Black Tennis Pros

Launched on Monday, July 20 was the sixth season of the Olympus US Open Series, the six-week North American summer tennis season that links 10 ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour summer tournaments to the US Open. Since its inception in 2004, the six-week Olympus US Open Series has doubled television viewership and increased event attendance, while generating new corporate partnerships for the sport. The full summer schedule is attached.

Throughout the summer, the Series will feature more than 200 national television hours on ESPN2, CBS and Tennis Channel, highlighted by back-to-back men’s and women’s finals on Sundays on ESPN2 and select finals on CBS. The Olympus US Open Series premieres Friday, July 24, with two hours on Tennis Channel, followed by four hours on ESPN2. An additional seven hours of coverage on both networks will follow over the weekend, with the finals airing live on Sunday on ESPN2 beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

More than 200 of the game’s top players will compete during the Series for over $30 million in prize money. Additionally, through the Olympus US Open Series Bonus Challenge, players will be competing for more than $2.6 million in potential bonus prize money. Bonus prize money is awarded to the top three men and top three women in the Series based on their performance at the US Open.

Olympus, the Series’ inaugural sponsor, is continuing its partnership with the USTA as the title sponsor of the Series. The Olympus US Open Series season will be supported by a multi-million dollar national marketing campaign, a redesigned OlympusUSOpenSeries.com website, and increased sponsor activation on both the national and local level.

“I’m looking forward to my return to tournament tennis on the Olympus US Open Series this summer,” said Kim Clijsters, who is playing Olympus US Open Series events in Cincinnati and Toronto after leaving the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to give birth to her first child in February last year. “I’ve played some of my best tennis during the Series and think it is a great lead-up to the US Open for players and for fans.” In 2005, Clijsters earned the biggest paycheck in the history of women’s tennis -- $2.2 million -- by winning the Olympus US Open Series and US Open.

"I am very excited about coming back to competition and the Olympus US Open Series is the best place to do so. Those events coming up are important in the tennis calendar and also a perfect way to gain the right pace and rhythm for the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open,” said Rafael Nadal, who had his career best showing at the US Open last year after winning the Olympus US Open Series. “On a personal level, I know it will be tough since I have been away from competition for some time now. In any case I am confident and will give it my all out there."

”I think creating the Olympus US Open Series was great as it puts the summer tennis season under one roof and makes it cohesive,” said Andy Roddick, who won back-to-back Olympus US Open Series titles in 2005 and 2006. “I’ve done well at a lot of the tournaments, and have a history with these lead-up events. It is one of the parts of the year that I look forward to most.”

“We created the Olympus US Open Series with the goal of elevating the sport of tennis in North America,” said Jim Curley, Chief Professional Tournaments Officer, USTA. “By working closely and collaboratively with both tours, our television partners and sponsors, and the tournaments and players, we have created a true showcase for tennis that is having great results across the board.”

National Television Broadcasts

More than 200 hours of tennis action will be televised during the six weeks of the Olympus US Open Series, with ESPN2 remaining the lead broadcaster, and additional national coverage on CBS and Tennis Channel. The Olympus US Open Series, with the US Open, provides tennis with more live national television coverage during its eight weeks than any other summer sport over the same time period. Series broadcasts have reached an average of 41 million viewers annually over the first five years, more than doubling viewership numbers of these events prior to the launch of the Series in 2004.

Instant replays and official reviews on television broadcasts will continue to be branded the “Chase Review,” and as in 2008, players will have three challenges per set plus one additional during a tiebreaker.

National Marketing Campaign

This year for the first time, the Olympus US Open Series and the US Open are being marketed under the same campaign, entitled, “It Must Be Love.” This year’s multi-million dollar marketing and advertising campaign features some of the games biggest stars and is a multimedia effort that includes national television, radio, print, digital media and customized local executions in Olympus US Open Series markets. More than a dozen top players, including Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Roger Federer, Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Jelena Jankovic, were filmed for the campaign.

In all, 13 30-second TV ads will comprise the television campaign, which will air nationally in and outside of tennis programming on CBS, ESPN2, NBC, ABC, and Tennis Channel. Print executions will appear throughout the summer in USA Today, The New York Times and other top metropolitan markets and an accompanying radio campaign -- which includes over 40,000 spots -- will air in markets around the country to drive television tune-in.

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There will be a ‘7 to 7’ Tennis Mixer held at the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex’s Arthur Ashe Tennis Courts on Friday, July 24, 2009. From 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. tennis enthusiasts of all levels will enjoy a summer night of singles and doubles in Baldwin Hills. Hosted by the Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Academy and the Rancho Tennis Club, the event will feature music, a potluck, and games aside from tennis. All ages are welcome, however children under 18 must have parental permission. Rackets available. The cost to participate in the tennis clinic is $10 per person with all of the funds benefiting the Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Academy, a member of the California Tennis Association for Underprivileged Youths. The Arthur Ashe Tennis Courts are located at 5001 Rodeo Boulevard, adjacent to Dorsey High School. For more information and to RSVP please call (323) 392-6864 or email info@tenniswithlegeorge.com.

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LOS ANGELES, CA – On Saturday, July 18, 2009, The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Academy introduced California’s newest sister act in tennis at their annual community Wimbledon celebration. Held in celebration of Serena Williams 3rd Wimbledon title, the Academy introduced rising tennis junior sisters, Elizabeth Profit, 12, ranked No. 2 in the USTA Southern California Division’s Girls 12s, and Mary Profit, 10, ranked No. 8 in Girls 10s. The event took place at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Courts located at the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex in Los Angeles and was attended by over 200 people. For more information about the Profit sisters, please visit www.theprofitsisters.com.

The Venus and Serena Williams’ Tennis Academy is housed at the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex located at 5001 Rodeo Boulevard in Los Angeles. Additionally, the Academy is open seven days a week with instructors available for private, semi-private, and group lessons for both adults and children. For more information, please call (323) 299-4631.

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Venus and Serena Williams attend "The Ugly Truth" film premiere at the ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome on July 16, 2009 in Hollywood, California.

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LONDON (AP) — Richard Gasquet escaped a lengthy doping ban Wednesday when the International Tennis Federation ruled that he inadvertently took cocaine.

The 23-year-old Frenchman, who was cleared to resume playing after completing a 2 1/2-month ban Wednesday, convinced an independent anti-doping tribunal that he ingested cocaine by kissing a woman he met at a nightclub in Miami.

The tribunal panel of three lawyers said Gasquet consumed no more than "a grain of salt" of the drug, and a long ban would be an injustice in a case which was "unusual to the point of being probably unique."

"We have found the player to be a person who is shy and reserved, honest and truthful, and a man of integrity and good character," the tribunal said in its ruling.

The ITF, which had sought a two-year ban under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Agency's code, was told to impose a retroactive ban of two months, 15 days. The ban ended Wednesday morning, clearing 32nd-ranked Gasquet to resume playing.

Gasquet tested positive in a urine sample in March after he pulled out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, with a shoulder injury.

After deciding to withdraw from the tournament he went to a nightclub with friends to see a French DJ perform at a Miami dance music festival, which the tribunal noted was "notoriously associated with use of illegal recreational drugs including cocaine."

Gasquet told the tribunal hearing held in London last month that he kissed a woman, identified in the ruling only as "Pamela."

The tribunal said it was likely she had consumed cocaine during the night, though it had no direct evidence.

Gasquet was "on the balance of probability, contaminated with cocaine by Pamela" and, therefore, not significantly at fault for the doping offense, the ruling said.

"We take into account that the amount of cocaine in the player's body was so small that if he had been tested only a few hours later, his test result would be likely to have been negative," the tribunal stated.

Gasquet also argued at the hearing that his positive test was given after he had pulled out of the Key Biscayne tournament. Cocaine is a banned drug for athletes in competition.

The tribunal said Gasquet's rights to practice his profession would be infringed by a one-year suspension, though it was required to find that a doping offense was committed.

It also noted that Gasquet would be banned for life if he tested positive for a banned drug a second time.

The ruling allowed the Frenchman to keep the ranking points and prize money he gained at tournaments in April.

The ITF provisionally suspended Gasquet when the test result was announced in May and he was forced to miss the French Open and Wimbledon. His ranking has since dropped nine places.

The ruling can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within three weeks.

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Venus Williams is among the most famous athletes in the world. A five-time Wimbledon singles champion. Seven-time Grand Slam tournament singles winner and, with younger sister Serena, a nine-time Grand Slam tournament doubles champion.

Just past her 29th birthday, the Lynwood native is as compelling on the court as she is in the board rooms where the business of tennis is conducted and its policies are shaped.

But ask her to name the other professional athletes she admires and she'll double-fault.

"I'm the worst with sports. I don't know anything outside of tennis," she said, laughing.

"Like when I go to the ESPYs people will say, 'Congratulations,' and I won't know who they are so I won't even know if I should say, 'Congratulations.' I don't know what they did. I feel like, stuck. And I don't want them to think I'm a loser or stuck up.

"I can tell by their physique they're an athlete but other than that I'm lost. So I'm sorry, I can't help you."

No apologies necessary.

She might not know a race car driver from a bowler at tonight's ESPY awards at the Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live, but everyone will know who she is: One of the most powerful servers and baseliners the game has seen, driven to be the best since she and Serena learned the game from their father, Richard, on Compton's municipal courts.

She took little consolation that the Wimbledon title stayed in the family July 4 when Serena beat her, 7-6 (3), 6-2. "I still want to win. Especially that title," she said Tuesday during a visit to The Times' offices.

"I like winning that one. I'm used to winning that one."

That's not all she has won. What most fans don't know is that behind the scenes, the world's third-ranked player is just as powerful as she is on the court.

Williams has successfully pushed for equal prize money for women, helped formulate a better-calibrated tour schedule and was a key figure in a joint program between the WTA and UNESCO -- the cultural arm of the United Nations -- that promotes gender equality and leadership opportunities for women.

The idea for the UNESCO program emerged from her experience at an ESPY awards ceremony in which two Afghan women were honored for starting a soccer program in their war-torn homeland. The UNESCO-WTA program uses tennis as a vehicle to educate women around the world, making the sport a stepping stone to a better and fuller life.

Williams understands how that can happen. Tennis has made her a very rich woman and has been the main focus of her life but hasn't been her entire life. Nor will it ever be, even though she has been criticized by fellow players for having pursuits that could have cut into her court time.

Even when she started playing professional events at age 14 she knew she wanted a life outside tennis and collected images of fashions and artwork, snipping pictures out of newspapers and magazines and pasting them into scrapbooks.

In the digital age she can scan drawings into her desktop computer instead of lugging scrapbooks around the world, but she's still gathering ideas for her V Starr interior design business and her EleVen clothing line.

"I think that having other interests helps you realize that no matter what you do, you start on the bottom. You work your way up," said Williams, who lives in Florida and considers the winters here "cold" compared to her new home.

"You get to the top and think, 'Let's just stay here as long as I can.' It helps you realize and appreciate what you do have, besides being a well-rounded person when tennis is over and not being afraid of what might be, what your life might be."

Not that she has an idea of when tennis will be over for her.

"I plan on stopping when I'm just terrible," she said, and that could be never.

"As long as I'm doing great I have no plans on stopping. The one thing that could stop me would be injuries, so I try to prevent those."

Toward that end, she does more work in the gym than she used to and is more conscious of protecting her joints. She sets her schedule more deliberately too.

After Wimbledon she played a few days of World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms for fun before heading to Vancouver for the launch of a Wii tennis-themed video game.

"Which I'm actually really bad at because I actually try to play tennis," she said. "You have the thing and you're moving and being a good tennis player, you have to scale your game down."

She squeezed in a visit to L.A. to see her mother, Oracene, and sister Lyndrea and support Serena's nomination for "Best Female Athlete" at the ESPYs before she will begin preparing for tournaments at Stanford beginning July 27, Cincinnati starting on Aug. 10 and Toronto on Aug. 17. After that, she heads for the U.S. Open, which she has won twice.

Her pace rarely slows, but she likes it that way.

"I enjoy being busy for the most part," she said. "I'm the kind of person that needs to do lots of things at one time."

And why not, even if she can more readily recognize a fashion designer than a fellow athlete.

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