could be their toughest match since they lost their only Davis Cup rubber two and a half years ago to Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic.

On paper, it looks clear-cut for the visitors, but will history repeat itself? Back in 1984 John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors were the world’s best singles players and McEnroe and Peter Fleming were the top doubles pair, yet McEnroe and Connors both disgraced themselves as Sweden won the final in two days. With McEnroe’s brother now the US captain and the player Connors coaches heading the US team, it’s easy to be aware of that infamous final 23 years ago. So will the history book rewrite itself?

McEnroe Unconcerned By Past

Patrick McEnroe, who admits his brother doesn’t talk much about the 1984 final, thinks not. “We feel this is a new team and a new time,” he said. “We would love to get a win here for the US Davis Cup and for history, but we don’t care much about what happened 10 or 20 years ago. We’re excited about being in the semis again, and we feel we have a good chance.”

McEnroe’s opposite number Mats Wilander was the man who beat John McEnroe on the opening day 23 years ago. He says his team need no extra motivation, but he’s happy to keep the ghost of ’84 alive. “Of course it always helps that we have never lost to the US team in this stadium, but it’s a new tie every time. I think everyone in Sweden who follows Davis Cup knows that Sweden has beaten the US three times here, and that does help.”

Source -- Davis Cup Official Site By BNP Paribas

In an interview with Bob Larson on Tuesday, (along with Patrick McEnroe, Andy Roddick and Bob and Mike Bryan) James Blake responded to the following questions regarding his readiness for Davis Cup semi-final play:

Q. James, you've played a lot the last couple of months with big success. How is your body? Is it okay?

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I feel great, healthy. This week so far has been great. I got a little bit of rest after the Open. Unfortunately I went out a little earlier than I would have hoped there. But it gave me time to rest and relax at home. That was perfect for me. I'm coming here feeling fresh. Like you said before, I've had some success in Sweden, so I like playing here. Hopefully I can continue that record that I've had here.

Q. Do you like the court?

JAMES BLAKE: I do. I felt like I've adjusted to it hopefully pretty quickly. Got a few more days to get used to it. But, like they said, I think it's very fair. I was actually expecting it to be even quicker. I think it's something that will play into our games. I don't think people will really need to completely change their games just to kind of accommodate the surface. I think we'll be able to play our games, and hopefully that will be good for us.

To read the entire interview, click here.

Can you imagine how fast a Venus Williams serve travels?

She slammed a record 207 km/h serve in the first round of the U.S. Open earlier this month.
Now, we will experience her powerful game in Korea during the upcoming Korean Thanksgiving Holiday.

Ranked 9th in the world, Williams will visit Korea on the coming Saturday to participate in the Hansol Korea Open, the only pro-tennis championship in Korea, which begins from Sep. 24 in Seoul.

To ensure her best performance, she has cancelled all the other matches scheduled for this week. To clock her serves accurately, the Korea Tennis Association has recently purchased two speed guns from a U.S. sports gear maker for $10,000. Each of them will be set up on either end of the court to give real-time readings to the fans.

Experts point to her strong build and firm grip on the fundamentals. Venus Williams, standing 185cm and weighing 73kg, attributes the power to her repeated practice since her childhood. Her springy knees add even more momentum to her serve.

MBC tennis commentator Jeon Mi-rah explains, “She spends almost double the amount of time on serves than other players. Her first serves are successful in most cases. So, she can slam more powerful serves with more confidence.”

Korean star male tennis player Lee Hyung-tack recorded a 199.6km serve in the U.S. Open. Thus, she is more powerful than many male players.

Williams first visited Korea two years ago, along with Maria Sharapova of Russia, 20, to play a demonstration game. Her kindness has left an impressive image among her Korean fans. This time, she will participate in more “off-the-court” events to maintain this image for her adoring fans. In addition, Williams and eight other world-class players will play visit Korea.

Dunlop Korea will stage a pre-game event where a visiting fan who records the fastest serve will receive free racket, cap, and other souvenirs.

Source -- BBC World