Black Tennis Pros

Venus Williams and Hank Kuehne walked the course at the Masters Tournament on Thursday to lend support to Hank's brother Trip.

As is well known, I'm a BIG Davis Cup fan. I went to the store today and loaded up on popcorn and adult beverages, both very necessary to thoroughly enjoy the matches. I'm ready, I know the USA team is ready, so let the play begin!

Andy Roddick, will open up the USA versus France tie in Winston-Salem against French No. 2 Michael Llodra. The pair have their first meeting in six years, since Roddick defeated the Frenchman back in 2002 at Delray Beach.

After losing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga due to a right knee injury, France has been dealt a further blow after Richard Gasquet was not included in the line-up due to suffering with blisters. Instead, Paul-Henri Mathieu will fill the French No. 1's shoes and take on American No. 2 James Blake in the second rubber, with Arnaud Clement and Llodra joining forces once again in the doubles against the world No. 1 team Bob and Mike Bryan.

The full draw for the weekend is as follows:

Friday
Andy Roddick (USA) v Michael Llodra (FRA)
James Blake (USA) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)

Saturday
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) v Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra (FRA)

Sunday
Andy Roddick (USA) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
James Blake (USA) v Michael Llodra (FRA)

Twenty-three year old former Clemson Tiger Jarmaine Jenkins, who is in doubles action this week in Mobile, Alabama at the 2008 Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic.

Ahsha Rolle, Angela Haynes, Tiya Rolle - M&F Bank Women's Pro Challenger of Jackson, Mississippi

Marcus Fugate, Phillip Simmonds, Josselin Ouanna and Jarmaine Jenkins - 2008 Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic, Mobile, Alabama

Scoville Jenkins - Puerto Rico Challenger Tennis Event, Humacao, Puerto Rico

In a stunning development that tips the competitive balance in favor of the United States, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France dropped out of the 2008 Davis Cup Quarterfinal, suffering from a lateral meniscus injury to his right knee.

Captain Guy Forget replaced the French star with veteran Arnaud Clement, who had traveled with the team to Winston-Salem as an alternate.

The 22-year-old Tsonga flew back to France on Wednesday for treatment. The news was made official Wednesday afternoon by Davis Cup Tournament Referee Wayne McKewen.

It was initially believed by the Americans that the inclusion of Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu was a smokescreen for Clement's inclusion in the doubles rubber.

Michael Llodra’s steady doubles partner, Clement and Llodra defeated the Bryans this year at the Australian Open and two years ago at Wimbledon.

“I will expect the unexpected,” said McEnroe on Tuesday. “They have a lot of versatility in their players. I certainly don't go in really wondering or worrying about it. As I said, we've got our four guys. If we play well and play at the top of our game, we feel good about our chances.”

“Certainly I think Guy (Forget) has more options available, maybe depending on how the guys look and adjust to the court, it being as quick as it is. It would not surprise me if there's some changes.”

With Tsonga out of the picture, the French will likely nominate Mathieu, ranked No. 12 in the world, to play second singles behind Richard Gasquet.

A career 4-6 in Davis Cup competition, Mathieu last played in the 2007 quarterfinals against Russia. Mathieu is 1-2 against Andy Roddick and 0-1 against James Blake.

Clement, 29, an eight-year Davis Cup veteran, is accomplished in both singles and doubles. In the first round against Romania, Clement partnered with Llodra in the clinching match.

Tsonga made his debut on the French Davis Cup team in the first round, winning his only match over Romania’s Andrei Pavel.

The official draw ceremony, which determines the official order of play, will be held Thursday at the Joel Coliseum.

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Six-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams will be sidelined indefinitely, though she did not say why she will be out of action.

"I've just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I'm working on that at the moment and I'm hoping to be back playing as soon as possible," Williams said Tuesday at the Bausch & Lomb Championships. "I'm not going to get any further into it, but of course I love the sport."

Williams said last week she was dealing with a medical issue when she announced her withdrawal from the Bausch & Lomb tournament. She played last week in the Sony Ericsson Open, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.

Williams will not play for the United States in the Fed Cup semifinal against Russia on April 26-27, but did not rule out any other tournaments and said she still wants to play in the French Open beginning in late May.

"Of course I want to be there (in France)," Williams said. "I don't want to be at home watching on TV. Watching this week will be enough on TV, so hopefully not too many more weeks."

QuickStart Tennis is a new format to help kids ten and under learn and play the game. To make it easier for them, a few things have been changed. The court sizes. The racquet sizes. The balls. The scoring system. Even the net height.

Now any child between ages five and ten can start playing tennis almost immediately-even if he or she has never picked up a racquet before.

Like other popular youth sports, QuickStart stresses the importance of play and team competition. It's also now part of the USTA Jr. Team Tennis league and can be part of your existing programs as well. Which means that even more kids will have the opportunity to experience this new format, have fun playing with their friends and develop skills that will become the foundation of their game.

After spending the past two weeks in Miami at the Sony Ericsson Open, members of the United States Davis Cup team might not have enjoyed Winston-Salem’s chilly weather yesterday.

But they’re glad to be here nonetheless as they prepare for this weekend’s World Group quarterfinal against France at Joel Coliseum.

Captain Patrick McEnroe, James Blake, and Bob and Mike Bryan attended the Davis Cup Block Party at Hanes Park, and they made it clear that they were happy to be back where they have enjoyed much success.

The U.S. beat Spain in front of sellout crowds at Joel Coliseum last April in a 2007 quarterfinal, and went on to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1995.

“There’s great fan support in Winston-Salem,” Bob Bryan said. “This is the most passionate crowd we’ve ever played in front of. Last year the fans really brought it. They helped us so much, it was just a great scene. So when we had a chance to play a home match, w e recommended to Pat and to the USTA that we come back here.”

The U.S. drew an away tie in the first round, beating Austria in Vienna in February. So this will be the team’s first home tie as the defending Davis Cup champions - and the way that the brackets set up, it could be the only home tie in 2008 even if the U.S. makes it all the way to the final.