Black Tennis Pros

River Oaks U. S. Men's Clay Court Championship, Houston, Texas

Round 3 - Singles

James Blake, USA defeated Ryan Harrison, USA,
6-3, 6-2


Estoril Open, Estoril Portugal

Round 1 - Doubles

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
defeated
Robert Lindstedt, SWE and Jarkko Nieminen, FIN
6-2, 6-7(4), 10/6


Family Circle Cup

Round 2 - Singles

Serena Williams, USA defeated Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
4-6, 6-4, 6-3


USTA Pro Circuit

Ballenisles Women's Challenger, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Round 2 - Singles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA defeated by Anna Tatishvili, GEO
6-4, 6-0

Quarterfinal Round

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Sunitha Rao, IND
defeated
Asia Muhammad, USA and Ashley Weinhold, USA
6-2, 7-6(4)


St. Vincent Auxillary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament, Little Rock, Arkansas

Round 2 - Singles

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated Luigi D'Agord, ITA
6-3, 4-6, 6-4

Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated Guillermo Rivera-Aranguiz, CHI
6-2, 3-6, 6-2

Quarterfinal Round - Doubles

Marcus Fugate, USA and Adam Fass, USA
defeated by
Haydn Lewis, BAR and Bjorn Munroe, BAH
6-1, 7-6(5)


Tallahassee Tennis Challenger, Tallahassee, Florida

Round 3 - Singles

Scoville Jenkins, USA defeated by Alex Kuznetsov, USA
4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3

Top seeded American James Blake avenged his Delray Beach final loss to Japan's Kei Nishikori, defeating the rising star 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday in Houston to advance to the second round at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.

The 18-year-old Nishikori challenged Blake as he twice went up a break in the start of the second set, but the American No. 2 responded by leveling the score each time and then broke Nishikori one more time to secure the win in one hour and 27 minutes.

"It definitely feels good anytime to avenge a loss," said Blake. "Usually the slower court hinders me, but this time I think it helped because his balls are helped by a quicker court. It makes him more effective and he doesn't seem to have a problem with pace. It makes the serve much more effective. It gave me the opportunity to look at his serve a lot better here on slow court."

Nishikori had come into the tournament ranked a career-high No. 116, backed by his title effort in February and ATP Masters Series debuts at Indian Wells and Miami, but he has now lost four straight matches in his ATP main draw appearances.

Blake, who picked up his 20th match win of the season, will attempt to advance to the quarterfinals for his six straight tournament when he confronts another youngster, 15-year-old American qualifier Ryan Harrison, on Thursday night. Harrison is the third youngest player to win an ATP match since 1990, behind Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal.

River Oaks U. S. Men's Clay Court Championship, Houston, Texas

Round 1 - Singles

James Blake, USA defeated Kei Nishikori, JPN
6-4, 6-4

Round 2 - Singles

Donald Young, USA defeated by Oscar Hernandez, ESP
6-4, 6-4


Estoril Open, Estoril Portugal

Round 1 - Doubles

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
defeated
Oliver Marach, AUT and Michael Mertinak, SVK
6-3, 7-6(5)


Valencia Open, Valencia Spain

Round 2 - Singles

Gael Monfils defeated by by Potito Starace, ITA
7-5, 6-1


Family Circle Cup

Round 2 - Singles

Alexandra Stevenson defeated by Jelena Jankovic
7-5, 6-0



USTA Pro Circuit

Ballenisles Women's Challenger, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Round 1 - Singles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA defeated Stephanie Vidov, USA
6-2, 6-3

Round 1 - Doubles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Sunitha Rao, IND
defeated
Sesil Karatantcheva, BUL and Shareen-Rena Lai, MAS
6-1, 6-2

Asia Muhammad, USA and Ashley Weinhold, USA
defeated
Neha Uberoi, USA and Shikha Uberoi, IND
6-7(6), 6-4, 10/5


St. Vincent Auxillary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament, Little Rock, Arkansas

Round 1 - Singles

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated C. Klingemann, USA
7-6(4), 6-3

Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated Milan Pokrajac, CAN
6-3, 6-4

Round 1 - Doubles

Marcus Fugate, USA and Adam Fass, USA
defeated
Robert Gallman, USA and Bryan Woota, USA
6-2, 6-2


Tallahassee Tennis Challenger, Tallahassee, Florida

Round 2 - Singles

Scoville Jenkins, USA defeated Philipp Oswald, AUT
4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3

Josselin Ouanna, FRA defeated by Bobby Reynolds, USA
6-4, 6-4

Round 1 - Doubles

Josselin Ouanna, FRA and Gary Lugassy, FRA
defeated by
Brian Battistone, USA and Dann Battistone, USA
6-4, 5-7, 10-4

Ballenisles Women's Challenger, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Round 1 - Singles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA vs. Stephanie Vidov, USA


Round 1 - Doubles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Sunitha Rao, IND
vs.
Sesil Karatantcheva, BUL and Shareen-Rena Lai, MAS

Asia Muhammad, USA and Ashley Weinhold
vs.
Neha Uberoi, USA and Shikha Uberoi, IND


St. Vincent Auxillary Men's Professional Tennis Tournament, Little Rock, Arkansas

Round 1 - Singles

Marcus Fugate, USA vs. C. Klingemann, USA

Phillip Simmonds, USA vs. Milan Pokrajac, CAN


Round 1 - Doubles

Marcus Fugate, USA and Adam Fass, USA
vs.
Robert Gallman, USA and Bryan Woota, USA


Tallahassee Tennis Challenger, Tallahassee, Florida

Round 1 - Singles

Scoville Jenkins, USA vs. Jesse Levine, USA*
*Jenkins defeated Levine 7-6, 6-1

Josselin Ouanna, FRA vs. Catalin Gard, ROU*
*Ouanna defeated Gard 6-4, 6-2


Round 1 - Doubles

Scoville Jenkins, USA and Alex Bogomolov, Jr., USA
vs.
Ramon Delgado, PAR and Marcio Torres, BRA

Josselin Ouanna, FRA and Gary Lugassy, FRA
vs.
Brian Battistone, USA and Dann Battistone, USA

Round 1 - Singles
Alexandra Stevenson, USA vs. Alina Jidkova, RUS*
*Stevenson defeated Jidkova 7-6(6), 6-1

Milagros Sequera, VEN vs. Arevane Rezai, FRA

Ahsha Rolle, USA vs. Tiantian Sun, CHN*
*Sun defeated Rolle 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-2

Serena Williams, USA vs. BYE


Round 1 - Doubles

Angela Haynes, USA and Milagros Sequera, VEN
vs.
Vania King, USA and Tiantian Sun, CHN

Round 1 - Singles

James Blake, USA vs. Kei Nishikori, JPN

Donald Young, USA vs. Fernando Vicente, ESP*
*Young defeated Vicente 6-3, 7-6(5)











Round 1 - Singles

Gael Monfils, FRA vs. Maximo Gonzalez, ARG*
*Monfils defeated Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4













Round 1 - Doubles

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
vs
Oliver Marach, AUT and Michael Mertinak, SVK

American James Blake defeated Richard Gasquet 67 (4) 64 64 in the fifth rubber to give USA a 4-1 victory over France in the 2008 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas quarterfinals. In Sunday’s opener, the US No. 1 Andy Roddick decimated Paul-Henri Mathieu 62 63 62 in 1 hr 37 minutes to seal the win for the Americans. The No. 10 ranked Gasquet, who had not played on Friday due to injury, was a replacement for Michael Llodra.

Record crowds

Yesterday’s win by the Americans sets up a Davis Cup Semifinal against Spain in September. Spain, who defeated Germany 4-1 in Bremen, will host the tie but the venue has not as yet been named. Certainly the Spanish will choose a slow clay court not only to play to their own strengths but also to confound the Americans.

The last time the USA played in Spain was the 2004 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final, won by the home team in Seville in front of 27,200 fans daily. This was the largest recorded attendance for any sanctioned tennis event in history.

Andy Roddick is hopeful that the US teams chances have improved since 2004. “Yeah, it’s a different tie,” said Roddick. “That being said, Nadal has won a couple clay court matches since then also. I’m sure he’s licking his chops because it’s gonna be nice conditions for him. So he’ll show.”

"I still have a lot to prove on clay" - Roddick

“I’d love to say I’ve improved a ton,” added Roddick. “I think I’ve become a better Davis Cup player. I still have a lot to prove on clay. And I’m not going to try to tell you that I’m fixed and great on clay and all this stuff. But I’m better in Davis Cup situations and I’m better in away tie situations. So, you know, that’s not gonna hurt.”

“I hoped we would have the chance to play Spain,” said American Captain Patrick McEnroe. “It’s the ultimate challenge, on slow red clay. I think we can do it. We’re the underdogs but I welcome the opportunity.”