Black Tennis Pros

BEAUMONT - The CRISTUS Pro Celebrity Classic has confirmed that tennis stars Chanda Rubin and Justin Gimelstob will play in the event rescheduled for Nov. 2, at Ford Arena.

Gimelstob, an ATP Tour star, will face Pete Sampras in the feature match as a replacement for Todd Martin who cannot make the rescheduled date forced by Hurricane Humberto.

Tickets are available on-line through www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (409)-833-7747. Tickets are also available at the Ford Park box office. Ticket prices are $29, $39 and $59.

Source - Beaumont Enterprise

Two players that we have not heard much from this year are having some success on the USTA Pro Circuit. Americans Angela Haynes (pictured left) and Mashona Washington (pictured right) are entered into the main singles and main doubles draw of the Women's Tennis Classic of Troy in Troy, Alabama.

Playing doubles, Haynes and Washington were in action yesterday against the doubles team of Russians Ekaterina Afinogenova and Angelina Gabueva. The Americans defeated the Russians 6-0,6-4. Today they will be in action against the doubles team of Sunita Rao of India and Christina Wheeler of Australia.

Neither player survived their singles matches. Angela Haynes was defeated by Ekaterina Afinogenova 4-6,6-2,7-5; and Mashona Washington was defeated by Christina Wheeler 6-0,6-4.

For more information about the USTA Pro Circuit click here.

Australian Open champion Serena Williams plans to ask sister Venus for advice how to beat second-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova ahead of their quarter-final clash at Stuttgart's WTA tournament.

Sixth seed Williams reached the last eight with a 7-5, 6-2 second-round win over Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko on Wednesday evening at Stuttgart's Porsche Arena and now faces the second-seeded Russian on Friday.

Williams last played Kuznetsova in 2004 while sister Venus beat the Russian in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon this year and Serena says she will ring her sister, who is currently playing at Tokyo's Japan Open, for advice.

"I'll have to ask Venus for advice on how to beat Svetlana, I haven't played her for a few years," said Williams.

"She is a tough player to beat, very strong and fast around the court."

Williams was not pleased with her performance against Vakulenko and says she will have to step up her game against Kuznetsova.

Source -- AFP

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Hello again!

Well I was able to beat Vania today but things got a bit difficult towards the end. I was feeling really good at the beginning and the first set went by fast, and at that point I was playing almost perfect. But in the second set she picked up her game. She began taking her chances, taking the ball early and moving it around, trying to hit winners - she was basically making the first play before I did. But I was able to get a break and close it out. I'm very happy I was able to pull through.

Afterwards, I went to get my nails done. They're purple. They have really cool nail designs here - like flowers and jewels - but that doesn't quite function when you're out there competing. My mom has tiny diamonds on her nails now, but she isn't running back and forth on the court or anything! Just now I also checked my e-mail and I got two from Serena telling me to call her so I did, and she's asleep. It was like 10am in Europe! Anyway so I went to her website, and she'd written something on her home page about playing games in relationships. There is this place to vote for whether it's okay or not and I said yes, but apparently it was the wrong decision because everyone else is saying no. I guess I really need to come clean! I don't go on her website too much, but I did today. Then I read the story that was sort of attached to the poll, and it was about these two people, Debrah and Miachel, but I have no idea who they are! But anyway, aside from my nails, which took a couple zillion years to get done, some stretching, e-mails and lunch, that's about it for today. I don't usually eat dinner; I'm not much of an eater, I can just have some fruit. As long as I feel I've eaten enough, I'm feeling good.

So I've been hearing that some people have been wondering about how the book ended... Well, it finished about as miserably as you could imagine. And, to make things worse, it implied that the whole tale was about to start all over again with their friends who were on the hill too. Basically, I read a book that catalogues the days before their death. It was so upsetting! I'm going to write to the author and petition against the ending. He has another book but I'm not sure I should read it. I can't go through all that drama again. I need a funny book.

Apart from reading, I also like to listen to music on the road. I have my iPod with me. I'm really into house music - I like Moby, Felix da Housecat, Massive Attack, Brazilian Girls, Fatboy Slim, Zero 7, Air... I'm always trying to listen to different things. I check out internet radio a lot. I like making music too; I play guitar but I don't travel with it. Lately, I've been writing songs on GarageBand - I've always wanted to learn how to use music software. In San Diego I wrote my first song and it was house. I want to be the DJ in the club with the sunglasses on! I'm a new writer. Aside from the music, I like to keep busy with my Game Boy and my school work. I haven't done any school work today, which is most depressing.

I'm not a big TV watcher. I watch tennis - if it's on I watch it, but otherwise TV doesn't really keep me amused. I was really into the Golden Girls. My favorite character was definitely Dorothy, although Rose is fantastic, too. I love Rose. I really can't think of an episode I haven't seen. I used to watch them over and over again. This year, I've finally let go. But I'm never opposed to a rerun...

When I'm home I'm also busy with my interior design company, V Starr Interiors. It's going really well! We're wrapping up a model home in Florida, just across the street from where I live. Now that the summer is ending, we're wrapping up old jobs and starting new ones because people are moving. If you'd like to check out the company website, go to www.vstarrinteriors.com.

Tomorrow I'm playing my quarterfinal against Alicia Molik. Apparently, we have a Saturday final here, so I'm playing every day right through from now on! She is a really good player. I haven't seen her around in a little while, although she played pretty intensely against Serena at Wimbledon. But I'll just have to keep playing like I'm playing. I just have to keep on moving.

I'm eager to hear back from Serena... I want to ask her why she won as hard as she did yesterday. Other than that nothing much tonight.

Until tomorrow!

xxx

Venus

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To reach the quarterfinals at the Japan Open, Venus Williams had to dismiss yet another American, Vania King, 6-0, 6-4.

King, ranked 87th, took a 2-0 lead in the second set of the match at Ariake Colosseum, but Williams broke to go up 4-3. She won the match with a crosscourt forehand to the corner that King returned into the net.

Williams, No. 8 in the WTA rankings, will face the winner of the match between Alicia Molik and Aleksandra Wozniak in the quarterfinals of the $175,000 tournament.

Flavia Pennetta has got past the first round of the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, a WTA tournament with 175,000 dollars in prizes underway in Tokyo, Japan. The Brindisi resident, accredited as the 8th ranked player in the series and just coming off the Seoul semi-final, beat American Ahsha Rolle with 7-5, 6-1 after an hour and a quarter.

Serena Williams blasted her way into the second round of Stuttgart's WTA tournament while France's Amelie Mauresmo became the first big-name casualty on Tuesday.

Serena opened her campaign with a rapid-fire 6-0, 6-0 win over the Czech Republic's Zuzana Ondraskova, the first lucky loser from the main draw after Williams' original opponent Elena Bobina withdrew with an ankle injury.

The 27-year-old right-hander, ranked 140th in the world, was totally outclassed by sixth-seed Williams' power game and was dumped out in just 48 relentless minutes.

"I was pleased with that," said Australian Open champion Williams, who will face Julia Vakulenko in the second round after the Ukrainian's 6-4, 6-4 win over Germany's Julia Goerges late on Tuesday night.

"That was a good start and I am looking forward to seeing how far I go here in Stuttgart."

"I haven't been in Europe in the fall for a long time and it feels really good," she told reporters Monday during the opening day of the Stuttgart Grand Prix in Germany. "It was pretty disappointing at the U.S. Open. After the tournament I started practicing because I didn't do very well."

After Stuttgart, Serena plans to stay in Europe and compete in upcoming tournaments in Moscow and Zurich. Participation will also allow Williams to earn qualifying points for a spot in the eight-player draw at the season-ending championship in Madrid next month.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Hello again everyone,

Today I played my first match of the week against Jill Craybas, and I won. I felt pretty good about the match. I had a bit of a slow start and she was playing well, hitting deep. But I just didn't want to lose. We had a close first few games, and then I really started to find my rhythm. I'm very pleased. I think my forehand in particular was working really well towards the end. Whatever it takes, you know.

Tonight I went to the player party, which was fun. I may have let myself down a little bit, because I immediately rushed to the french fries. I just went right to them. I don't really eat much, so fries count as a carbohydrate! Boiled or fried, the only thing that matters is that I'm eating. I eat to live, not live to eat. And they were so nice and salty. Okay I did have other things like fish and whatever else I had on my plate - but those fries would have gotten cold if I didn't take them - and even as they got us to do this thing where we hit a barrel with saki in it, all I could think of was the fries getting cold. I know I made the right decision.

I actually ended up sitting with the American guys at the player party (this is a combined event). Zack Fleishman, Amer Delic and a few more. But then I looked and saw all the girls sitting across the room. I thought to myself, 'Does this mean I'm one of those girls that always sits with the guys and never gets a boyfriend?' I don't know how I ended up there but I tried not to think about it too much.

I'm playing the second match after 10am tomorrow, so I figured I'd head back to the hotel relatively early. I've been doing some online shopping unfortunately - it's addictive. I was thinking of finishing that book tonight. It's just gotten crazier. Some sick things are happening in the book that just made me ill. I have never allowed a book to get to me like this. There's just no hope in it. But I am planning to finish it tonight - it just has to be done. I only have like 50 pages left. I hope SOMEBODY survives. But it seems like it's just going to end in tragedy. Usually it takes me two or three days to get through a book - I can't read slowly, I just have to know what happens. I can't not know.

I'll probably do more work on my designs tonight, as well. I'm graduating from fashion school this fall and I haven't really done anything the last two days, and that's no good. Now I'm always trying to be ahead of the game. I used to stay up so late to finish things; I remember when I first started I'd be up all night almost. One day I had just come back from a tournament in Zürich and went straight to the school, then drove home and was up until 4am or something, then I went back there for 6, crazy stuff like that. Back then I'd stay up until I felt my heart beating and knew I had to sleep, but I'd still run to Kinko's to print stuff out. I can't do that anymore. So what I try to do now is go to the school before I'm leaving on a trip and ask about the curriculum. I try to get going a few weeks before the term starts. Sometimes I finish my designs a few weeks before the deadlines. It can be stressful, but I know my boys will be beautiful!

Speaking of designs, I'm really excited about EleVen. It's not out yet, but it'll be coming out in November. I've been in school and making my own stuff for a long time but it's just too much labor; but when someone else does all of the work off your designs, it's just great! I think the summer coming up will be the best part of the collection. I think my favorite design would be this warm-up suit that has an upside down V - it's so slimming and so flattering that I wear it all the time.

Something else exciting I'd like to comment on is Lindsay's return to the Tour. I think it's just amazing, more than I would ever dream of doing myself. I mean, if I were to become a mom I'd want to be the Posh Spice mom: in my sunglasses, extra fit, jet setting without a care in the world. I can't imagine becoming a mom then coming back and doing so well so quickly. I haven't had the chance to talk to her since her return, but I'm following it and it's awesome. And she wants to play in the Olympics next year, too, so that's obviously great for the United States.

This isn't the first time I've kept some sort of blog or diary online before - on my website I used to have one. I was also on MySpace for a minute but I was under an alias. I'd go on there to complain - it was a venting ground for me. Everybody was there to make friends and I was there to vent. At the time I was injured, and because I wasn't playing I had so much time to do so many other things such as going out and going on life adventures and I always had crazy stuff happening to me. If I made a fool out of myself I'd go on there to confess; if I had a falling out I'd go on there to talk about it. But in the end I just quit. Serena got an official MySpace and linked me as a friend, and people started going to my page and figuring out who it was even though I was under an alias. I'm probably still there. Well, the alias is probably still on there. But she's BAD. Last I heard, she got into a situation she couldn't get out of, so she passed away.

Speaking of Serena, we've been keeping in touch, of course, even though she's in Stuttgart this week. We always keep each other posted on gossip and drama. We laugh and laugh. She'll tell me about guy stuff then I'll say I know all about it, and we'll keep going. Right now I'm playing the part of the wise, older sister.

I'm playing another American, Vania King, in the second round on Wednesday. We've never played on the Tour before but we have played on the same team in Fed Cup. I think it'll be interesting playing my Fed Cup teammate. It's a bit early tomorrow but it doesn't matter - I just want to get right into the grind this week.

Talk to you all tomorrow,

xxx

Venus

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