Black Tennis Pros

And the hits just keep on coming for the young one out of Atlanta.

American qualifier Donald Young did manage to take the second set off Spaniard Tommy Robredo in their first round U.S. Open match, but that was all he was able to muster.

Robredo took Young out 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Young, who made the third round in 2007, had gotten wild cards into the last four Opens. Now, at 20 and ranked 185th, he's on his own and got in the hard way.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France has breezed into the U.S. Open's second round by beating 18-year-old Chase Buchanan of the United States 6-0, 6-2, 6-1.

Tsonga was the runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open. The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam tournament at which he's never reached at least the fourth round.

Tsonga played cleanly Tuesday, making only 12 unforced errors, 24 fewer than Buchanan, who was the youngest man in the field. Buchanan was awarded a wild card by the U.S. Tennis Association as the 2009 USTA boys' 18s champion.

Post match Tsonga said, "I didn't know what to expect of him and I was wary as I remember when I was younger and had his ranking I was convinced I could beat anyone, anytime."

Buchanan, of New Albany, Ohio, was making his Grand Slam debut. He had never faced anyone ranked higher than 121st.




Josselin Ouanna defeated American Rajeev Ram 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 3-6 6-3. Up next for him is Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Venus Williams had to dig deep to avoid one of the most shocking upsets of her illustrious career as she beat little-known Russian Vera Dushevina 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 in a first-round marathon at the U.S. Open Monday.

Williams was down a set and a service break before hitting her stride late in the match to overpower the 47th-ranked Dushevina before nearly 24,000 fans on Arthur Ahe Stadium.

"I had a lot of help from the fans here," Williams, a two-times winner at Flushing Meadows, said during a courtside interview.

"I felt so much energy from everyone when I was serving to stay in the match in the second set. It feels good to play at home."

The seven-times grand slam winner won the final three games of the second set and first four of the decider against the demoralized 22-year-old Russian.



NEW YORK (AFP) — Some odd things have happened to James Blake in his tennis career, but the 21st-seeded American never had an umpire wipe an advertising logo off his headband until a first-round US Open match on Monday.

Blake defeated Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round of the year's last Grand Slam event, but he did so without the brand-name logo of his sponsor on the headband, a rules violation.

"I didn't know the rule," Blake said. "I didn't know you couldn't have any writing on the headband or wristband. With the new logo, new design, there's always the logo. I didn't know we couldn't do that."

Blake, a first-round loser this year at Wimbledon and the French Open, was a bit perplexed at the crackdown while sponsor brands adorned most of the surrounding area at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

"I don't know why the ATP does some of the things it does, or if it is just the (International Tennis Federation)," Blake said. "A quarter-inch here, a quarter-inch there, they make all these rules.

"That's for them to deal with, the sponsors and everything. It's not my place to say."

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - It is unlikely that Serena Williams has ever been described as bashful.

When the 11-times grand slam champion was asked to take a look back at her U.S. Open career on Monday, she said her younger self would find the 2009 version of Serena as "super cool."

The world number two opened the defense of her title at Flushing Meadows with an easy 6-4 6-1 victory over another American, Alexa Glatch, on Monday and then quickly turned her thoughts to her memoir "On the line."

Williams said she wrote the book to help motivate people and inspire them to make the best of themselves and was asked what the 10-year-old Serena would think of the 27-year-old incarnation.

"I think that I would just think that this Serena Williams today is super cool - I would love to get her autograph," she said.

"I think she would have been my idol because growing up there weren't too many black people. I loved Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil. I would have had a little favoritism toward myself and Venus (Williams)."

The Wimbledon and Australian Open champion said the way the Williams sisters overcame childhood struggles to each become world number one should provide others with the inspiration to achieve their dreams.

"That's another reason I wrote it because I felt that what makes a champion isn't how well they do," she said. "It's about how well they can recover when they fall, or if they fall."

Serena slipped outside the top 100 in 2006 after a series of injuries, only to bounce back by winning the Australian Open in January 2007.

"I love Muhammad Ali, he went to jail for a period of time and he came back on top of the world," she said.

"I just thought (about) what it would be like. I was on top of the world and then things came crashing down. You get to see people who are really your friends and you get to see people that really stick by your side and how you can recover from that and stay strong.

"I just think anyone can do it. You just have to have a kind of guide sometimes to get there."

Serena Williams Throws Out The Ceremonial First Pitch




On Friday, August 28, defending U.S. Open singles champion Serena Williams threw out the ceremonial first pitch, working from the rubber and tossing the ball way over the head of catcher Jose Molina.

After throwing out the first pitch at the new Yankee Stadium in the Yankees vs. White Sox game, Serena headed out to the newly opened Porto Vivo in Huntington. There, Williams, her manager and her sister Isha had dinner with the restaurant’s co-owners Joy Mangano (of Home Shopping Network fame) and Philipp Seipelt, along with Seipelt's fiancee Christie Mangano.

So, what does a tennis great eat the week before the U.S. Open? Williams had steamed littleneck clams and grilled branzino, washed down with nothing more intoxicating than water. The wine cellar would have to wait.

Shown in the photo are (l-r) Joy Mangano, Serena Williams and Philipp Seipelt. Photo from Porto Vivo.

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While the top tour players rocked out with Will Ferrell and Jordin Sparks at the annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, a handful of US Open hopefuls were still fighting it out on the outer courts. This soggy Saturday marked the final round of qualifying, and thanks to rain delays carried over from Friday, it was a packed schedule.

Americans Shenay Perry and Donald Young and Frenchman Josselin Ouanna remained standing after it was all over. Wish it could have been more.

The matches broke down like this:

Shenay Perry, USA defeated Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-4

Donald Young, USA defeated Lukas Rosol, CZE 6-3, 6-4

Josselin Ouanna defeated Julio Silva 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

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The Opening Night Ceremony for the 2009 US Open will celebrate athletes who give back, featuring two-time US Open singles champion Andre Agassi and other notable athletes. ESPN2 will televise the celebration live, marking the cable network’s first primetime telecast from the US Open. ESPN was named the US Open’s lead cable telecaster in May 2008.

Opening Night Ceremonies have become a tradition at the US Open and have been held annually since 2002. Prior ceremonies include tributes to Arthur Ashe, Althea Gibson and Billie Jean King. The 2006 US Open began with a special ceremony renaming the facility as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and Agassi’s first round match followed the ceremony marking the eighth time in nine years that Agassi played on Opening Night at the US Open. In addition to the top names in tennis, Opening Night ceremonies have also featured top entertainers and performers including Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Queen Latifah, Diana Ross and Tony Bennett.

The 2009 US Open will be held from Monday, August 31 through Sunday, September 13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day presented by Hess, a full-day tennis and music festival for children and families, will kick off the US Open for the 14th consecutive year and will take place on Saturday, August 29.

The 2009 US Open will feature day sessions beginning at 11 a.m. and night sessions beginning at 7 p.m. from Monday, Aug. 31 through the quarterfinals on Thursday, Sept. 10. Finals Weekend will feature the Women’s Singles Semifinals on Friday, Sept. 11; the Men’s Singles Semifinals on Saturday, Sept. 12; the Women’s Singles Final in primetime at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12; and the Men’s Singles Final at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 13.

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