Black Tennis Pros

PARIS (AP) — Getting into a groove at the French Open, Roger Federer is two victories from completing a career Grand Slam and tying Pete Sampras' record for major titles.

After three consecutive so-so performances, Federer was challenged only fleetingly in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Roland Garros before beating 11th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-4.

Federer reached the semifinals for the 20th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, extending his own record.

"I felt some pressure before this match," Federer said. "I was very nervous, because I thought it would be very difficult."

He did face two break points in the opening game of the match, and another at 5-5 in the first set — but saved each of them.

Then, in the tiebreaker, Monfils held a set point at 6-5, but again Federer held steady, and the Frenchman sent a backhand wide to make it 6-all. Two points later — a service winner and a volley winner by Federer — the set was over, and so, essentially, was the match.

"Maybe I took too many risks at the beginning," the second-seeded Federer said, "but I was worried about his forehand."

"Today," Monfils said, "he didn't miss a lot."

Is Federer the favorite?

"He still has two tough matches if he wants to win, but I think he can do it," said Monfils, who lost to Federer in last year's semifinals in Paris. "He should be very motivated to win, so, yeah, why not?"




PARIS (AP) — One shot by Serena Williams sent Svetlana Kuznetsova to the court in a messy spill that left her covered with clay.The resilient Russian was down but not out. She squandered a big lead in the second set Wednesday but ended Williams' 18-match Grand Slam winning streak in the French Open quarterfinals, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-5.

Williams, seeded second, was seeking her third successive major title and the 11th of her career.

The No. 7-seeded Kuznetsova faced a set point serving at 5-6 in the first set but erased it with a slam and won that set. After her tumble in the second set, Williams rallied three points from defeat to even the match, then took a 3-1 lead in the third.

Kuznetsova mounted the final comeback and broke serve in the last game when Williams pushed a backhand wide.

The seesaw struggle was this close: Midway through the third set, each player had won 100 points.

The Russian won with high-risk tennis, whacking winners into both corners and sometimes choosing angles that surprised Williams. Kuznetsova showed lots of variety, too — when she hit a crosscourt lob, Williams staggered helplessly as she watched the ball land beyond her reach.

Williams was sometimes betrayed by uncertain footwork on the clay, which led to repeated errors on her forehand side down the stretch.

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At Roland Garros Monday evening on Court Philippe Chartrier Frenchman Gael Monfils was on FIYYA!!

Monfils put on a shot making precision spectacle as American Andy Roddick spent more time getting a bad attitude than getting the job done. While Roddick was griping about not being able to see the ball, Monfils was amassing 45 winners and 17 aces. Roddick topped out at four aces which is, of course, sub-par for him.

Roddick was also cut off at the knees with Monfils' drop shot. Monfils burned him time and time after time... ugly.

"He covers so much ground," Roddick said. He served really big, and he served really big at the right times."

Then there was the punk conversation from the commentators about the crowd support for Monfils, and that Monfils was inciting the crowd in an unsportsmanlike manner. What the hell? If the crowd goes off and terrorizes one of the players, blame it on the crowd, but don't act like Monfils is doing a damn thing wrong soaking up the support of his fans. What a bunch of whining!

After the match Monfils said, "The crowd did a good job supporting me. At times, I asked them to wake up and try to bury Andy. They responded, and I think he was a bit annoyed. As for Andy, I apologize for that."

Of the matter Roddick said, "It's certainly his right. It's his advantage to use."

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France still has a chance for a champion, and it all rests on the shoulders of Gael Monfils as Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga went down on Monday to Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 6-1, 6⁵-7⁷, 6-1, 6-4.

At Roland Garros on Court Philippe Chartrier, Del Potro was powerful, accurate and never let up on Tsonga. In contrast, Tsonga's game was nowhere near as polished as it has been in his previous matches and his serve was off as well.

There was very little opportunity for Tsonga to prevail.

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In just under an hour American Serena Williams enjoyed a nice quite drama-free match at Roland Garros today. The "Henin" effect was not in effect.

Serena breezed onto Court Philippe Chartrier, defeated Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-2 and experienced no controversy, all in only 53 minutes.

Serena said that she was suffering from a bug but felt a bit better. She also stated that her leg had finally begun to feel better also.

Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova is Serena's next opponent.

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CARSON, Calif. — Valerie Tetreault of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, won her first pro title Sunday after defeating Alexandra Stevenson of the United States at the Home Depot USTA Challenger.

The unseeded 21-year-old defeated No.8-seed Stevenson 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a hotly disputed singles final.

Tetreault, ranked No. 304 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings, beat Julia Cohen of the U.S. in straight sets Saturday en route to the final.

She faced a much stiffer test in the Sunday, after losing the opening set to Stevenson to take home the US$7,700 winner's purse.

Tetreault will become one of six Canadian women to be ranked in the top 300 when the new Tour rankings are released following the conclusion of the French Open.

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French 24 - Local favourites Gaël Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have scored key victories to make it to the eight final rounds of the French Open.

Once believed out of the running due to persistent pain in his left knee, Monfils says he is hampered no more and is approaching the final full of confidence.

"One might call this the first step," said Monfils. "It is always a pleasure to spend a second week at a Grand Slam."

But Monfils, who made it only to the semifinals in 2008, says he is far from satisfied.

"Now, one must try to go much farther," he said.

In the next round, Monfils will face America’s Andy Roddick, the world number six, whom he has not beaten yet this season.

Roddick is "a great player, very strong," said Monfils. "I’ve lost to him twice this year. It would be a superb comeback, before my public, in France,” he said of a possible victory against his next opponent.

But Monfils wants first to savour his victory against Austria’s Jürgen Melzer. He will ponder a win against Roddick tomorrow, "but not now," he said.


"Wouldn't it be nice to win?"

On the Philippe Chatrier Court, Tsonga bested Belgium’s Christophe Rochus in three sets (6-2, 6-2, 6-2) and thus also qualified for the final eight. It was a result that might have surprised some, but not him.

“Nobody thought that I could evolve like that on the clay,” Tsonga said. "I was often asked, 'What are you hoping for? What would be good for you? To make it through an eighth of the final, a quarter?'"

Determined to put an end to this sort of speculation, Tsonga hit a volley back to the journalists: "And to win, wouldn’t that be nice?"

In the coming round, Tsonga will face Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro, a player who is very at ease on the clay and who defeated Russia's Igor Andreev (ranked 25th) in an all-out match.

But when an Argentinean journalist asked del Potro who he expects to win in his match against the local favourite, the fifth-ranked player answered with no hesitation: “the local”.

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At the Home Depot Center Women's USTA $50,000 Pro Circuit Challenger in Carson, California on Friday American Alexandra Stevenson defeated 16-year-old American junior Kristie Ahn, 6-2, 6-4, leaving Stevenson the the last remaining seeded player.

Stevenson, who now resides in Manhattan Beach, California, next faces former world top 30 player Laura Granville in today's semifinals.

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PARIS (AP) — Out of breath and out of sorts, Venus Williams played her way right out of the French Open on Friday with her most lopsided Grand Slam loss since 2001.

That the No. 3-seeded Williams would exit in the third round at Roland Garros is not quite so extraordinary, perhaps, considering she now has left this particular Grand Slam tournament at this precise stage in four of the past five years.

That Williams would lose the way she did — 6-0, 6-4 — and to the player she did — 29th-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary, whose resume boasts a lone major quarterfinal appearance — was anything but ordinary.

"I'm used to beating people 6-0. I'm not used to my shot not going in and losing a set 6-0," Williams said. "So it completely was foreign ground for me."

The red clay of Paris often feels that way to the older Williams sister, whose seven Grand Slam singles titles were earned at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Based on seeding and name, her departure qualifies as by far the tournament's most significant.

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