Black Tennis Pros

Since I can't even begin to describe what happened to American James Blake in his defeat by German Nicolas Kiefer, here are the quarterfinal highlights.

MONTREAL — Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has withdrawn from next week's Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament with a knee injury.

Tournament director Eugene Lapierre said Friday Williams did not want to risk aggravating the tendinitis in her knee ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

She was the lone late withdrawal from the tier-1 event before the draw on Friday.

This year's tournament boasts seven of the world's top-10 players.

Today in Toronto, Canada in the second week of the Olympus U.S. Open Series at the Rogers Masters, American James Blake will play German Nicolas Kiefer in a quarterfinal match in the Rexall Centre.

Blake has the historical upper hand over Kiefer whom he has defeated three times. I am hoping that along with his talent, he will use that mental edge to come out on top of this match.

Last week in Indianapolis Blake made it to the semifinal round, but was knocked out by Dmitry Tursunov. Yesterday Blake knocked Tursunov out of the third round of the Rogers Masters. I wonder "whose got next" between these two?

Blake will have to be on his p's and q's tomorrow. Keifer may not be ranked nearly as high, but I've seen him play many times and he can definitely present a serious battle for any opponent.

Top seeds and two-time Rogers Cup champions Bob and Mike Bryan opened their title campaign in Toronto by defeating Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.

They next face Croat Mario Ancic and South African Jeff Coetzee, who reached the quarterfinals with back-to-back wins Thursday. They needed 54 minutes to get by Fernando Gonzalez and Andre Sa 6-3, 6-2 in their first round match, and then ousted Czech No. 8 seeds Martin Damm and Pavel Vizner 6-4, 6-3. Vizner won the Canada title last year with Indian Mahesh Bhupathi.

On July 14, 2006 the following announcement was posted on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour site:

Tour To Trial On-Court Coaching

Rogers Cup in Montreal and Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven to launch test of latest groundbreaking innovation designed to make game more fan friendly and entertaining for TV and in-stadium viewers

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced today the launch of an historic on-court coaching test at the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Montreal and Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Michelob ULTRA in New Haven tournaments that will add to the entertainment value and intrigue to viewers of women's professional tennis. The test represents the first time in women's Tour history that on-court coaching has been trialed, and follows on the heels of the 2006 introduction of a series of groundbreaking innovations designed to enhance the entertainment value of women's tennis to its global television and live viewing audiences. Full Article Here.

Today, according to an article on Reuters, this trial has been halted indefinitely.

I'm not sure that anything was accomplished during this trial, either for the players or the viewing audience. One of the worst aspects for the viewing audience (at least for me) was that most of the coaches and players did not want their conversations to be overheard. They either removed their microphones or spoke in their native languages.

If the trial meant as much to you as it did to me, I doubt that you will miss it.

She decides not to play because of a knee injury and will focus on getting ready for the Olympics.

For those hoping to see Serena Williams play, you'll now have to wait until the Olympics. Williams, seeded second at this week's East West Bank Classic in Carson, withdrew from the tournament today because of a knee injury.

Williams was scheduled to play her second-round match Wednesday. The top eight seeded players received a first-round bye.

"It's a huge disappointment for me to be unable to play the East West Bank Classic in my hometown of L.A.," Williams said in a news release. "I've been getting intensive therapy and doing everything in my power to get my knew in shape for this week, waiting until the last possible moment to see if I could play."

Williams withdrew from the semifinal of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford on Saturday. She said Monday she was going to take this week's tournament day-by-day to see if she could play, given that her focus is currently on the Olympics and U.S. Open.

"There's two really big events that I'm going to be excited to be a part of," Williams said. "Honestly my Olympic gold, even though it was in doubles, is my favorite trophy I have."

Melanie South will replace Williams and face Petra Kvitova on Wednesday.

Serena Williams says her father and one of her doctors have advised against playing because of her injured left knee, but she still wants to go forward with the East West Bank Classic at Carson.

Williams said she had an MRI afterward [Bank of the West Classic] and it showed an inflamed joint as a result of overwork, and she acknowledged that her father Richard and one of her doctors did not want her playing on it.

"He's always really passive and I'm more aggressive," Williams said of her father's approach to injuries. Both her older sister, Venus, and Lindsay Davenport withdrew from the Carson tournament on Friday because of injured right knees.

"It's the first time all year I pulled out with a knee injury and I've been doing really well all year," she said. "Maybe it's just saying, 'Serena, take a three-day vacation.' "

When that knee talks, it's good to listen, based on history.

Because Williams has a first-round bye at Carson she can give the knee an extra day of rest and start Wednesday.

Injuries and outside interests have cut into her tournament play over the years, and interestingly, the light playing schedule could extend the careers of Venus and Serena.

Serena, at least on this day, was sounding more committed than she has in some time, looking to add to her eight Grand Slam singles titles.

"I don't feel like I'm making up for lost time," she said. "I just feel like this is what I want to do. What I want to do is play tennis and just play tournaments for this year and several years."

Despite the specter of suspensions and fines, this is a sport of diplomacy. In this case, a player can mitigate the penalty by doing half a day of promotional activity within 125 miles from the tournament site and has a year to fulfill the obligation.

"I think it's good because it works all the way around, if you can't go to another tournament because of an injury," Williams said.

Said the WTA's Chief Executive Larry Scott: "We have to have a rule that applies to all players and all tournaments. But at the same time, we need to think about all types of circumstances. One of the positive things is that we're getting out of the business of trying to decide what's a legitimate injury and a legitimate reason. Because it's very difficult.

"Trying to determine when a player could have played . . . you play God. No one can do that fairly."