Black Tennis Pros

Serena Williams was unable to turn whatever advice she may have received from sister Venus into a win. Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Serena 6-3,6-3.

Kuznetsova served better and made fewer errors in beating Williams, who was playing in the tournament for the first time since 1999. Three straight backhand errors by Williams allowed Kuznetsova to win the last game, with the American hitting the last shot wide.

"I made so many errors, my balls were just flying and there was no wind," Williams said. "There were hardly any rallies. It was hard to get any rhythm because I was making so many errors. I was just spraying balls all over."

Friday, October 5, 2007

Hey everybody,

I didn't have the greatest start to the day. First of all, I woke up to my mom pounding on the door like it was the police - I thought something bad happened or maybe I slept through something and it wasn't either of those! Although I'm never really on time for anything. I only wake up on the nick of time and rush to everything - to breakfast, to the courts - and I'm normally running late. I should have packed my bag last night, too, because when I got out to the courts in the morning I realized I'd forgotten half of my outfit in the hotel room. I'll usually bring two full outfits just in case something goes wrong but all I had today was one skirt. Fortunately, I had a white, sleeveless warm-up shirt with the EleVen logo on the back so I wore that, and nobody really noticed... Pretty smooth!

My match was challenging, what can I say? My opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, got a couple of breaks but I got them back, and she got a lot of balls back too. I had to conquer a really good opponent today. She fell and twisted her ankle at one point but she got back up and everything seemed to be fine after that. And she was still tough. What was working for me today was my will to win, to just hit the ball and play every point. As a professional I should be able to do that, right?

I was thinking of going to the Imperial Palace this afternoon, but my mom told me I should go back to the hotel and that was the end of it! So I ended up not going anywhere I wanted to. I guess I could have gone if I really wanted to, but I was tired so I saw it as an opportunity to get some of my work done. What am I working on... well, I finished my swimsuit drawings yesterday and today I have been finishing up quick sketches of my children's wear ideas. Now I'm thinking about my board concepts and have started on those. I'm really getting into it.

I started a new book today and someone has already died. But, it's much better than the other book because I'm sure not everyone dies. One person dying I can deal with! It's called "The Righteous Men" by Sam Bourne. I didn't pick it for any particular reason, I just pick 'em as I see 'em and just hope for the best. I was in the airport and saw this one and decided I would try to read it.

Tonight I'm just going to keep working on this - I've been doing work for four hours now which is an improvement from me, so I'm very excited. I'm just going to take it from here. I'm not caught up, though. I slacked off a lot this week and last week in Korea so I'm going to have to punish myself on the next plane ride by doing some more. Usually I like to sleep on the plane, but not this time...

I'm flying to Bangkok on Sunday for another week in a row of tennis. Usually I injure myself or can't play this many weeks in a row for some reason, and this is just awesome for me. I've been really careful lately to not get injured. At night tomorrow we may go out, maybe find some more karaoke... my favorite song from when we went last week was definitely "Call Me" by Blondie - it's totally in my key (I sing pretty high) - but we did everything from Guns N' Roses to 4 Non Blondes to Nirvana, Tears for Fears, Ciara, just everything. My mother LOVES Nickelback so when "This Is How You Remind Me" came on she was so happy. She's a great singer, actually. Isha likes R&B. The funny part was that last week my calves were hurting but I didn't care at the karaoke, I just got up and danced, even though I'd just had an ice bath... probably not the best decision from me. But oh well. I hope we don't have too much fun tomorrow, because ultimately, I have another tournament coming up. I have to be serious and keep my energy. It will hopefully be another five matches and another final - we'll see!

I also wanted to set something straight. People have been reading the blog and have been telling me I've said this, I've said that... and in one of the first ones I said I was like one of those girls who sits with the guys and can't get a boyfriend; I just want to say I actually do have a boyfriend now and we have great times, and I am one of those girls that has a chance to get one!! People asked about eating the cow tongue too - I'm really trying not to think about that one anymore! But it's nice to know you guys are reading my blog this week - it's nice to know you guys are really feeling it.

I'm hoping to just relax tonight here, just eating some grapes (purple), really just getting rested for tomorrow morning's final. I'm playing Virginie Razzano for the title. I think she's a very good player. She played so well against me in San Diego. It'll be important for me to play aggressively, and just take it to her - that will definitely be on the agenda.

I'll talk to you all again tomorrow night!

xxx

Venus
-----

Venus Williams ended a spirited challenge from Danish teen Caroline Wozniacki on Friday to reach the final of the Japan Open tennis tournament.

The Wimbledon champion, powered her way to a 6-3, 7-5 victory to move to within one match of back-to-back tour wins after last week's Korea Open triumph.

In Saturday's final Venus will take on fifth seed Virginie Razzano of France, who defeated eighth seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

"It feels good. It's great to be in the finals," Williams said.

"I was like, 'can I do this? Is it possible?' But it is, so it's exciting."

After losing the first four games in a row and eventually the first set, Wozniacki went ahead 2-0 in the second set and then 4-2, taking advantage of Williams's two double faults in the sixth game.

But Venus steadied herself to make it 5-5 -- thanks to a questionable line-call -- before winning the last three games to finish off the 97-minute match.

"Four-two is definitely not the set, it's just one break, so winning one game is always pretty much even," said Williams.

"I was trying to win one game at one time. I was very confident. I was trying to focus on making less errors," she said.

The 17-year-old Wozniacki said she could not cope with Williams once the Wimbledon champion returned to form in the second set.

"Venus played really well, she just smashed winners in the corners, so I couldn't do anything," she said.

"I was trying to keep my tactics, just tried to make her run, but at 4-2 she really raised her game until four-all and she just did a lot of winners, so I couldn't really do anything.

"It's tough to break her serve even though I broke her serve three times in the match," said Wozniacki.

Tiya Rolle stood patiently on one of the lower courts Wednesday afternoon, helping grade-school children from the Pike County Housing Authority learn how to strike a tennis ball.

Rolle knows what it's like to be a small child looking for a sport at which she could be competitive.

“I started playing when I was nine,” she said. “And I'm 21 now.”

Hers is an athletic family, with sister Asha leading the way. Asha has won the USTA Tennis Classic of Troy twice, and made it to the third round of the 2007 U.S. Open.

“There's no jealousy there,” proud mom Sharon Rolle said. “Tiya, I think, is more of the coordinator when they're together.”

Rolle agreed.

“We're different people. There's not any jealousy,” she said. “When she (Asha) wins, I feel her success, too. When she loses, it hurts me.”

Rolle bowed out in the qualifying rounds of the singles matches for the Troy tournament, but she and partner Margot Carter are in the quarterfinals of the doubles draw.

This is my first time playing with Margot,” Rolle said. “She saw that I was looking for a partner to play doubles, and we went out there and won.”

Right now, 21-year-old Rolle is working on a more rounded game.

“Tiya's trying to add diversity to her game, work on the transition to the net game to be a more complete player,” Sharon Rolle said.

Rolle sees playing on the professional tennis tour for about three more years. After that, she has plans outside tennis.“

I'm going to continue to do this while I study law online,” Rolle said.

It takes a lot to get two daughters onto the pro tour, Sharon Rolle said.

“It takes a lot of work,” she said. “For them, it's the physical work - getting out there and practicing and working out. But it takes a lot of support, too, whether that's helping them while their traveling or making sure they're eating right or getting the right coaching.”

Rolle and Carter play the winner of Maria-Fernanda Alves/Stephanie Dubois and Angela Haynes/Mashona Washington today.

Source - The Messenger (Bobby Matthews)

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