Black Tennis Pros

Dubai, UAE, 14th February 2009: Dubai could witness an all-Williams semifinal showdown after world number one Serena and her sister Venus were drawn in the same half of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships today.

The two have not gone head to head in Dubai before, but there’s a long way to go before a potential semifinal clash at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.

Both sisters have been handed byes in the first round and Serena will then meet the winner of Yung-Jan Chan v Sara Errani in round two, while Venus will come up against the winner of the match between Maria Kirilenko and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round.

Venus was present at the tournament draw which took place at the Aviation Club today and was joined by 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, who will come up against Japan’s Ai Sugiyama in the first round.

“I’m already enjoying being here. This is an exciting tournament, one of the largest events on the tour, and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a really tough field again and I’m ready to play,” said Williams after the draw.

As for being drawn in the same half as her sister, she joked: “Well, she’s number one in the world right now and her last name is Williams so people could confuse us and think I’m number one. I hope we do play each other.”

The sensational sisters form part of an incredible lineup for this year’s Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships which includes all the top-ranked women’s players in the world.

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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA (TICKER) - At The SAP Open Blake injured his ankle on Friday in a quarterfinal win over Sam Querrey. The injury affected his effort against Fish. Fish defeated Blake 6-3, 6-2.

“I had no idea his ankle was that bad,” Fish said. “It’s just a testament to James. He’s never defaulted in a match in his career.”

Blake was down 1-2 in the first set when he asked for a trainer and had his ankle retaped. He had the process repeated at the end of the first set, but to no avail.

“It affected me more than I thought it would have when I did it,” Blake said. “I just iced it a few times yesterday and taped it up. I thought I’d be ready to go.”

The trainer told Blake that he would not do any more damage, so the third seed played on.

“I thought if I wasn’t going to hurt it any more, I could suck up the pain for 20 minutes, 30 minutes and make it a little better for the fans, hopefully, and better for Mardy to feel like he earned a victory, which he did,” Blake said.

PARIS (AP)— Elena Dementieva advanced to the final of the Open GDF Suez after top-ranked Serena Williams withdrew with a knee injury.

Williams said she hurt her right knee during Friday’s win against Emilie Loit and was in too much pain to play.

“My left knee always hurts, but this time it’s my right knee,” Williams said. “When I woke up this morning, it wasn’t feeling good. I wasn’t moving well at all in practice.

“Today I don’t feel like I could have gotten there. I wanted to make the fans extremely happy. It wouldn’t have been a good showing for me at all.”

"My knees have been really good, and I'm really optimistic. I think they'll continue to be really good," said Williams who is due to play in Dubai next week.

"I just have been playing a lot of tennis, so maybe it's just a sign that I'll need to take a day or two off and get ready for the next event."

Monfils, who struggled with illness in his quarter-final win over Julien Benneteau at the ABN AMRO World Tournament, cut a lethargic figure as he returned to court after an off-court medical time-out at the end of the first set and punishingly long rallies with World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. The 22-year-old Monfils showed great character as he continued to fight and produced some of his best tennis towards the end of the second set, when he forced break point opportunities in successive Nadal service games. However, the left-handed Nadal dominated on the important points to snuff out Monfils’ chances and confidently served out the victory to love at 5-4. He now improves to a 13-1 match record on the season.

Monfils was defeated 6-4, 6-4.

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Happy Valentine's Day Glitter Graphics

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PARIS (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.


SAN 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."

Frenchman 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.



Although 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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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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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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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).

ROTTERDAM, 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."

Source

Photo by AP

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PARIS (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.

Photo by AP

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