Black Tennis Pros

American Serena Williams may have looked and played a bit tentatively during the first 15-20 minutes of the quarterfinal match at the $1.34-million 35th Anniversary Tournament of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, but from then on out, it was on.

Both Serena and Russian Maria Sharapova produced a variety of wicked shots in the first and second sets. Shots that led to Serena capturing the first and Sharapova the second. Once the ladies hit the third set, it was all over but the shouting for Sharapova, she was defeated 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

Serena moved into another gear for set three and there was nothing Sharapova could do to alter the course, she was going down. Sharapova made some efforts to get back into the set, but they were futile. She did manage to hold one game, it's better than a goose egg.

"It was definitely emotion," Williams said on her third set form. "I think I was more focused. I was ready to get off the court at that point, and I just was ready to play. I felt like I wasn't even playing before - I was just out there."

"I think she's playing really well on the clay; she's sliding better than she was last year, so it's good for her," Williams said. "I think I'm doing well on the clay too. It was a different experience than on hard or grass, obviously."

Serena will meet the winner of the Frenchwoman Alize Cornet and Hungarian Agnes Szavay match in Saturday's semifinals.

Cornet, an 18-year-old in her second season on the tour, also reached the semifinals at Amelia Island last week. Ranked No. 40, she has never faced Williams but watched her play Friday.

"I said 'Oh my God, if I play Serena tomorrow, I hope not to be ridiculous,'" she said. "I think I will do what I do usually. I will use my topspin forehand. I will run everywhere I can and I will just do my best and fight on every point."

Top seeded American James Blake proved too much for 15-year-old compatriot Ryan Harrison, as he defeated the young qualifier 6-3, 6-2 in second round action on Thursday at the US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston.

Blake advances to the quarterfinals for the sixth time this season. With the exception of a loss in his season opener in Sydney, he has reached the quarterfinals in each of his main draw appearances.

Harrison had become the third youngest player to win an ATP match since 1990 (behind Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal) when he defeated Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas in straight sets on Monday.

"They come into these tournaments, they know what to expect," said Blake, who opened with a win over 18-year-old Kei Nishikori on Wednesday. "It's fun. I'm sure it was a lot of fun for him, I'm sure it was a good experience that he'll learn from. It's a little tough when I go out there because I'm expected to win and he has no pressure. I didn't really have much of a scouting report to go on, so it was interesting. He's got a good future."

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