OUR PROUD TRADITION Of EXCELLENCE DEFINES US

OUR PROUD TRADITION Of EXCELLENCE DEFINES US
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Serena, Blake And Monfils Into Semifinals, Tsonga Knocked Out

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Black Tennis Pro's Serena Williams GDF SuezPARIS (AP) — Top-ranked Serena Williams defeated Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1 to set up a semifinal with Elena Dementieva for the third straight tournament at the Open GDF Suez on Friday.

Loit, only the second qualifier in tournament history to make the quarterfinals, broke Williams when she was serving for the first set at 5-3. Williams threw her racket on the ground but broke right back and cruised the rest of the way.

"Definitely a tricky match," said Williams, the Australian Open champion. "Definitely good to get through, you know? I don't play too many lefties.

"I definitely don't feel at my best," Williams added, "but I feel like I'm getting there."

Dementieva gave Williams her only loss of the year in the Sydney semifinals, but Williams avenged that in the Australian Open semifinals en route to her 10th Grand Slam singles title.


Black Tennis Pro's James Blake SAP Open Sam QuerreySAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — James Blake beat fellow American Sam Querrey 7-6 (9), 6-3 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the SAP Open, setting up an intriguing meeting with doubles teammate Mardy Fish.

Blake hung on to win despite rolling his ankle with two points to go. He reached the semis shortly after Fish, his close friend and teammate, beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4, upsetting the world's seventh-ranked player.

After Fish and Blake meet in a semifinal match Saturday afternoon, they'll team up for a doubles match late that night. They won the doubles title at San Jose in 2004, and both say their games improve when they're working together.

"There won't be any hard feelings," Blake said with a grin. "There better not be any hard feelings, or there might be a serve to the back of the head. ... Hopefully, we can go out to dinner tonight, play each other tomorrow, and then go out to dinner again."


Black Tennis Pro's Gael Monfils ABN AMRON Tournament Julien BenneteauFrenchman Gael Monfils defeated fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6(4), 6-1 in an all-French quarter-final at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Next up for Monfils is World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Monfils handed Nadal his only loss thus far of the 2009 ATP World Tour tennis season, posting a quarter-final win at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Doha in the first week of the year. The Spaniard had won their first three meetings in straight sets.



Black Tennis Pro's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ABN AMRON Tournament Rafael NadalAlthough Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hit 26 aces, that's right count 'em 26 at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, he was still not able to topple Spaniard Rafael Nadal. Tsonga was defeated 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4.


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USTA: Five Questions With... Shenay Perry



MIDLAND, Mich. -- Shenay Perry would just as soon forget 2008.

The 24-year-old from Florida sat out four months of the year following surgery on her right knee caused by a degenerative bone disorder and played just doubles for half the year. She did have some good results early on, however, including winning the doubles title at the Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Midland, Mich., with Ashley Harkleroad in February.

The daughter of a firefighter-turned-tennis coach, Perry grew up in Washington D.C. She turned professional in 2004 and made the third round at the 2006 French Open and the 2006 Wimbledon round of 16, where she was the last American to be eliminated.

Perry returned to Midland for her first tournament of the year this week and was eliminated in the first round in singles. One of a few top African-American women players currently competing on the USTA Pro Circuit, she sat down with USTA.com at Midland to answer five questions:

USTA.com: Do you still think about your injury when you’re on the court?

Shenay Perry: Yeah, a little bit. Once you get on the court it’s fine, but I still think about it. It’s in the back of my mind, and I’m conscious of it.

USTA.com: You’re from Washington D.C. Do you follow politics?

Shenay Perry: I’m not really into politics, no. With this election, I was a little more into it, but I don’t normally follow it.

USTA.com: What did the election of new President Barack Obama mean to you?

Shenay Perry: I definitely think that was a great thing for history. I’m grateful to be able to see something like that in my lifetime. I wasn’t able to watch the inauguration because I was on a flight back from Australia the entire day.

USTA.com: Whom did you pattern your game after as a young player?

Shenay Perry: Pete Sampras was my favorite player. At one time I tried to emulate my entire game exactly like his, especially his serve. I tried to make my serve exactly like his. But that didn’t work out too well, so I’ve changed it a lot as I’ve gotten older.

USTA.com: What do you like to do in your time off the court?

Shenay Perry: I’m pretty boring. I like to go to the movies and shop a little. I really like just sitting on my couch and watching TV. I don’t get to do it very often, so I enjoy it when I finally get the chance to.



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Asia Muhammed You Say? Well You're Right!

Friday, February 13, 2009

The cutie in the red dress is indeed Asia Muhammed. The soon to be 18 year old high school senior hails from Las Vegas, Nevada.


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Leritta M. Dicus
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Tsonga Vs. Nadal; Monfils Sets Up Match With Mathieu

Black Tennis Pro's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Rafael Nadal ABN AMRO

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who defeated Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-6(6), 6-2 in one hour and 29 minutes, will face World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the ABN AMRO quarterfinals in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Nadal has a 2-1 record against Tsonga, and prevailed in a 7-5 third set in their last meeting in March at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Indian Wells.

Tsonga has now reached the quarter-finals in all five of his ATP-level appearances this season, and has a 14-2 record. The World No. 13 won his third ATP World Tour title last week in Johannesburg (defeating Chardy).


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Black Tennis Pro's Gael Monfils ABN AMRO LlodraROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Gael Monfils of France defeated defending champion Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4 Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the ABN Amro tournament.

He will face fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau. In another all-French match, Marc Gicquel defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-3.

"It's interesting that French players have done so well in Rotterdam in recent years," Monfils said. "We like it here."


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Serena Into Paris Quarterfinals; Not Feeling ITF New Doping Rules

Black Tennis Pro's Serena Williams Open GDF SuezPARIS (AP) — Top-ranked Serena Williams showed no signs of the illness which kept her bedridden last week as she ousted Karolina Sprem 6-1, 6-2 to reach the Open GDF Suez quarterfinals on Thursday.

Williams, after winning the Australian Open, didn't practice until Monday, and was relieved to get through the first round of the indoor tournament she's won twice.

Her second-round match was easier, as Williams took less than an hour to beat the Croatian qualifier, converting her first match point with a forehand return winner down the line.

Next up will be French qualifier Emilie Loit, whom Williams hasn't met in six years.

"She's a lefty, she uses a lot of spins and slices," Williams said about Loit. "She's a very experienced player and tricky."

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Serena Williams joined the chorus of top tennis players who believe the new anti-doping measures on athletes are too strong, she called the rules implemented by the International Tennis Federation as “over the top.”

“It’s very invasive,” she said. “Basically, they show up at your house on any day.

Under the new rules, athletes must specify one hour each day when and where they can be located for testing. They also must tell anti-doping authorities where they will be over the next three months, but they can update this by e-mail or phone message.


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Blake Takes Out Serra In Spite Of His "Junior" Style Antics

Black Tennis Pro's James Blake And Florent Serra SAP Open
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."

Through two rounds, not much has affected Blake. One day after he cruised past Vincent Spadea in 50 minutes, Blake needed just 66 minutes to oust Serra.

Blake might have to work a little longer today. All four of his previous matches against the sixth-seeded Querrey have gone to three sets, the tightest a 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4) loss two years ago in Indianapolis.

"Every time I've played him, he's improved," Blake said. "When he put it all together that time in Indianapolis, he was serving unbelievable. Then the next time I played him in Cincinnati, I felt like his serve wasn't on but the rest of his game was really effective. When he puts that together, he's going to be really dangerous."


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The L. A. Times Touches Base With Venus Williams

Black Tennis Pro's Venus Williams 2009 Australian OpenSince 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.

Then she had a clever sound bite.

"You have to hold your nerve, and I don’t know if there’s a drug for that," Williams said.

Venus was on the call to promote the upcoming BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden. The exhibition, on March 2, will also feature Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic. Additionally, the one-night, single-elimination event honors Billie Jean King.

The Indian Wells tournament starts the week after the New York exhibition, and Venus, as expected, will again skip the event, as will Serena.

They have not played Indian Wells since 2001, when Venus at the last minute pulled out of a scheduled semifinal match against Serena because of an injury. The family was booed before and throughout Serena's match in the final.

Venus was asked what promotional event she would do instead of playing Indian Wells, and said it would be something she planned with the tournament. The last question on the matter, on the call, was whether King had tried to persuade her to play Indian Wells again.

"No, I don't think that’s her job or aim," Venus said. "With Billie, her interest in me is if I'm OK and happy."


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Blake Overcomes Back Injury and Dismisses Spadea

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Black Tennis Pro's James Blake SAP Open

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."

James Blake didn't address the elephant in the room, but his play indicated that Wednesday night's SAP Open first-round match against Vincent Spadea might have been a little personal.

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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