Black Tennis Pros

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I see that Ms. Mouth All Mighty Tongue Everlasting Sarah Palin can stick and move when she's surrounded by her crew, but she won't sit her moose hunting behind down in a chair with the rest of the candidates on Sunday morning and discuss all of the smack she laid out last Wednesday evening at the RNC.

Put up or shut up Sarah Palin!

I'm not in love with John McCain, but at the very least he'll look you in your eye when he fantasizes.

The Los Angeles Times "Top Of The Ticket" wrote the following post:

Sarah Palin will be missing from action Sunday a.m.

As is The Ticket's custom, a post listing the entire roster of appearances on this Sunday's interview programs will pop up Saturday at noon PDT (3 p.m. EDT).

But here's an advance heads up, in part because of who WON'T be found on any of the chat shows.

Three of the four now-official candidates on the major-party presidential tickets are scheduled to sit down for questions: Democrat Barack Obama on ABC's "This Week," his running mate, Joe Biden, on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Republican John McCain on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Absent from this list, of course, is the GOP's star of the moment, the not-so-long-ago obscure governor of Alaska who is McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin.

Since she was thrust onto the national stage a week ago, her appearances on it have been tightly regulated by the McCain campaign: a few side-by-side campaign stops with him and, of course, her big speech to the GOP's convention Wednesday night.

Today, top McCain aide Rick Davis indicated the campaign isn't in any hurry to slot Palin for a Sunday show appearance -- and will do so only if he and other strategists determine it serves the ticket's purposes, not because some may view it as a required initiation for a major political player.

Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show, Davis said, "I'd never commit to anything in the future. ... Our strategy is in our hands, not the media's. We're going to do what's in our best interests to try to win the election. If we think going on TV news shows are [sic] in our best interests, we'll do it. If we don't, we won't."

Palin still will be busy this weekend. She'll campaign Saturday with McCain in two key states -- Colorado and New Mexico -- and she'll deliver his campaign's weekly radio address. That's one of those trappings of the presidency McCain has borrowed (notwithstanding the barbs his forces like to sling at Obama along these lines).

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Tropical storm Hanna has had her way with quite a bit this weekend. One thing in particular is the scheduling of U.S. Open events. The Women's Singles Final featuring American Serena Williams and Serbian Jelena Jankovic has been rescheduled for Sunday, September 7, at 9 p.m. in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.


Since we were not able to watch the final this evening, how about we check out sisters Venus and Serena Williams and their significant others. The ladies know how to prepare for a tournament don't they? Snazzy outfit...check; racquets...check; family members for box...check; significant other...check check; incognito look while with significant other...check check check!

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Thunderous applause from the spectators in the Arthur Ashe Stadium could not compare to the leaps of joy by American Serena Williams when she defeated Russian Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3, at the U.S. Open on Friday.

Serena is now into the Womens Single's final of the 2008 U.S. Open. It's been a while and it's a joy to see her in the upcoming final.

"It's so awesome," said Serena.

"You know, it's been just an awesome summer you know, I'm just happy to be, you know, finally back in the finals for once, you know, an American in the finals here, so...I'm really excited."

The former and potentially upcoming world no. 1 proved to be a seasoned pro. To accommodate a very windy day, Serena slowed down her power game and played a very controlled match. Safina, not quite so seasoned yet, seemed to want to play her regular game and consequently, with an assist from the wind, sprayed balls everywhere.

When asked about combating the wind and keeping her unforced errors to a minimum, Serena said, "I don't know, you know I thought okay, if it's so windy then I'm not gonna you know, go for as many winners and just stay out here and do what I can."

Marat Safin's younger sibling became very frustrated with her inability to play as she has been over the rest of the tournament. So much so, that when one of Serena's shots hit her in the chest, she appeared to call Serena a female canine. Serena attempted to apologize, but Safina wasn't trying to hear it at that point. But it was all good at the end of the match. Serena again apologized during their handshake at the net and Safina appeared to genuinely accept it. Phew! With the world no. 1 on the line a lady can get hostile!

No worries Safina, your day will come.

Serena is now set to play Serbian Jelena Jankovic in the final. When asked about the match up, Serena said, "you know I think she's playing really well and she's just having so much fun...she has nothing to lose, and neither do I, so it'll be a really good match."

Serena had friends and family in the stands supporting her, including quarterfinal opponent sister Venus Williams.

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Longer Off-Season • 30% increase in off-season (7 to 9 weeks, with season to end in October) Streamlined Calendar Structure • 20 Premier events featuring top players (reduced from 26 Tier I/II events): - 4 Premier, mandatory, $4.5 million equal prize money combined events anchoring calendar in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing - 15 other Premier events, including $2 million events in Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto and Tokyo, and other top events in Paris, Charleston, Stuttgart, Stanford, Los Angeles, Sydney, Berlin, Eastbourne, New Haven and Moscow - Season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, featuring equal prize money of $4.45 million • 30 International tournaments, culminating in season-ending Commonwealth Bank International Tournament of Champions Healthier Calendar • Longer off-season, more in-season breaks for players (eg. post-Wimbledon) • Player commitment reduced by 23%, from 13 to 10 tournaments for top players • Limitation on top player ability to play events outside of 20 Premier events Record Prize Money • 39% increase in Tour prize money from 2006 to 2009 Equal Prize Money • Equal prize money at 4 Grand Slams, 4 Premier cornerstone events (Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing), Dubai and season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships Record Investment • $710 million in new stadium facility investments, including world-class new stadiums in China and Madrid • $84 million in season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships deals in Doha 2008-2010 and Istanbul 2011-2013 More Combined/Back-to-Back Events • 31% of events will be combined men/women • 46% of events will be either combined or back-to-back in 2009 Revenue Sharing • Tennis' first ever revenue sharing to see players share in tournament revenue growth, and link player commitment to increases in prize money China • Major Tour presence and expansion into China market, with China Open as one of the four cornerstones of the calendar, and a new Asia-Pacific Tour HQ in Beijing New Ranking System • Best 16 results and more directly linked to the Tour's top events by awarding of "zero pointers" for any missed Premier commitment tournament, Grand Slam or the Sony Ericsson Championships Stronger Penalties/Suspensions • Suspension system for Top 10 players who miss Premier commitment tournaments and increased withdrawal fines Click here to see the 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Calendar. The 2009 Tour calendar features 54 tournaments (inclusive of the four Grand Slams) across 31 countries and record prize money of over $86 million. The international breadth of tournaments includes 25 events in Europe, 15 events in the Americas and 14 events in the Asia-Pacific region. Seventeen combined events include Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing, Sydney, Moscow, Eastbourne, New Haven, Brisbane, 's-Hertogenbosch, Estoril, Memphis and Acapulco, along with the four Grand Slams. Eight back-to-back men/women events include Dubai, Tokyo, Rome, Cincinnati, Canada, Auckland, Bastad and Warsaw. 2009 will also see new tournaments in Madrid, Brisbane, Monterrey, Ponte Vedra Beach, Bastad, Warsaw and Osaka. Additionally, in 2011, Rome, Cincinnati and Canada will all be combined men/women events. On Court Coaching The 2009 Roadmap calendar will also feature on-court coaching at all events, following approval by the Tour Board at its US Open meeting of this fan entertainment innovation. The decision to implement on-court coaching follows extensive testing of the concept and strong support from broadcasters, sponsors and tournaments and majority support from the Tour's Players Council. Under the new rule, players can request their coach once per set, either on a changeover or at the end of a set. In addition, a player may request her coach if her opponent has requested a medical timeout or change of attire/toilet break. All coaches called on court during televised matches will be required to wear a microphone to capture the coaching conversation for TV viewers. "I applaud the Tour for taking a bold step to increase access and enhance entertainment for TV viewers," said Jason Bernstein, ESPN's Senior Director for Programming & Acquisitions. "Women's tennis has been a leader in player access initiatives, and on-court coaching will be a great addition for the fan experience."

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U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe was unswayed by recent events at Flushing Meadows when making up the team for the semifinal in Spain later this month. McEnroe passed over two hot-handed American men, Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish, and named the same team of Andy Roddick, James Blake and the doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan to meet the Spaniards in Madrid as the Americans defend their 2007 title.

"I'm happy to see those guys doing well," McEnroe said of Querrey and Fish, who had breakthrough runs at the Open. "I hope those guys continue to put up good results and to make it a difficult decision for me in the future. But for this match it wasn't a difficult decision."

Fish beat Blake in the third round and made it to his first Open quarterfinal before falling to world No.1 Rafael Nadal. Querrey, a 20-year-old Californian, fell to Nadal in four sets in the fourth round. Blake remains the second-highest-ranked American, McEnroe argued. He also said he wanted to stay with a team he has used in 11 straight ties. "I want to go with the guys I think give us the best chance to win," McEnroe said. "At this point, I still thoroughly believe that Roddick and Blake give us the best chance."

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My goodness! I do believe that Oracene and Richard's baby girl wanted to win this match. Though neither of the parents was on hand to watch the match, older sister Isha supported her younger siblings in much pain.

"I wasn't praying, I was so stressed," she said. "It is so difficult to watch them. At the end of the day, you want them to play a good match and for the best person to win."

In the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2008 U.S. Open, American Serena Williams returned, ran down and swung at just about everything that big sister Venus could throw at her...and that was a lot.

The match started up a bit slow, but by the end of the first set, the ladies had ramped it up to a genuine level of excitement. It appeared that Venus would take the first set, but the price of a few errors on her part was high, let alone the fact that Serena would just not let go.

Crank it up a few notches and the second set mirrored the first set with it appearing that Venus was going to prevail. But just like she dug her heels in at the end of the first set, Serena dug in harder as the second set progressed.

Serena saved ten, count 'em, ten set points to defeat Venus 7-6(8/6), 7-6(9/7), and advance to the semifinal round.

Post match Serena said, "I thought for sure we'd be in three sets, I thought, 'I'm going to go change my dress because I'm really sweaty and put a new one on.' And then I was like, 'Oh, maybe I won't have to do that."

"I feel like I should have a trophy now. Unfortunately I don't, and I got to go to the next round."

"She made a couple errors and it was really luck for me because she never makes those errors. I can't say that I was disappointed. I obviously want the best for her, but in that situation you want to win, too."

"I try not to look at her, because if I look at her, I might start feeling sorry," Serena told the crowd afterward.

Serena had to come back from being 5-3 down when Venus let the first set slip away, I thought surely she wouldn't let that happen in the second.

Venus said, "I felt like I was always in control, if it was someone else, I definitely feel like I would have won the match."

"I'm a very good closer, so today was, um — I've never had a match like this in my life, so I guess there's always a first."

"I don't think it'll ever be under dramatized until we're housewives. Until that time, we'll hopefully keep playing good tennis against everyone and also against each other."

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