Black Tennis Pros

As I traveled across the country on Wednesday, a calamity of errors gathered together and prevented the Wednesday Coaches Corner from appearing in a timely fashion.

I appreciate the fact that many of you are looking forward to this new aspect of Black Tennis Pro's and wrote me today wondering what had occurred.

Without going into extreme detail, suffice it to say that after a day like no other I've had in the recent past, the first part of my interview with Morris King, Jr. will be up shortly.

Thank you for your continued interest and support of Black Tennis Pro's. I'm working as hard and as quickly as possible to resolve these issues.

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Round 1 - Singles

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated Nicolas Mahut, FRA
0-6, 7-6(5), 6-2

James Blake, USA vs. BYE


Round - 1 Doubles

James Blake, USA and Mardy Fish, USA
defeated
Igor Andreev, RUS and Mikhail Youzhny, RUS
6-1, 6-4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA and Gilles Simon, FRA
defeated by
Rainer Schuettler, GER and Alexander Waske, GER
6-3, 6-4


Qualifying Rounds

Julio Silva, BRA eliminated in round 1 by Kristof Vliegen
6-4, 7-5



Round 1 - Singles

Venus Williams, USA vs. BYE

Serena Williams, USA vs. BYE

Final Qualifying Round

Alexis Gordon, USA and Theresa Logar, USA




Round 1 - Singles

Marcus Fugate, USA vs. Thomas Schoeck, GER


Round 1 - Doubles

Marcus Fugate, USA and Lance Vodicka, USA
vs.
(WC) Robert Gates, USA and Jeff Zenisek, USA




Round 1 - Doubles

Phillip Simmonds, USA and Tim Smyczek, USA
vs.
Ryler De Heart, USA and Todd Widom, USA

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The USTA, ESPN and Tennis Channel today announced a groundbreaking television and multi-platform partnership creating a summer-long “Open Season” for tennis featuring more than 400 national television hours for the US Open and the Olympus US Open Series -- an increase of nearly 100 hours. Commencing in 2009, ESPN and Tennis Channel will join CBS and become the US Open cable television broadcasters for the first time.

Under the new deal, the US Open will receive 200 hours of total coverage, an increase of over 50 hours -- the most in US Open history. This marks the first time that the Series and the US Open will be carried by the same cable broadcast partner -- creating a more consistent TV package for the sport. For 2008, USA Network will remain the US Open’s exclusive cable broadcaster.

For 2009 and beyond, ESPN2 will become the lead cable broadcaster for the US Open and the Olympus US Open Series, broadcasting nearly 200 hours of tennis coverage during the eight-week North American summer tennis season. Tennis Channel, which continues as a Series broadcaster with nearly 150 hours of Series coverage, will now also broadcast more than 60 hours of live US Open coverage. For the first time, Tennis Channel also will broadcast daily US Open preview and highlight shows. CBS Sports will continue to broadcast nearly 40 hours of live US Open coverage, bringing the overall national coverage of tennis during the summer season to more than 400 hours.

The six-year deal will also deliver the US Open across multiple platforms including ESPN, ESPN2, Tennis Channel, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN International, ESPN360 broadband programming, ESPN.com, TennisChannel.com and ESPN Mobile Properties. In addition, USOpen.org retains all rights to live streaming of US Open matches.

“This completes a five-year process of reinventing the television and digital landscape for the sport of tennis in North America,” said Arlen Kantarian, CEO Pro Tennis, USTA. “Tennis will now be prominently featured for eight straight weeks on ESPN -- the premiere destination in sports; Tennis Channel -- our sport’s namesake network; and CBS -- our longtime network partner. This new partnership will provide more tennis, to more people, in more ways than ever before.”

"Tennis has provided many memorable moments in ESPN history, and to finally acquire the excitement and drama of the US Open is a crowning achievement," said John Skipper, ESPN Executive Vice President, Content. "The sport is a perfect fit for our growing digital businesses, and fans will know to find the best tennis action all year on ESPN2 and on ESPN360.com."

“Tennis Channel is proud to now become a long-term partner in one of the greatest spectacles in all of sports,” said Ken Solomon, Chairman and CEO, Tennis Channel. “For us, the US Open and the Olympus US Open Series that leads up to it each summer go far beyond sports, as collectively the ‘Open Season’ represents an unprecedented eight weeks of the best mass-appeal content in the world. Our multi-platform broadcast and marketing partnership with the USTA and ESPN, coupled with CBS’ world-class coverage will create significantly greater awareness of professional tennis in the years to come.”

US Open Television Coverage

ESPN’s US Open coverage will include approximately 100 hours, including weekday afternoon coverage and exclusive weekday primetime broadcasts. Tennis Channel will broadcast more than 60 live hours from the US Open, including exclusive primetime broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday evenings of Labor Day weekend. Below is a summary of the schedule:

First Week

• ESPN2: Live every weekday from 1-6 p.m. and primetime from 7-11 p.m.
• Tennis Channel: Live every weekday from 11-2 p.m.; live outer-court coverage from 2-6 p.m.; daily preview show from 10-11 a.m.; nightly highlights show at 11 p.m., followed by encore of matches until 10 a.m. the next morning.

Labor Day Weekend

• CBS: Live coverage from 11-6 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
• ESPN2: Live coverage on Monday from 7-11 p.m.
• Tennis Channel: Live coverage on Saturday and Sunday from 7-11 p.m.; nightly highlights show at 11 p.m., followed by encore of matches until 10 a.m. the next morning.

Second Week/Quarterfinals

• ESPN2: Live Tuesday - Thursday from 11-6 p.m. and live primetime quarterfinals from 7-11 p.m.
• Tennis Channel: Live outer-court coverage from 11-6 p.m; daily preview show from 10-11 a.m.; nightly highlights show at 11 p.m., followed by encore of matches until 10 a.m. the next morning.

Finals Weekend

• CBS: Live coverage during finals weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including the men’s doubles final, the men’s and women’s Semifinals, the women’s primetime final on Saturday night and the men’s final on Sunday.
• ESPN2: Live coverage of women’s doubles final at 1 p.m. Sunday; US Open wrap-up show from 8-10 p.m.

US Open Digital and Extended Platforms

The components of this multi-platform deal include cable television, broadband, mobile properties and Spanish language distribution via ESPN Deportes. Highlights include:

• ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature broadband network, can present action from all TV courts during ESPN2 windows, plus simulcasts of ESPN2’s coverage, totaling more than 300 hours.
• ESPN.com will provide blanket coverage of the US Open, with the latest news and scores, as well as commentary, photos and daily video news and summaries from ESPN commentators.
• ESPN Mobile Properties will present live action, press conferences and highlights.
• ESPN has the right to display a multi-court mosaic platform during its TV windows.
• Tennischannel.com will have rights to stream live match action on a non-exclusive basis.
• ESPN International, which has been a US Open broadcast partner for several years, will continue to provide US Open broadcasts to Latin America and sub-Sahara Africa.
• USOpen.org also plans to stream US Open matches and will continue to feature exclusive live scoring.

Olympus US Open Series TV Coverage

• ESPN2 will remain the lead broadcaster of the Series and provide nearly 100 hours of consistent live weekly coverage, including back-to-back men’s and women’s finals on Sundays from 3-7 p.m.
• Tennis Channel will continue to provide nearly 150 hours of Series coverage and weekly encore telecasts of semifinals and finals.
• CBS will continue to provide live finals coverage from select Series events.
• Since its launch four years ago, the Series has doubled television viewership, increased event attendance and generated new corporate partners for the sport.
• In 2008, Olympus became the first Series title sponsor, with the Series renamed the “Olympus US Open Series.”
• In total, the 2007 Olympus US Open Series -- including the US Open -- generated a record 1.7 million attendees, more than 120 million TV viewers and over 32 million website visits in the eight-week period.

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I set aside my very valuable time to watch Bryant Gumbel interview Venus Williams on Real Sports, a show that I typically do not watch. At this moment I am seriously considering placing a monetary value on that time and billing it to Bryant Gumbel. What a crock!

We learned nothing new, we saw nothing new and Bryant Gumbel must consider his viewers new fools if he thinks that interview passed for anything other than a ratings gimmick to bring those that support Venus Williams to Real Sports.

I am royally pissed!

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Final Round - Doubles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
defeated by
Madison Brengle, USA and Kristy Frilling, USA
2-6, 6-4, 10/7

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Since age 14, Venus Williams has been one of professional tennis' most exciting, successful and enigmatic stars. Her on-court resume includes six Grand Slam singles titles, six Grand Slam doubles titles, and two Olympic gold medals - but that's only part of her story. Off the court, Williams is the CEO of her own interior design company, a fashion designer with her own signature line and a recent graduate of the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, all of which she's accomplished while remaining one of the top-ranked players in the world.

REAL SPORTS host Bryant Gumbel sits down with the usually private reigning Wimbledon champion to discuss her successes on and off the court, her love life and her fight for equal prize money in women's tennis.

Source

Video - AOL

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Quarterfinal Round - Singles

James Blake, USA defeated by Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI
7-6(5), 6-7(5) 1-6



Quarterfinal Round - Singles

Serena Williams, USA defeated by Dinara Safina
2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5)





Round 2 - Singles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA defeated by Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
6-2, 6-2


Semifinal Round - Doubles

Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears
defeated
Tetiana Luzhanska, UKR and Romana Tedjakusuma, INA
6-3, 1-6, 10/5





Semifinal Round

Scoville Jenkins, USA defeated by Ivan Miranda, PER
6-2, 3-6, 6-3




Semifinal Round - Singles

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated by Clinton Thomson, AUS
6-1, 7-6(4)

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Round 2 - Singles

James Blake, USA defeated Andreas Seppi, ITA
7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1


Round 3 - Singles

James Blake, USA defeated Fernando Verdasco ESP
5-7, 7-5, 6-2


Round 2 - Doubles

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Wesley Moodie, RSA
defeated by
Jonas Bjorkman, SWE and Kevin Ullyett, ZIM
6-4, 6-2

James Blake, USA and Mardy Fish, USA
defeated by
Daniel Nestor, CAN and Nenad Zimonjic, SRV
2-6, 7-5, 11/9



Round - 3 Singles

Serena Williams, USA defeated Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
6-3, 6-1



Round 1 - Singles

Mashona Washington, USA defeated by Petra Rampre, SLO
6-1, 6-0

Alexandra Stevenson, USA defeated Abigail Spears, USA
3-6, 6-1, 6-1

Ahsha Rolle, USA defeated by Gabriela Paz, USA
7-5, 6-7(1), 5-1 Retired

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA defeated Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, NED
6-2, 6-0


Round 2 - Singles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA defeated Maria-Fernanda Alves, BRA
6-1, 6-1

Alexandra Stevenson, USA defeated by Christina McHale, USA
2-6, 6-3, 6-4


Round 1 - Doubles

Shenay Perry, USA and Christina Fusano, USA
defeated by
Jamie Hampton, USA and Melanie Oudin, USA
6-4, 7-6(5)


Quarterfinal Round - Doubles

Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears
defeated
Alexandra Mueller, USA and Allie Will, USA
6-2, 6-1




Round 2 - Singles

(WC) Donald Young, USA defeated by Scoville Jenkins, USA
7-6(4), 6-4


Quarterfinal Round

Scoville Jenkins, USA defeated Tim Smyczek, USA
6-3, 4-6, 6-4



Round 1 - Singles

Timothy Neilly, BAH defeated by Dennis Zivkovic, USA
7-6(3), 6-2

Round 2 - Singles

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated Lewis Haydn, BAR
6-2, 6-4


Quarterfinald Round - Singles

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated Jose Statham, NZL
6-2, 7-6(5)


Quarterfinal Round - Doubles

Jarmere Jenkins, USA and Chase Buchanan, USA
defeated by
Jose Statham, NZL and Clinton Thomson, AUS
2-6, 6-4, 10/6

Marcus Fugate, USA and Bjorn Munroe, BAH
defeated by
Stephen Bass, USA and Todd Paul, USA
6-7(8), 7-6(2), 10/5

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