Black Tennis Pros

I'm not quite sure what to think about this latest ousting of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Croatian Ivan Ljubicic can be hell to pay - and play - as we have seen in the past. However, I watched this Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open match this morning and it wasn't all Ljubicic.

The Croatian had a little bit of help beating Tsonga - from Tsonga. Nothing overt, Tsonga just doesn't seem to have that zing in his game right now. He's making the effort, but that little something extra that he was previously bringing to the court seens to be missing.

Laying claim to the first big upset, Ljubicic defeated ninth-seed Tsonga 6-4, 7-5.

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MADRID, May 12 (Reuters) - World number three Venus Williams followed her sister Serena out of the Madrid Open on Tuesday when she was beaten 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 by unseeded Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.

The American was broken seven times by the 19-year-old world number 26 from Moscow, a day after Serena retired from her first round match against Francesca Schiavone with a knee injury.

Kleybanova, who knocked Ana Ivanovic out of this year’s Australian Open, served for the match at 5-4 in the final set before Williams broke back.




But the Russian grabbed another break of serve in the next game and made no mistake second time around, sealing victory on her first match point when Williams went long with a forehand.

“It was not a good first set, just really flat, and that gave her the confidence that she had a chance,” Williams said at a news conference.

With the French Open starting at the end of this month, one of two grand slams along with the Australian Open that she has never won, Williams said it was important for her not to take the defeat too much to heart.

“I think I’m playing really well and I’m moving well on the court and I feel good,” she said. “I have another tournament to play so I’m focusing on playing positive there.”

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Just A few days after succeeding to the final of the Estoril Open, American James Blake, who is seeded 14^th, has advanced to the round of 32 at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Blake defeated Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-2, 6-4.

Afterwards Blake said, "My curse was broken and all it took was moving to my least favorite surface."

"I just started playing my game instead of just trying to be a clay courter. I've got to play my style and play aggressive when I get the chance."

Next up for Blake is Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

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BBC Sports -Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga booked his place in the second round of the Madrid Masters with a 6-4 7-5 win over former world number one Marat Safin.

The powerful Frenchman recorded a single break in each set to defeat the unseeded 29-year-old Russian.

Tsonga sealed the first set at the first opportunity with a firm drive that clipped the baseline.

The match concluded when an errant Safin collapsed to 0-40 down on his serve, and though he saved one match point, the next attempted winner went wide.

"I'm happy with my game," 24-year-old Tsonga commented. "I played great tennis, offensive tennis. I hit some good serves, some good volleys and I was really aggressive, so I'm happy."

Tsonga now faces wildcard Ivan Ljubicic.

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After his loss to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Monday at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Masters Tournament, Russian Marat Safin was asked how he thought he would be remembered after retiring at the end of 2009. Safin said, "They can remember me how they want, the US Open champion in 2000 and winner of the Australian Open title in 2005. I don't care. I'm not really thinking about it all day."

"Life is waiting for me after," he added with a smile."

Love it - he couldn't care less.

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MADRID (AFP) — Sluggish and injured Serena Williams lost her third consecutive clay match to crash out of the Madrid Masters after pulling the plug while trailing 4-6 to Francesca Schiavone in the first round Monday.

The exit of the second seed leaves Williams in a precarious position without a victory on the dirt heading into the May 24 start of Roland Garros.

"After the first set I did not want to risk anymore. I'm hoping to be ready for Roland Garros," she insisted.

Williams, who also lost in Marbella and last week in Rome and has suffered with thigh and knee injuries, effectively stayed on court for 45 minutes to avoid a 75,000 fine which the WTA would have imposed for failing to play the new tournament.

The sanction would have been imposed had she pulled out of the event and then not shown up on site for essentially a public relations appearance under the rules.

The multimillionairess has already lost several hundred thousand dollars in year-end bonus pool money as a result of refusing to compete at Indian Wells last March.

"I don't know about you, but 75,000 is a lot of money to me," said the winner of more than two million dollars in prize money so far this season.

"I'm redecorating a house and 75,000 is my furniture budget, some stairs...

"I can't just go writing cheques for 75,000 in this economy," added the ten-time Grand Slam champion, a 24-million-dollar woman over the course of her career.

Williams insisted with some bravado that she would aim to play both singles and doubles at the French Open, starting a week from Sunday.

Williams has not won a match since April 2 in a Miami semi-final over her sister Venus.

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On the USTA Pro Circuit at the Eagle Landing Tennis Classic, Orange Park, Florida, the American doubles team of Todd Paul and Marcus Fugate defeated teammates Philip Bester of Canada and American Gregory Ouellette 6-4, 6-1 to take the doubles championship.

Fugate also advanced to the singles semifinal of the same event, but was defeated by Mexican Daniel Garza 6-4, 6-4.

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MADRID (Reuters) - World number two Serena Williams hit out at the WTA Tour injuries policy on Sunday, commenting that players would be fined for pulling out of a tournament even if they were dead.

The American 10-times grand slam winner was asked why she played at last month's Andalucia Tennis Championships when she had clearly not recovered from a thigh problem that hampered her in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open the previous week.

"Unfortunately it doesn't matter if you're injured, if you're dead or if you're alive, if you don't play they're going to fine you heavily," Williams said at a news conference ahead of this week's Madrid Open.

"So I have to play whether I am injured or not. That's just how it is so I have no choice."

Williams suffered a shock defeat to Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic in the first round in Marbella having lost heavily to Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka in Miami.

The WTA introduced a new Roadmap for 2009 designed to reduce the number of tournaments and shorten the season to make it less physically demanding on the players.

Top 10 players must still compete in at least 10 of the 20 Premier events -- previously known as Tier 1 and 2 tournaments -- and the four grand slams and are also obliged to play the events at Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing.

Justine Henin's retirement last year at the age of 25 highlighted the problem of burnout and Russia's Maria Sharapova has accused the ruling body of women's tennis (WTA) of being ignorant of the players' needs.

Men's world number one Rafael Nadal has repeatedly complained about the congested ATP calendar and reiterated his concerns on Saturday in Madrid at the combined men's and women's clay event.

"It's a fact that there are too many matches but that's the way the calendar has been set," the Spaniard, who suffered a knee injury at the end of last season, told a news conference.

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