Black Tennis Pros

U.S. Fed Cup Captain Zina Garrison will be writing a daily blog from Moscow as she leads the U.S. team of Liezel Huber, Madison Brengle, Vania King and Ahsha Rolle against Russia in a Fed Cup Semifinal tie April 26-27. Come back each day to read Captain Garrison's thoughts exclusively on USTA.com.

It is a great developmental opportunity for the players who are going to Russia. Mary Joe Fernandez, U.S. Fed Cup Coach, and I talked about it and we decided to take this direction (with these players) since she is coming in next year as Fed Cup Captain. I wanted to make sure that Mary Joe had input, as they are players she will be working with next year. We talked long and hard about it, and I also spoke to Jean Nachand, Director of Women's Tennis with USTA Player Development.

I’m really looking forward to spending time with Liezel and getting to know her a little better. It is a great opportunity for the other players to be around someone who is at the top of her game right now. We’re going to Russia and playing people who are at the top of their game. I am just going to keep reinforcing to everyone, you never know. You go out and play your game and let things fall as they may. I’ve been giving some thought to the lineup and I think it will probably be Liezel and Vania in doubles. I’m a little more confident with Vania in the doubles spot because I’ve had her there before.

Madison has been a “Future Fed Cupper” before so she knows the atmosphere and she knows me. Ahsha has never been in this situation before, but I thought she had a great US Open last year and that she would be a good person to select. Vania was also a Future Fed Cupper. I think this will be a great opportunity for the developing talent that is coming up.

This is my last year as captain so it’s a natural thing to think about what I’m doing next. I’m going to train to become a life coach. I’ve always been a great motivator, that’s been my asset and this is something I have been dipping in for quite some time. Specifically, I want to be a sports life coach and I start my first class today. I’m pretty excited about that and hopefully in about six to eight months I will have my first client. I’m going to partner with Jackie Joyner-Kersee and we think we will be a good duo to help athletes - to help the young ones, the ones at the college level, etc. just understand the steps you have to go through to become an athlete, the steps you need to take to maintain it and then when you retire, what you have to do next.

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

Quarterfinal Round - Singles

James Blake, USA defeated Augustin Calleri, ARG
6-4, 6-3


Estoril Open, Estoril Portugal

Semifinal Round - Doubles

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
defeated
Yves Allegro, SUI and Nicolas Mahut, FRA
5-7, 6-4, 10/6


Family Circle Cup

Quarterfinal Round - Singles

Serena Williams, USA defeated Maria Sharapova, RUS
7-5, 4-6, 6-1


USTA Pro Circuit

Ballenisles Women's Challenger, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Semifinal Round

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Sunitha Rao, IND
defeated by
Ekaterina Afinogenova, RUS and Lauren Albanese, USA
6-4, 6-1


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

Quarterfinal Round

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated James Ward, GBR
7-6(3), 6-3

Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated by Julio Peralta, CHI
6-4, 6-2

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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."

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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."

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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

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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.

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