Black Tennis Pros

You may have noticed American James Blake out of his Nike duds and into Fila clothing during the Australian Open, well it's because sportswear brand Fila has signed the tennis star to develop a collection of men's apparel and footwear, the company has announced.

Fila said Blake would collaborate with its design team to create a co-branded collection which would form the basis for the development of a long-term licensing business for Blake.

The collection, yet to be named, will encompass tennis, golf, fitness and lifestyle apparel, plus footwear and accessories for men. Other product categories will also be explored "as opportunities arise", Fila said.

The collection will be launched with a limited range of tennis and fitness apparel just before the U.S. Open in New York later this year, before its full launch for the spring/summer 2010 season.

Blake will also wear Fila-branded or co-branded apparel and footwear exclusively on court, and will be featured in the company's global marketing efforts.

He has been wearing Fila's Collezione Apparel Collection and the Fila Alfa shoe at the Australian Open.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with an athlete of James Blake's calibre," said Gene Yoon, chairman of Fila.

"We are certain that through our collaboration with James, we will create a range of products that combines the rich style of our historic brand and James' active and sophisticated lifestyle."

NEW YORK, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- MISSION Skincare(TM), the first and only line of athlete-engineered skincare(TM) products, is pleased to announce that tennis superstar, Serena Williams, has joined the rank of some of the world's most-esteemed athletes as a Co-Founder of the brand. MISSION Skincare(TM) products are designed and tested by elite athletes in all areas of sport to help them and active consumers everywhere prepare, perform and recover in training, competition as well as in everyday activities.

MISSION Skincare(TM) is the brainchild of entrepreneur Josh Shaw, who founded the company in 2007 after meeting ultra-endurance runner Charlie Engle and hearing firsthand of the void in the marketplace for effective, functional and innovative skincare solutions. Serena Williams will join an impressive list of co-founders that includes 2-time league MVP Steve Nash, 2-time gold medal soccer player Mia Hamm and basketball phenom Carmelo Anthony among others. In addition to working closely with athletes in product innovation, MISSION Skincare(TM) proudly supports the charities of its partners and athletes.

"I'm excited to join MISSION as Co-Founder and partner. I've always been disappointed with the lack of skincare products that can keep up with the demands athletes place on their skin. When I learned about MISSION and their focus on innovative skincare solutions for everyone with an active lifestyle, I knew I could have an impact on the company!" said Serena Williams.

"Serena is the definition of MISSION. Her high performance lifestyle on and off the court, coupled with her sincere passion for giving back, makes her the ultimate MISSION partner. I'm honored to have her on board with us as we change the face of skincare as we know it today," said Josh Shaw, Founder and CMO.

The deal was negotiated by Serena's agent, Jill Smoller of William Morris Agency, and Serena's attorney, Keven Davis, ESQ. of Garvey Schubert and Barer.

During the second round of their Australian Open doubles match, American sisters Venus and Serena Williams got a little more than they bargained for. During one of the changeovers, a "gentleman" clothed only in a t-shirt streaked out onto the court and danced around for roughly a minute much to the hilarity of Venus Williams. The surprised look on her face followed by laughter was priceless. Serena gave the guy the side eye and occasionally peeked at him.

Continuing to laugh at what she had seen, Serena said in an interview, "I just thought, my eyes, my innocent eyes."

"First, I saw him jump over and then I noticed he didn't have underwear on," Williams said after her third-round singles victory over China's Peng Shuai. "I thought, 'OK, I must be seeing things.'

"He ran out on the court. I was thinking, 'I hope he doesn't come,' because he was pretty close to me and V. I was like, 'I hope he doesn't come, he's too close.' Then I thought, 'This is crazy.' Doesn't really happen too much."

American Serena Williams still doesn't feel like she's at her "A game," but she's certainly bringing more than her opponents can handle. Serena took out China's Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-4.


Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued to over power his opponents. Tsonga knocked out Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.


American James Blake played a great match against Russia's Igor Andreev. Blake was a man on a mission and defeated Andreev 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1


Frenchman Gael Monfils was a bit more of his acrobatic self in his match against Spain's Nicolas Almagro. There was a lot of drama in this match, Almagros was not satisfied with a number of the calls. At one point Monfils sat down while waiting for Almagros to hash it out with the officials. Unfortunately all of that griping did not help Almagros' cause, he was defeated 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.

Time Magazine has posted some behind the scenes candids that photographer Callie Shell took prior to the inauguration. This photo in particular caught my attention and the lyrics to Whitney Houston's "One Moment In Time" came to mind. I'd thought I'd share them here.

Since we will all inevitably reach 60 one day, we best pay attention to Phylicia Rashad who is throwing down the gauntlet and stopping age in its tracks!

If her bio reads correctly, Ms. Rashad will turn 61 in June, and not only does she look great and is obviously beautiful, she is the new spokesperson for Jenny Craig and is already down a reported 16 pounds after her first seven weeks.

In a statement Rashad said, "this whole journey I am taking is about life balance. I want to embrace life. I want to be light on my feet, literally, and I'm excited to be a role model for others who are ready to take the next step."

She's going to have people rubbing that Jenny Cuisine on their face!

Don't blink...the very small number of five Black tennis professionals is all that began the Australian Open 128 player draw. And with the fatal swing of a racquet, we're down one. Venus Williams had a rough second round and could not get the job done.

Oh well, moving on with those who did get the job done:

First up, American Serena Williams. Serena had to put up a good fight against what seemed to primarily be herself. Nonetheless, she's through to the third round after defeating Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-3, 7-5.

"It was a very tough second set, she started playing unbelievable, hitting winners left and right," Williams said. "She had a couple of opportunities but I always felt I wasn't going to lose.

"I feel I could play a lot better."

Blake, who will play Russian Igor Andreev, said he had not been aware of the problem until Keothavong addressed the crowd.

"I didn't even notice him till he said it," Blake told reporters. "We were going to wait for security but he said he didn't mind as long as I didn't mind when I was down that end.

"He was doing something that got under his skin.

"That can be very frustrating when it's just one person and you hear it constantly, especially when they're talking during a point.

"I just hope it was not intentional. People are entitled to have a few Heinekens but if they have one too many they may just forget how loud their voice can be."

Wow...all of that fresh face and healthy look had me pumped on the possibility of American Venus Williams etching this Australian Open in her win column, not so. As I watched Venus play this morning, I wasn't particularly excited about the difficulty that she was apparently having responding to the fairly impressive play of Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, but I NEVER thought that she would not pull out the win, especially when she reached match point. Navarro not only saved that match point, she went on to defeat Venus 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

The 46th ranked 20-year old Navarro did not present a game so daunting that Venus was just blown off the court, Venus just could not get it together. Major bummer.