Black Tennis Pros

American Venus Williams enters the tennis court in Doha in a traditional Qatari dress during the opening ceremony of the WTA Qatar Total Open on February 18, 2008. Venus is taking part in the 2.5 million dollar tournament in the Qatari capital.

Round 1 - Singles

Venus Williams, USA vs. BYE


Round 1 - Doubles

Venus Williams, USA (WC) and Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
vs.
Vera Dushevina, RUS and Elena Likhovtseva, RUS

*Stephanie Foretz, FRA and Selima Sfar, TUN
vs.
Ayumi Morita, JPN and Monica Niculescu, ROU

*Foretz and Sfar were defeated 6-4, 6-2.


Qualifying Rounds

American Stephanie Foretz was eliminated in round 1 of the singles by Tiantian Sun of China 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).



Qualifying Draw

American Raquel Kops-Jones was eliminated in round 1 of the singles by Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-3, 6-0.

Round 1 - Singles

James Blake, USA vs. Sam Warburg, USA

Donald Young, USA vs. Hyunk-Taik Lee, KOR


Round 1 - Doubles

Donald Young, USA and John Isner, USA
vs.
Mardy Fish, USA and Jurgen Melzer, AUT


Qualifying Rounds

American Scoville Jenkins was eliminated in round 2 of the singles by American Tim Smyczek 6-4, 6-1.



Round 1 - Doubles

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
vs.
Jonathan Erlich, ISR and Andy Ram, ISR

If I had not seen the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships final, I would have been extremely disappointed that American James Blake lost what appeared to be "his" final. Blake was defeated by an 18-year old qualifier from Japan who is playing only his sixth ATP event.

However, after witnessing the brilliant flash of play from Kei Nishikori, I'm not the least bit disappointed in Blake, just happy for Nishikori. He played beautifully, and quite honestly I don't know what else Blake could have done to defend his game. Nishikori defeated Blake 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. I think that Blake may have been just as surprised as Nishikoro was at his very sophisticated level of play.

Nishikoro was all over the court and hitting shots that would have zoomed by whomever was on the other side of that net. It was really something to see. And while Nishikori seemed completely at ease, he said "I was nervous in the first set." He obviously got those nerves in check in sets two and three.

On the final point, when Nishikori realized that he'd won the tournament, he was simply stunned. He was a bit apprehensive in receiving his trophy, as if it wasn't his, but he raised it in victory immediately.

Though it was hard to lower the trophy, Japanese player Kei Nishikori finally responded when the announcer said "Okay, Kei, here. Your fans want to hear from you. With total glee and the sweetest smile, the young man from Japan said, "Ummmm, I still can't believe it, I won this tournament. And ahhh, still can't believe it, I beat James Blake, I just see him on the, on the TV." Nishikori was genuinely amazed at his accomplishment. As the crowd laughed, even Blake had to smile.

"Thank you, this city, Delray Beach and the, all the tournament directors,....the ball kids,.....this is my best tournament. Ever, in my life." The crowd gave Nishikori a big applause.

"Thank you all the fans, cheering me this week. I'm just so happy right now, thank you."

You can't help but love a guy who is that genuinely grateful and surprised at his own prowess.

Nishikori will make a huge jump in the rankings come Monday. He will rise from No. 244 to No. 131 in the ATP rankings.

After receiving his trophy Blake said, "Thanks everyone for coming out, First of all, I want to congratulate Kei, his first ATP title of many to come, I think. Ahhhh,very impressive performance today, all week,.....this kid's got a very bright future."

"I can't seem to get that winner's trophy, so I guess I'll have to keep coming back until I do."

Kei Nishikori? Yes, that is the name of American James Blake's basically unknown 18-year old opponent from Japan in tomorrow's Del Ray Beach, Florida's International Tennis Championships final.

In what I had no doubt would be a hard hitting speedy display of power semifinal today, good buds Blake and fellow American Robby Ginepri ran each other ragged to the finish. It was enjoyable to watch though. I like it when Americans go at it tooth and nail.

Blake started a bit rough, making unforced errors and serving poorly in the beginning of the first set allowing Ginepri to break his serve, but he slowly but surely turned things around to Ginepri's dismay. By the end of the first set, Blake had begun to display that self assured play that we have been seeing since that beautiful win in December's Davis Cup championship.

In the second set, Ginepri broke serve in the third game for a 2-1 lead. Ginepri held until losing serve again in the eighth game. Blake closed out the just over an hour match defeating Ginepri 6-4, 6-4.

Of his friendship with Ginepri Blake stated, "There is going to be no hard feelings no matter what happens on the court."

Of his opponent in tomorrow's final Blake said, "I have a lot of respect for him and to be in an ATP final at 18 years old and to beat Sam (Querry) here today is pretty impressive. At 18 I was trying to pass freshman econ"

Top-seeded James Blake advanced to the semifinals in the International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach for the second straight year Friday night, beating Russia's Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-4.

Blake will face Robby Ginepri on Saturday, while third-seeded Sam Querrey will play 18-year-old qualifier Kei Nishikori, the first Japanese player to reach an ATP semifinal since Shuzo Matsuoka at Beijing in October 1995.

"I definitely feel each match I'm playing better and better," said Blake, who lost to Xavier Malisse in the final last year. "It will be an all-American battle tomorrow. I just hope the crowd a little bit favors me."

The 169th-ranked Ginepri, playing in his first ATP main draw of the year, beat eighth-seeded Mardy Fish 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

Querrey reached his second career tour semifinal, beating fellow American Vince Spadea 6-2, 6-4. The 224-ranked Nishikori advanced to his first career semifinal with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over American Bobby Reynolds.

Blake, who has yet to lose a set all week, fell behind 2-0 in the opening set, but quickly picked up the pace to take control, Ginepri, a 2005 U.S. Open semifinalist and once ranked as high as No. 15, is struggling to find consistency to his game.

"When you're losing so much you get into a routine of losing out there," said Ginepri, last in a semifinal in Indianapolis in 2006. "I didn't remember how good it feels out there to win. It's addictive."