Black Tennis Pros

American Mashona Washington will meet Canadian Valerie Tetreault in the championship match at the 2009 Hunt Communities USTA Pro Tennis Classic at the Tennis West Sports and Racquet Club in El Paso, Texas on Sunday.

Washington defeated Australian Monique Adamczak 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals to reach the final.

"It was a little difficult in the beginning, I didn't have much rhythm and threw in some double faults. She had some double faults on the same side, so maybe it was the side. I sensed a little change in her attitude, in her demeanor. But she was still coming up with big shots. I just told myself, okay, that was just a good shot and not let it bother me, not let it create a domino effect."

She obviously overcame that sentiment.

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Las Vegas, Friday, June 12 -- The first class of graduates from the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy celebrated Friday night with a bold attack on critics of the public charter school, which primarily serves students from low-income areas.

“Some along the way have short-sightedly labeled us as at-risk,” salutatorian Simone Ruffin noted in her speech during Friday night’s commencement. “Well, we are at risk -- at risk of excellence, at risk of success,” she continued, drawing enthusiastic cheers from the audience.

“We are at risk of having a class where 100 percent of the students graduate and go to college,” she said.

The class of 2009 is prepared to do just that as all 34 graduates have been accepted to and plan on attending college in the fall.

The commencement of the first group of high school students is a major milestone for the school, which was founded by tennis legend Andre Agassi to serve what he called an “economically challenged” neighborhood.

“To have 100 percent of your seniors graduating is pretty exciting,” Agassi said in an interview earlier this week.



At Agassi Prep, 26 graduates plan to attend a four-year college next year, while the other eight will go to two-year schools, school officials said.

“Tomorrow we will no longer be the lions of high school, but the cubs of college,” said student body president Alexis Wallace. “But I’m OK with that because I would rather be a cub of college than a high school dropout.”



In his address to students during Friday’s festivities, Agassi emphasized how the students have been a success in what has been an experiment in education. As they move forward, they can look back on their experiences at the school for strength, he said.

“Tell yourself again the story of how you were a pioneer,” Agassi told the students. “How you proved all the naysayers wrong; how you defied the odds and made your parents and teachers and that one old tennis player very, very proud.”

Agassi said the graduation was a heart-wrenching time for those who have been involved with the students.

“It’s emotional … sad, in some respects, but in a good kind of way, like, I guess, watching your child go off to college,” he said. “But soon, summer will be over with and we’ll be back at it again because we’ve got future classes and future lives to look out for.”



The school’s achievement in sending the entire class to college is not the final marker of success, Agassi said.

“My hope for them (the graduates) ultimately is that they … come back home, come back here ideally, but to this community, to this neighborhood, to this city, and make a difference for future generations,” he said. “I think that’s ultimately how we are going to define success.”

Agassi Prep is different than most other county public schools. As a charter school, students are not charged for enrollment. The school receives a $6,530-per-pupil allocation from the state and Agassi’s charitable foundation supplements that with about $6,000 more per student.



With the extra support, the school provides an additional two hours of instruction each school day, plus an extra two weeks of school each year. Students can also choose to participate in after-school activities for free.

Chancellor Marsha Irvin, who came to the school after being a regional superintendent in the School District for eight years, said Agassi Prep has an advantage in preparing students for college because of the help of donors.

“Those kinds of resources and having small classes really does make a difference in terms of helping children identify what is going to be best for them,” she said. “The ratio is a lot smaller than in most schools and that just makes all the difference in the world.”



Thanks to help from donors, every graduate this year received at least one scholarship to help pay for college. All together, the 34 students received more than $257,000 to go toward higher education, the school said.

Agassi said the school has had a positive effect on the surrounding neighborhood.

“I think we’ve seen how this community has safeguarded this school; how they’ve protected it, how they’ve taken ownership of it,” he said. “In an area that’s economically challenged, we haven’t seen crime or graffiti or anything of that nature on this campus, which is a beautiful testament to the human spirit and what happens when people start to have hope in their lives.”



Ben Sayeski, president of the school’s governing board of directors, thanked the students for their help in testing what he called the school’s new model of education. He promised them it would spread to other schools.

“Much of the Agassi Prep model is based upon the fact that resources matter -- that two extra hours a day matter, that two extra weeks per year matter, that after-school opportunities matter,” Sayeski said during the commencement on Friday.

“With every single graduate attending college, you have more than done your part to make the case that resources matter,” he said. “But that’s not where it ends, because we’re going to take that message to the entire state. Every child in this state deserves the resources that you received and the outcomes that you got."

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First off, Frenchman Gael Monfils is going to get some of these guys killed thinking they can fly, lol.

In today's semifinals of the AEGON Championships at the Queens Club in London, American James Blake will face fellow American Andy Roddick. Blake defeated Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (5), 6-3 in 76 minutes in yesterday's quarterfinals.

Despite trailing their head-to-head 2-6, Blake has won his past two meetings with Roddick – including in the Queen’s Club semi-finals three years ago.





On the USTA Pro Circuit at the 2009 Hunt Communities USTA Pro Challenger El Paso, Texas, American Mashona Washington has advanced to the semifinals after defeating Canadian Heidi El Tabakh 6-1, 6-4 in Friday's quarterfinals.

Mashona will play Australian Monique Adamczak for a spot in the final.

At the same event in doubles, Americans Brittany Augustine and Jennifer Elie advanced to the semifinal round where their final hopes were halted by American Christina Fusano and India's Shikha Uberoi. They were defeated 6-3, 6-2.

At the 2009 Recoating West Inc. USTA Men's $15,000 Professional Tennis Tournament in Loomis, California, American Todd Paul, teamed with American Tim Smyczek, also advanced to the semifinal round but was defeated by Americans Austin Krajicek and Conor Pollock 6-1, 6-4.

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Frenchman Gael Monfils is shown here in a candid video at 10 years old that shows him preparing for, participating in and being coached for a match. Monfils' mother is also in the video along with his opponent and his mother.

Very nice.

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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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