Black Tennis Pros

Talk about a painful match to watch!

Both American Serena Williams and the Czech Republic's Klara Zakopalova agonized throughout their match on the Suzanne Lenglen Court at the French Open today, with Serena taking the bigger brunt of the pain even though she went on to win the three-set match 6-3, 6⁵-7⁷, 6-4.

"I was just desperate for a win," the second-seeded Williams said, "and I think it pretty much showed in my game."

Serena described today's performance as "horrendous." She then added, "I just played junior tennis — or even worse."

Throughout the error laden match Serena looked to gain more pain with each error.

After the 2^1/2 hour match was finally won, she joined sister Venus for a round of doubles. That match is currently suspended because of darkness until Wednesday.

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Given that he was highly doubtful about his ability to play in the 2009 Roland Garros because of a knee injury, Frenchman Gaël Monfils has begun the tournament very impressively.

“I’m not thinking too much about my injury,” said Monfils. I decided to play. I’m going to stop talking about being hurt or not hurt. I’m in the tournament, and for once, I started at a high level. Now it’s a question of how I can build on it.”

Monfils’s impressed the crowd in the Suzanne-Lenglen court with his 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Bobby Reynolds.

“I feel strong, and I was hitting strong,” said Monfils. “After a few more matches and with a bit more confidence, I’ll be hitting even harder. And I tell myself, why not take things further?”

“I didn’t have to dig too far into my reserves today,” Monfils said. “But I could see in the rallies we had that I was there and I hadn’t lost too much of my game.”

In the next round, he faces the Romanian Victor Crivoi.

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WOMEN'S SINGLES

Round 1

Venus Williams, USA defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
6-1, 4-6, 6-2

Stephanie Foretz, FRA defeated by Kirsten Flipkens, BEL
1-6, 6-4, 4-6

Serena Williams, USA vs. Klara Zakopalova


WOMEN'S DOUBLES

Round 1

Venus Williams, USA and Serena Williams, USA
vs.
Andrea Hlavackova, CZE and Lucie Hradecka, CZE

Stephanie Foretz, FRA and Camille Pin, FRA
vs.
Lucie Safarova, CZE and Vladimira Uhlirova, CZE


MEN'S SINGLES

Round 1

Josselin Ouanna, FRA defeated Marcel Granollers, ESP
7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 7⁷-6², 6-1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA vs. Julien Benneteau, FRA


Gael Monfils, FRA vs. Bobby Reynolds, USA

James Blake, USA vs. Leonardo Mayer, ARG


MEN'S DOUBLES

Round 1

Jeff Coetzee, RSA and Jordan Kerr, AUS
vs.
Jaroslav Levinsky, CZE and Igor Zelenay, SVK

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Long overshadowed by compatriots Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Josselin Ouanna finally appears ready to claim his rightful place among the French tennis elite.

For a long time Josselin Ouanna was almost invisible. Naturally shy, he was like an introverted teenager who dared not look anyone in the eye.

New attitude

Times have changed. Ouanna pulled off his t-shirt, showing off his bare chest for our camera, a symbolic gesture for a player who is almost sure of himself now, and increasingly confident of his physique and his strength.

It is also the type of attitude the 23-year-old has begun to display on court as he takes his game to the next level. Take Sunday, for example, when the 136 world-ranked Ouanna took a more aggressive approach than usual against Spain’s Marcel Granollers, a player fully 40 points higher than him in the rankings. The new and improved “Joss” went on to win his first Grand Slam match. In five sets no less.

Reminiscences

Still visibly moved after watching the match, Ouanna’s first coach Fabrice Loustalot spoke to the press about his former protégé’s transformation. “Joss has changed his attitude. He’s really developed his character. During the match he showed some emotion, pumped his fists. It was beautiful to watch. Perhaps that’s what was missing from his game.” Loustalot trained Ouanna from the ages of 7 and 13 and remembers him as a “super talented boy who was extremely shy and almost never spoke.”

Ouanna is clearly coming into his own then. A victory at the Rennes challenger, followed by a quarter-final spot in Lyon, are proof of a burgeoning talent. Joss himself commented on his recent progress: “I’ve improved at my own pace. I know I have what it takes. Perhaps I had less self-confidence than Jo or Gael and of course my injuries didn’t help. It wasn’t easy seeing my friends winning matches on TV, but it in the end it certainly motivated me to go meet them at the top!”

With the help of his current trainer Jerome Potier, Ouanna is working his way up in his own way and at his own speed. And when he faces Marat Safin in the second round he will get the chance to show the world his new attitude and prove that Tsonga and Monfils may not be that hard to catch after all…

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In a fairly uneventful match at the French Open just a short while ago, American Venus Williams, all decked out in a very Springy 'EleVen' creation, halted any possibility for fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands by taking her out in a three-set defeat.

Venus served well and basically cruised through the first set, taking it 6-1. In a slight turn of events Mattek-Sands stepped up her game in the second set, started to return better and made a competitive set out of her 6-4 win.

Mattek-Sands winning ways were short-lived though. Venus turned the heat right back up in the third set winning it 6-2.

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After placing much concern in the hearts and minds of his fans globally and especially at home in France, Frenchman Gael Monfils confirmed on Sunday that he will indeed compete in the 2009 French Open. Monfils has been suffering from a painful left knee injury.

After his sky high jump out of the stands on Saturday during an exhibition match, I pretty much took his playing as a given.

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Advancing to the second round of Roland Garros today, Frenchman Josselin Ouanna put his fighting spirit on display.

After winning the first set against Spaniard Marcel Granollers 7-5, Granollers took the next two sets 6-2 and 6-3. Ouanna fought back through a fourth set tiebreak 7⁷-6² to finally take the fifth set and the match 6-1.

Way to go Ouanna!

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