Black Tennis Pros

At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships both American super sisters Venus and Serena Williams will be slugging it out in the semifinals... against one another.

To set up this semifinal match the sisters first had to get by very able quarterfinal opponents. Serena took out Serbian Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-4, and Venus knocked out defending champion Russian Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-3.

Of Ivanovic, Serena said, "she was really trying to hit hard. I think her goal was to go for broke. I was feeling a bit tired at the start of the second set, but wasn't too worried about her going 3-0 up as I knew I was just a break down. I knew I could pull it off."

On Dementieva's game Venus said, "she has been playing great this year and she is a great player. She likes to control the match, and I also like doing the same. So, I am pleased that I was able to do that."

With regard to the two of them meeting, Serena said "we are both the best players on the tour right now. Obviously, we both are also playing our best tennis right now, which definitely makes our matches more exciting."

I'm rollin' with Venus for the smackdown!!

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MIDLAND, Mich. -- Ahsha Rolle of Miami Shores, Fla., is seeking to regain the drive and motivation that led her to the third round of the US Open in 2007.

Travel and life on the road as a professional tennis player can be tough, and Rolle admitted during the Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Midland, Mich., that she is in need of a little pick-me-up.

She sat down with USTA.com and talked about her recent play.

USTA.com: You lost in the singles qualifying at Midland. How would you assess your game right now?

Ahsha Rolle: This is my third tournament of the year, and I made the singles and doubles in my first event and lost in the second round at Lutz, Fla. I don’t know. I’m not playing too good right now, and I don’t have much confidence. I don’t know why. It’s such a tough lifestyle. I’m just not feeling very inspired. I had two pretty big injuries last year that kept me off the court for about four months. I’ve just tried to come back and get in shape, but it hasn’t gone so well. It was a very tough year for me. I have to get in better shape and get my confidence up.

USTA.com: Who were some of your role models growing up?

Ahsha Rolle: I liked watching Venus and Serena play. Of course, they were very big role models for me. Lori McNeil, also.

USTA.com: What are your thoughts on February being Black History Month?

Ahsha Rolle: I definitely observe it. You always have to take time and remember the people who paved the way for you. We have a black president now, and that’s something I’m very excited about. It’s a great month.

USTA.com: Talk more about what having a black president of the United States means to you?

Ahsha Rolle: It’s really exciting because as an African-American you tell your kids you can become anything, but there was never a black president, so now you can really tell your kids you can be anything and mean it.

USTA.com: What about the inauguration?

Ahsha Rolle: It was an important day for me. I watched it with my dad. It was just really special -- something I’ll never forget. On election night we were at a tournament, and some of the girls watched it on TV with (USTA supervisor) Bunny (Williams) and (USTA referee) Missy (Malool). It was really nice.

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American James Blake slugged it out with Australian Lleyton Hewitt at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee on Wednesday. After more than two hours, Blake was defeated 6-3, 1-6, 4-6.

‘‘I didn’t take advantage of my chances and he did. In the first set, he didn’t come up with his best on break points. From then on he did. And from then on I didn’t.’’



Frenchman Gael Monfils became the first major upset of the Open 13 in Marseilles, France. Fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated Monfils 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

"It was a rotten game, I didn't play," said Monfils.



At the Barclay's Dubai Tennis Championships American Venus Williams defeated Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-2.

"I made more errors than yesterday," Williams said. "I rushed a little bit in the first set and then realized it in the second and started pulling back a little bit on my shots."



At the same tournament as sister Venus, American Serena Williams defeated China's Jie Zheng for the third straight time 6-4, 6-2.

"I think the intensity was high today, but my first serve could have been better," Williams said. "I had to rely a lot on my second serve. I definitely could do better technically."



Also at the Open 13, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Kazakh Andrey Golubev 7-6 6-2.

"Last year, I lost in the first round to Mario Ancic. This time I'm still alive but I think Golubev lost all by himself because he served for the first set at 6-5 and failed to win important points."

Photos by AP/Getty Images

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(CNN) -- Venus Williams is most often seen wiping perspiration from her brow as she thunders around the court contesting championship tennis matches.

These photos show the world number six in a more reflective mood, posing for a 16-page fashion spread in the Italian edition of Marie Claire.

They were taken in Miami, Florida in December last year by her friend and photographer Koto Bolofo.

"I love working with Koto," Venus told CNN in an interview for "Revealed." "I think he's my biggest fan and he believes in me, I'm not sure why, but he does so I've got to accept that," she laughed.

They planned to shoot 20 outfits in one day, a hectic schedule that included one photo that had been two years in the making.

"I've got it pictured in my mind that she's going to be playing tennis underwater," Bolofo told CNN.

When the sun finally emerged from behind a cloud, Bolofo ordered Venus into her bathers.

"I'm excited it's my first underwater tennis venture, so I feel a little nervous, but I think I'll come through,"

"I want her smiling and making it look as if it's natural and it's not an effort," Bolofo explained. "It's going to be whimsical and fun. That's the fun part of the shoot."

Fashion is an important part of Venus Williams' life. She has her own clothing company, EleVen, which produces tennis outfits and casual clothing.

She sketches ideas, but says she's not the chief designer, by any stretch. "There are other people designing stuff. I couldn't do it on my own," she said, adding, "I don't do technical drawing, I hated it in school. I refuse to do this on the computer. I'd rather just do it by hand."

Venus' status in the ranks of the world's top tennis players gives her a unique position to be able to market her products and she often wears them on court.

Then there's her interior design company; Venus launched V Starr Interiors while still in her early twenties.

Despite her public business interests, Venus told CNN she's not interested in seizing the spotlight for any reason other than as one of the world's best tennis players.

"Fame has never been important to me. My goals have always been to excel in tennis, and to win championships. Fame has never been my focus and I don't really try to grow it at all," she said.

Venus' relaxed attitude has earned her respect beyond the world of tennis. Hip hop star Wyclef Jean released a song in her honor last August called "I'm Ready."

"[It's like] when a painter is inspired," Jean told CNN. "When I'm inspired by an individual I just write a song about them ... I said her name is Venus, ruler of the universe."

Venus was thrilled. "I've got it on my computer, all the different instrumentals, the different versions, the different cuts. I love it," she told CNN.

Venus Williams is back on court this week at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Naturally, she's hoping to win after a disappointing early exit from the Australian Open in January.

While tennis remains her prime obsession, Venus told CNN it's not the most important thing in her life.

"I would say definitely the most important thing in my life is growing spiritually. And doing what God requires of me -- that's always a learning experience day in and day out," she said.

Watch Venus Williams on Revealed this week at the times below:

ALL TIMES GMT
Wednesday, February 18: 0930, 1830
Saturday, February 21: 0830, 1900
Sunday, February 22: 0530, 1830
Monday, February 23: 0400

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In a fast 57 minutes, American Venus Williams polished off her first opponent to begin her run at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. After firing off seven aces and never facing a break point, Venus sent Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova off to consider her next tournament. The win came in at 6-0, 6-1.

Venus is scheduled to play Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in the next round.

Since arriving in Dubai, Venus has been asked about her thoughts on the state of drug testing in tennis, and in particular, whether she thinks the regulation which requires players to make it known where they will be available for one hour of every day places too much of a demand on the players.

Venus said, "if your match goes to one o'clock at night you don't know what's going to happen if you are focusing on recovery for the next day."

"You are not focusing on where you are going to be. You are trying to do what you have to do - even at home. First thing you do is wake up and go to play.

"There are some things in the system which need to be looked at. We want a system which works and then it's fair."

And then there was Serena... yes, she won her match too, but very differently. Serena's first opponent was Italy's Sara Errani who took the first set 4-6. In typical Serena fashion, she regrouped between sets and was then merciless to Errani, defeating her 6-2, 6-0.

When asked how her knee was holding up Serena said, "it held up well. I got off to a slow start ... just trying to get used to the conditions, and I did not really like the ball being used here.

"But I never doubted that I will win. Even when I was 4-0 down in the first set, I told myself I am just two breaks down and I can still win the set."

Therein lies the problem for anyone who stands across the net from Serena.


Photos of Venus and Serena In Dubai

Photos by Getty Images

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On Tuesday at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis Tennessee, a very global group was handed their walking papers in the first round.

From Japan's Kei Nishikori, to American Donald Young, to the 2003 title holder American Taylor Dent, to Argentine Guillermo Canas, and others.... defeat was prevalent in some who I thought would at least make it past the first round. Did I mention that Sweden's Robin Soderling is also in this group?

Neither Young or Nishikori have been setting the courts on fire as of late, so I guess I'm more hoping that they will prevail. Dent and Canas haven't been on top of their game in awhile either, but these are two players who you expect to see beyond round 1.

A quartet of Americans will be front and center on Wednesday, James Blake, Andy Roddick, Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish. Let's hope they fair a bit better.

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SINGLES

Round 1

Venus Williams, USA vs. BYE

Serena Williams, USA vs. BYE


Round 2

Venus Williams, USA defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
6-0, 6-1

Serena Williams, USA defeated Sara Errani, ITA
4-6, 6-2, 6-0


Quarterfinal Round

Venus Williams defeated Alize Cornet, FRA
6-3, 6-2

Serena Williams defeated Jie Zheng, CHN
6-4, 6-2


Semifinal Round

Venus Williams, USA defeated Serena Williams, USA
6-1, 2-6, 7-6(3)


DOUBLES

Round 1

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Vladimira Uhlirova, CZE
defeated
Daniela Hantuchova, SVK and Ai Sugiyama, JPN
Walk Over

Round 2

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Vladimira Uhlirova, CZE
defeated by
Akgul Amanmuradova, UZB and Chia-Jung Chuang, TPE
4-6, 4-6


Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA


SINGLES

Round 1

Stephanie Foretz, FRA defeated Melinda Czink, HUN
6-2, 4-6, 6-2

Alexandra Stevenson, USA defeated by Vania King, USA
2-6, 6-7(5)

Round 2

Stephanie Foretz defeated by Sabine Lisicki, GER
2-6, 4-6


DOUBLES

Round 1

Angela Haynes, USA and Christina Fusano, USA
defeated by
Vania King, USA and Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS
6-7(2), 2-6

Mashona Washington, USA and Jill Craybas, USA
defeated
Chanelle Scheepers, RSA and Abigail Spears, USA
7-6(3), 6-0

Shenay Perry, USA and Alexa Glatch, USA
defeated
Julie Ditty, USA and Carly Gullickson, USA
6-2, 7-5


Quarterfinal Round

Mashona Washington, USA and Jill Craybas, USA
defeated by
Yuliana Fedak, UKR and Michaella Krajicek, NED
7(5)-6, 4-6 [4-10]


Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Angela Haynes, USA


SINGLES

Round 1

James Blake, USA defeated by Lleyton Hewitt, AUS
6-3, 1-6, 4-6

Donald Young, USA defeated by Christophe Rochus, BEL
4-6, 3-6


DOUBLES

Round 1

James Blake, USA and Bobby Reynolds, USA
defeated
Eric Butorac, USA and Bruno Soares, BRA
7-5, 3-6 [11-9]


SINGLES

Round 1

Jo Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated Andrey Golubev, KAZ
7(5)-6, 6-2

Gael Monfils, FRA defeated by Paul-Henri Mathieu, FRA
6-4, 4-6, 5-7


Round 2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated Simone Bolelli, ITA
6-3, 6-2


Quarterfinal Round

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated Feliciano Lopez, ESP
6-2, 6-7(1), 6-4


SINGLES

Round 1

Asia Muhammad, USA defeated by Georgie Stoop, GBR
3-6, 0-6

Asha Rolle, USA defeated by Kai-Chen Chang, TPE
5-7, 0-6


DOUBLES

Round 1

Ahsha Rolle and Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
defeated
Maria-Fernanda Alves, BRA and Yi Chen, TPE
6-4, 3-6 [13-11]


Quarterfinal Round

Ahsha Rolle, USA and Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
defeated
Heidi El Tabakh, CAN and Michelle Gerards, NED
7-5, 7-6(3)


Semifinal Round

Ahsha Rolle, USA and Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
defeated
Mailen Auroux, ARG and Vernonica Spiegel, ARG
6-2, 6-1


Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Sloane Stephens, USA
Jennifer Elie, USA


SINGLES

Round 1

Todd Paul, USA defeated by Philip Bester, CAN
1-6, 1-6

Nicholas Monroe, USA defeated Nikita Kryvonos, USA
6-2, 7-6(3)


Quarterfinal Round

Nicholas Monroe, USA defeated Andrey Kumantsov, RUS
6-2, 6-2


DOUBLES

Round 1

Nicholas Monroe, USA and Michal Ryderstedet, SWE
defeated by
Uladzimir Ignatik, BLR and Nikita Kryvonos, USA
2-6, 6-7(3)

Paul Todd, USA and Treat Conrad Huey, PHI
defeated by
Jesse Witten, USA and Tigran Martirosyan, ARM
4-6, 5-7

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Note: Near the end of this article, after stating that Venus Williams has not changed her mind about playing Indian Wells, the article implies that the sole reason she and Serena are not playing is because they were booed after Venus defaulted with an injured knee.

If you recall, the sisters and their father, Richard Williams, have stated that they encountered racist behavior in Indian Wells.

In a November 2008 interview with the New York Times Serena Williams stated:

“I’m not going to be playing at Indian Wells. I’ve had some extremely life-altering things that happened to me there. So I told Larry Scott there are things that happened there that he understands shouldn’t happen, especially me being African-American. We’ve been struggling for so long. I try to stand up for what I believe in. I won’t be able to say anything positive about Indian Wells. If they really want me to promote it, then honestly, I don’t know what to say.”

AP/New York: Venus Williams wants to play her top-ranked sister when women's tennis returns to Madison Square Garden for the first time in nearly nine years.

Williams will join Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic on March 2 in the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup. They will compete for $1.2 million in prize money.

"I'm hoping for an all-Williams final," Venus said Wednesday during a conference call. "That would be most exciting for us and, of course, for the fans. I love playing with Serena, against her and in doubles."

The single-elimination exhibition will feature three players who won Grand Slam titles in 2008. Ivanovic won her first major at the French Open, Venus won Wimbledon and Serena won the U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open. Jankovic held the No. 1 ranking for part of last season.

The draw will be held later this month, and they will compete in a one-set, no-ad scoring semifinal. The winners will play a best-of-three final.

In her only appearance at Madison Square Garden, Venus lost in the 1999 WTA season-ending tournament.

"There is an unbelievable amount of tennis tradition there for the women," she said. "It was the pinnacle of the season. I feel honored to be playing."

The Garden hosted its final WTA season-ending championships in 2000. Williams captured her first season-ending event last November in Doha, Qatar.

Roger Federer and Pete Sampras played an exhibition match last March at the Garden, the first men's pro tennis competition there since 1996.

The Williams sisters last faced off at the Wimbledon final. They've combined to win the last three Grand Slam singles titles, so the goal is to stay healthy throughout the season.

"As long as that happens, I really play good tennis," said Williams, who teamed with Serena to win the Australian Open doubles title. "I love the challenge. If it wasn't challenging, we wouldn't love it as much as we do."

Williams will compete in the Dubai Tennis Championships, which begin Sunday. She hasn't changed her mind about skipping the tournament next month at Indian Wells, Calif., one of the mandatory events on the WTA schedule. In 2001, Venus defaulted with a knee injury before a semifinal match against Serena and they were booed by the crowd.

She said King, an investor in the Indian Wells tournament, hasn't tried to persuade her to play.

"I don't think that's her job or her aim," Venus said. "With Billie, her whole intention has been if I'm OK and happy more than anything else."

Venus said she hasn't been paying close attention to the recent steroid revelations in baseball. She considers tennis "a completely different sport."

"You have to hold your nerve, and I don't know if there's a drug for that," she said. "Tennis has a pretty good record and we continually test."

The showdown will be broadcast on HBO. It's part of "Tennis Night in America," an effort by the U.S. Tennis Association to get youth signed up to play.

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