Black Tennis Pros

On Thursday No. 3 seed James Blake again used a strong serve to polish off another opponent, setting up an intriguing quarterfinal against fellow American Sam Querrey.

The most noteworthy moment of Blake's 6-4, 6-3 victory over Florent Serra came near the end, when then Frenchman got under Blake's skin by moving around while the American served. The two exchanged words and stares when the match ended. "He was doing whatever he could to win," Blake said. "Sometimes that resorts to a little gamesmanship and things we used to do as juniors. He's too good for that."

Since it's all A-Rod, all the time, it was practically inevitable that Venus Williams was asked by the New York Post to weigh in on the controversy during a conference call this morning.

"Once again, I'm not cool, so I don’t know much about the controversy with him," she said. "I haven't read anything. I am aware of something going on."

The question was re-framed, and put in terms of tennis, as to whether this sort of explosive news and subsequent admission would cast suspicion on other sports.

"Umm, you know, I think tennis is a completely different sport," she said, adding that being the strongest player isn't necessarily the determining factor in tennis.

The third-seeded Blake needed only 50 minutes to dispatch Spadea 6-3, 6-4, a convincing win that had to feel good given Spadea's autobiography.

In 2006, Spadea published a book in which he criticized Blake for questionable character because he allegedly "trash-talked" during a match. Spadea also chastised Blake for stealing ladies' attentions at a party.

The world's No. 11 player had 13 aces to two double faults, won 83 percent of his first serves and was never broken, pleasing the night session's 4,956 fans at HP Pavilion. It was a dominating effort considering Blake was forced to pull out of Monday's scheduled exhibition against Pete Sampras because of a strained back.

"I feel bad for the other players, because I've been monopolizing the trainer's time," Blake said. "It's done wonders for me."

Other than loads of heating cream under his shirt, there was little indication that Blake was ailing. He dived on the hard surface for a volley and broke Spadea's serve in the fourth game of the first set and the first game of the second.

Blake served well and worked mostly from the baseline, using aggressive forehands that were deep and flat to advance to the second round to play France's Florent Serra (No. 57).

Spadea, the oldest player (34 years, 7 months) in the tournament, had no answers. Credited with overcoming the longest losing streak (21 matches) in the history of professional tennis, Spadea looked more like that slumping player than the one who rose to No. 18 in the world in 2005.

"He's been on tour for so long and has lost a little bit of mobility, so he knows he has to go after his shots and take chances if he's going to win," Blake said. "That's a good way of adapting for a player that is getting up there in years."

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Serena Williams, who last weekend claimed her 10th major title by winning the Australian Open, will return to Washington this summer to play for the city's World TeamTennis franchise, the Washington Kastles.

And Venus Williams will also visit Washington to face the Kastles as the marquee player for the Philadelphia Freedoms.

Serena's selection as the top pick in the marquee player draft was announced yesterday, and it represents a coup for team owner Mark Ein, who brought the franchise to town last summer.

Other top names visiting Washington this summer include John McEnroe and Anna Kournikova.

As the Kastles' featured player, Serena, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, will play one home match and three on the road. She won't be on the roster when Venus visits the Kastles, so the sisters won't face each other in Washington.

The 2009 season runs July 2-26. Dates of the Kastles' home matches will be announced in February.

Top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated first-time finalist Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 7-6(5) in an all-French final at the SA Tennis Open on Sunday to win his third ATP World Tour title. Courtesy of winning the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Johannesburg, Tsonga collects 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points and $79,000.

World No. 14 Tsonga was contesting his fourth ATP World Tour final. The Le Mans native reached his first final at the 2008 Australian Open, where he lost out to No. 3 Novak Djokovic. However, he was able to avenge that defeat later in the season by defeating the Serbian to capture his first ATP World Tour title at Bangkok. One month later in November he won his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Paris (d. Nalbandian) to clinch his spot at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.

“Every time I play [ATP World Tour] finals now my level is going up and I play great, so it is good,” said Tsonga afterwards. “I think for the first edition it was just amazing,” added the Frenchman about the inaugural tournament. “Everything was fine, I have nothing negative to say. The court was perfect.”

The 23-year-old Tsonga, who raced to the Johannesburg title without the loss of a set, made a strong start to his 2009 ATP World Tour campaign by reaching three consecutive quarter-finals at Brisbane (l. to Gasquet), Sydney (withdrew due to back injury against Nieminen) and the Australian Open (l. to Verdasco). However, his South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings dropped from No. 7 to No. 14 after his 2008 Australian Open final points dropped off.

In the first all-French ATP World Tour final since Casablanca in May 2008, Tsonga was able to secure a one-set lead after breaking through in the 10th game to seal it 6-4. A fifth double fault from the right-hander gave Chardy a triple break-point chance at the start of the second set, however he was able to recover and hold for 1-0. Tsonga was presented with his first match point with Chardy serving at 4-5, but he failed to convert and the set went to a tie-break – which the older Frenchman won 7-5 after one hour and 48 minutes to improve to a 12-2 match record on the season. After his customary post-match celebration, Tsonga dropped to his hands and knees and kissed the court in jubilation.

“I think he played well today because it was really tough,” said Tsonga. “I played a great match, I served very well and I think his inexperience was evident at 5-4 in the first set when he missed some easy shots. But now he has some experience and I hope he’s going to do well next time.”

Tsonga, who saved all eight break points that he faced in the final, lost serve only twice in 48 service games in his five matches at the SA Tennis Open. He served 16 aces in Sunday’s championship match and lost only six points behind his first serve.

“I think it’s the best part of my game,” said the Frenchman. “I improved it a lot last year and now I’m really confident on important points.”

Photo by © SATO/Reg Caldecott