Black Tennis Pros

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated German Phillip Kohlschreiber today 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3. But that was the least of the excitement at the tournament.

Stefan Koubek was disqualified from the Open de Moselle on Thursday for directing an on-court tirade at a tournament official during a match with Sebastien Grosjean. Koubek, who will face a fine, led 5-7, 7-6 (4), 4-2 when the second-round match was interrupted.

The Austrian was angered after Grosjean protested a linesman's call on his serve. The linesman originally called the shot out but then said he could not be sure.

The chair umpire wanted Grosjean to replay the point, but Koubek asked for supervisor Thomas Karlberg to intervene. The two then argued, and Karlberg said Koubek targeted him with "verbal abuse."

It was not immediately clear what Koubek said during the argument. Koubek declined to comment.

In 2000, Koubek was disqualified from the French Open after throwing his racket at a ball boy.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Well it was a tough match today against Alicia Molik but I was able to make it through. There were some times I played some great tennis and other times I made some mistakes I just couldn't comprehend - not that it's something I'll accept. That's just the way it was today. Alicia's been working hard to get back to where she was, and I think her level is getting there. I saw her match against Serena at Wimbledon and I really think that is a great surface for her. Anyway, it feels good to win today and keep on moving forward.

We actually started our match much later than I had expected because the men's match before us went the distance, probably about three hours. It was insane! I watched some of it towards the end, but I had been keeping an eye on the score throughout just to know when I should be warming up.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams struggled in the first set on Thursday against Australia's Alicia Molik but eventually prevailed to move into the semi-finals at the Japan Open.

The American top seed, heavily favoured to win here, lost her serve twice in the first set, each time on a double fault, but the six-time Grand Slam winner's experience helped her to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 quarter-final win.

"I had some problems with my errors, which was frustrating," said the world number eight Williams, who hit six double faults.

"But she also is a really good competitor -- she brings a lot of balls back and serves well -- so I was definitely up against a competitive opponent who obviously has skills to win the match."

Molik, ranked 74th, came back from 1-3 and then 2-4 down to level the score each time before forcing a tie-breaker in the opening set.

But the Australian hit her forehand wide twice on her serve to quickly fall behind 0-3 in the tie-breaker. Williams hit an easy forehand winner at the net on her first set point.

The two women stayed on serve in the second set until Molik hit a double fault to go down 3-4, sending Williams on the path to victory.

Malivai Washington, a finalist on the grandest international stage in tennis, Wimbledon, will share the hall of fame spotlight Dec. 1 at the 28th annual ceremonies at the Genesys Athletic Club Banquet Center.

Washington, of Swartz Creek, reached the top of the tennis world in 1996 when he advanced to the finals at Wimbledon, four years after winning his first professional tournament. Washington played for two years at the University of Michigan where he was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year in 1988 and Player of the Year in 1989. He was Tennis Magazine's rookie of the year in 1990 and helped the U.S. team win the Davis Cup in 1997.

Congratulations Mal!

Source -- The Flint Journal

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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