Black Tennis Pros

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On Tuesday afternoon at the Boar's Head Inn, Charlottesville, Virginia, the Boyd Tinsley Women's Pro Tennis Tournament began. American Angela Haynes and Croatian Mirjana Lucic were the marquee match for the first round of this event.

Lucic, a 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist, defeated second seeded Haynes 6-4, 6-2.

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Italy is hoping the Williams sisters decide to skip the Fed Cup final in November. Either way, though, the 2006 champions plan to host the United States in the best-of-five series on the slowest clay they can find.

"I hope the Williams sisters don't come," Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "If they do come, we'll try to beat them. It's not impossible on clay. (Flavia) Pennetta has already beaten Venus more than once."

The 14th-ranked Pennetta beat Venus Williams twice last year _ including a victory at the French Open _ although Venus won their last two meetings.

Italy beat Russia 4-1 and the United States edged the Czech Republic 3-2 in the semifinals last weekend. The Williams sisters _ Venus and Serena _ skipped the trip to Brno, and Fed Cup rookies Alexa Glatch and Bethanie Mattek-Sands lined up for United States captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

The Nov. 7-8 final immediately follows the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, and Barazzutti expects the Williams sisters to play there. Italy would like to host the final in the south to play outdoors on slow clay to soften the impact of the Williams sister's fierce groundstrokes.

"We're definitely going to play on clay _ very slow clay _ and if possible, outdoors," Barazzutti said. "First we need to determine if we can play outdoors, then we'll choose the most uncomfortable setting possible. Uncomfortable in the sense that it suits us and not the Americans."

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DOUBLES

Round 1

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Sarah Borwell, GBR
defeated
Su-Wei Hsieh, TPE and Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
3-6, 6-3 [10/5]


Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA


SINGLES

Round 1

James Blake, USA defeated by Victor Crivoi, ROU
5-7, 3-6

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated by Richard Gasquet, FRA
6-7(2), 4-6


DOUBLES

Round 1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA and Julien Benneteau, FRA
defeated
Ross Hutchins, GBR and Andy Murray, GBR
6-4, 6-4

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Jordan Kerr, AUS
vs.
BYE

James Blake, USA and Mardy Fish, USA
defeated
Simon Aspelin, SWE and Wesley Moody, RSA
7-6(4), 6-1

SINGLES

Round 1

Ahsha Rolle, USA defeated by Ashley Weinhold, USA
3-6, 2-6

Angela Haynes, USA defeated by Mirjana Lucic, CRO
4-6, 2-6


DOUBLES

Round 1

Angela Haynes, USA and Alina Jidkova, RUS
defeated
Brittany Augustine, USA and Tiya Rolle, USA
6-1, 6-2

Ahsha Rolle, USA Alexandra Mueller, USA
defeated
Tarakaa Bertrand, USA and Nicole Rottmann, AUT
6-2, 6-3

Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Brittany Augustine, USA
Tiya Rolle, USA


SINGLES

Round 1

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated by Carsten Ball, AUS
1-6, 2-6

Timothy Neilly, BAH defeated Andrea Falgheri, ITA
7-5, 6-4

Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated Carlton Fiorentino, USA
6-3, 6-2


Round 2

Philip Simmonds USA vs. Johannes Robert Van Overbeek, USA

Timothy Neilly, BAH vs. Alexander Domijan, USA


DOUBLES

Round 1

Marcus Fugate, USA and Robbye Poole, USA
defeated by
Andrea Falgheri, ITA and Stefano Ianni, ITA
2-6, 2-6

Jarmere Jenkins, USA and Christian Guevara, USA
defeated
Jack Anton, USA and Lance Lvovsky, USA
6-0, 6-2

Timothy Neilly, BAH and Ronald Perry, USA
defeated by
Raian Luchici, ROU and Tigran Martirosyan, ARM
6-1, 3-6 [7/10]

Devin Mullings, BAH and Carlton Fiorentino, USA
defeated by
Joe Bates, USA and Ricky Flach, USA
4-6, 3-6


Quarterfinal Round

Jarmere Jenkins, USA and Christian Guevara, USA
defeated by
Raian Luchici, ROU and Tigran Martirosyan, ARM
4-6, 3-6

Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Jarmere Jenkins, USA

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ROME — James Blake struggled with the windy conditions and lost to Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi 7-5, 6-3 Monday in the first round of the Rome Masters.

Blake lost the opening five games against the 112th-ranked Crivoi, rallied to make it 5-5 - saving three set points along the way - then was broken at love to end the first set.

With intermittent rain falling in the second set and the wind swirling on the makeshift secondary stadium court at the Foro Italico, Blake wasted a 2-0 lead and handed Crivoi his first victory on tour this year.

With sixth-ranked Andy Roddick taking a break from the tour following his wedding, the 16th-ranked Blake was the top American in the draw. Blake has now lost both of his matches on clay this year, falling to Guillermo Canas in Houston at the beginning of the month.

Source: The Canadian Press
Photos by AP

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Famous Twist, Lick and Dunk Duos Helped Train Ten Lucky Lickers On How to Win An Oreo Lick Race As They Competed For Part of $10,000 Prize

West Palm Beach, Fla. (April 24, 2009) – Oreo Double Stuf Racing League (DSRL) pros Peyton and Eli Manning and Venus and Serena Williams put their “sibling rivalry” aside to help two teams of finalists (10 winners total) hone their twisting, licking and dunking skills in a race to $10,000, split evenly among their teammates.

Two teams of “lucky lickers” – the Oreo Twisters and Oreo Dunkers – participated in an Oreo DSRL training session with the veteran leaguers Peyton and Eli Manning and Venus and Serena Williams. The teams then proceeded to go head-to-head to lick-off in their competitive event in West Palm Beach, Fla.


The Oreo Twisters claimed the title of the new DSRL consumer champions, with Brian Posik, a 20-year old student of Spotswood, N.J. leading the team to victory by being the first to twist, lick and dunk his Oreo Double Stuf cookie and drink his glass of milk the fastest. Each of the five members of the winning team took home $2,000 and earned “cookie bragging rights” to family and friends.

“Being able to train with the Williams on how to do an Oreo Double Stuf lick race was the ultimate Oreo and milk moment for me,” said Posik. “We learned a lot about friendly competition and, of course, we look forward to sharing our winning techniques with others thanks to our win!”

“As a professional athlete who is always striving to play his best, it was fun to switch sides and play ‘coach’ for a change,” said Eli Manning.



“We’ve really enjoyed working with the Mannings as part of the Oreo DSRL campaign so this was a great opportunity to come together, continue that fun, friendly and competitive experience and share it with other DSRL fans,” said Serena Williams.

The 10 finalists were divided randomly into two teams for the event. In addition to Posik, the winning team, the Oreo Twisters, included four other “lucky lickers” who shared in the prize:

Bridget Hutchinson of Haskell, N.J.; Harriett Brown of Rockford, Ill.; Matt Kouba of St. Charles, Ill. and Debbie Seavey of Newton Square, Penn.

About the Oreo DSRL Instant Win Promotion

In January, Oreo launched the DSRL instant win game in specially-marked packages of Double Stuf OREO, online and over the radio airwaves. Five DSRL fans were selected to be one of the “lucky lickers” to participate in the final competition from a nationwide on-package / online promotion. The other five “lucky lickers” competed in Oreo lick races as part of radio promotions in select markets and the fastest moved on to the finals in Florida.

More About the Oreo DSRL League

Since its launch in 2008 with Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, the Oreo Double Stuf Racing League continues to grow. Venus and Serena Williams joined in mid-2008 and challenged the Mannings for DSRL supremacy, thus creating the “Ultimate Sibling Rivalry.”

In 2009, the DSRL welcomed its first official sponsor, AstroTurf®, a company with a long history of supporting professional sports. At this year’s DSRL competition, both teams licked-off for the first time on an official DSRL field, custom-made by AstroTurf®.

Twisting, Licking and Dunking Tradition

The Oreo DSRL is a fun activity that family and friends can enjoy together. The only real “equipment” needed is an Oreo Double Stuf cookie, a single glass of milk and someone to compete against. To start the race, each person twists their cookie open and licks off all the crème. Then, each person shows their cookie to their opponent, dunks it, eats it and drinks the glass of milk. The first to finish twisting, licking and dunking wins!

For more information on the Oreo Double Stuf Racing League and to become an official member of the league, visit www.DSRL.com.

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Shenay Perry’s road to recovery from knee surgery in late 2007 took a big step Sunday.

Perry of Coral Springs, Fla., defeated Carly Gullickson of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., in Sunday’s USTA Movie Gallery Pro Classic final at Westgate Tennis Center, winning in three sets (4-6, 6-1, 6-3).

The two are close friends and roomed together this week. Perry, who is unseeded, knocked off the eighth-seeded Gullickson for her third straight win over a seeded player. She beat No. 1 Patricia Mayr in the semifinals and No. 7 Angela Haynes in the prior round.

The 24-year-old Perry was ranked No. 40 in the world in 2006, but had right knee surgery in August 2007 and missed a full year of singles play.

In 2006, she was the only American to make the round of 16 at the prestigious Wimbledon tournament.

“It’s great,” Perry said. “It gives me a lot of motivation to know that I can still go out and play at a high level of tennis. I’m pretty happy about that.”

Perry won three doubles titles last year — two with Gullickson — and a 50K singles title in Lawrenceville, Ga., last October.

Her title Sunday was in a tournament with a purse of $75,000. She pocketed $11,400 and 110 ranking points for winning the tournament and Gullickson won $6,080 with 78 ranking points.

But she started off slow, falling 6-4 in the first set as Gullickson won the last three games. Perry dominated the second set with a 6-1 win and didn’t have much trouble in the third with a 6-3 win.

“It was just really tough,” Perry said. “We were both pretty nervous. I don’t think either one of us played our game. I got some opportunities at good times and I think that’s what helped me out.”

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The USA stormed into the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas final with victory over the Czech Republic after doubles pairing Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber came back from match point down to win the fifth and decisive rubber 2-6 7-6(1) 6-1 against Kveta Peschke and Iveta Benesova.

This victory for the USA is a particularly proud moment for team captain Mary-Joe Fernandez who has coached her team to the final of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas in her first year as captain.

“The doubles was a really emotional match, there were so many ups and downs,” she said. What a fight though. They showed a lot of heart and a lot of courage and that’s what Fed Cup’s about. It’s about the team and working together and they found a way to win the match and it’s a thrill to be in the final.”

In the final in November the USA will meet Italy, who won their semifinal tie against Russia this weekend by four rubbers to one. The tie won’t be an easy one for the USA, as the Italians showed their strength defeating the ITF’s number one ranked team in Castellaneta Marina this weekend.

The Italians have won the Fed Cup only once before in 2006 when they defeated Belgium in the final. The Americans by contrast have not won a Fed Cup title since 2000 and Mary-Joe Fernandez is hoping that her team’s cause in November will be helped by the addition of the Williams sisters.

“Venus and Serena are the best players in America and basically the whole world so hopefully they can play. You have to pick your best team so I’ll be calling them and getting them ready.”

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