Black Tennis Pros

After fighting her way into the main draw of the U.S. Open via qualifying, American Shenay Perry was unceremoniously bounced by Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko in round two.

Bondarenko seems to be building momentum by first eliminating Serbian Ana Ivanovic in round one, and now Perry. She defeated Perry 6-1, 6-1 - ouch!

Perry had a straight sets win over Monica Niculescu of Romania in round one 6-4, 6-2.

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Well, while Thursday's round two match between American James Blake and Belgium's Olivier Rochus at the 2009 U.S. Open was nowhere near any of the epic precision shot-making spectacles that Blake has previously been a part of, he got the job done nonetheless.

Blake is still looking unsure of himself and as if he has forgotten how to play his best tennis; at the same time, he does seem to be building a bit more confidence and somehow, someway, found a way to defeat a very determined Rochus in four sets 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.

As a hardcore Blake supporter, I of course have every hope that this is only the beginning of what we will see him build at this Open. On the other hand, he has become as unpredictable as southern weather. Only time will tell.

Post match Blake spoke with the press and talked about his exuberant reaction after his win stating, "There are not many better feelings in the world. You showing your emotions and 15,000 people feeding off of it. It really can't be much better."

He continued, "We're all happy when the other Americans are doing well. To compare us to, or expect the same as what happened in years past, I think it's been done a million times, and I've always said I think it's a little unfair."

Whatever happens, I would simply like to see Blake dig deep and put up a fighting spirit. I personally believe that he still has the goods, whether he chooses to use them is the dilemma.

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NEW YORK — Serena Williams offered a new, tongue-in-cheek explanation for why she plays so much better at Grand Slam tournaments than other events.

"Maybe it pays more," she said with a smile. "I guess I'm trying to pay off my mortgage."

Defending champion Williams joined her sister in the U.S. Open's third round with a dominating victory Wednesday night, playing pretty close to perfect while beating 51st-ranked Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour.

Williams is seeking her fourth U.S. Open championship and 12th Grand Slam singles title overall. She's won three of the past four major tournaments — but she hasn't won a single nonmajor tournament in that span.

The American is trying to become the first woman to win consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since her older sister Venus in 2000-01.

The siblings could play each other in the semifinals. Venus Williams wore heavy bandages above and below her left knee while winning earlier Wednesday, eliminating Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States 6-4, 6-2.

The younger Williams played Czink at a hard-court tournament in California in July, and things were much more competitive until Williams eventually prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (7).

Why was Wednesday's encounter so different?

"I definitely made adjustments," Williams said. "I knew her game better today."

Truth be told, Czink simply couldn't handle Williams' power, like a baseball hitter whose swing is too slow to get around on a fastball and keeps fouling off pitches.

That was illustrated on consecutive points early in the second set: First, one ball flew wildly off Czink's racket and soared wide and high, so off-track and so hard that it smacked the scorekeeping gizmo off the chair umpire's stand. Next, another ball went directly sideways, nearly into the noggin of a line judge.

Williams finished with an impressive ratio of 25 winners to only nine unforced errors.

About the only glitch for Williams came midway through the first set, when she thought she had pounded an ace. Instead, the serve was waved off by a line judge, who called a foot-fault.

Williams turned and glared, setting her hands on her hips. She just stood there with a straight face for a few seconds, staring down the official. When play resumed, Williams pushed a forehand into the net, then again sent a serious look in his direction.

And on the following point, Williams smacked an ace at 115 mph and looked over once more, as though to say, "Was my foot in the right place that time?!"

"I was kind of frustrated because I hit a great serve, best serve I hit in months. Yeah, I was just like, 'Ugh!'" Williams said.

Asked about the staredown, she said: "They do play that song, 'Straight out of Compton' when I walk out."

The Williams sisters won their opening doubles match 6-2, 6-2 over Julia Goerges and Arantxa Parra Santonja, answering the questions about whether Venus would play in that event because of her sore knee.

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One of the biggest stars in tennis, Serena Williams has captured every major title. Her 2009 Australia Open championship earned her the #1 world ranking for the third time in her illustrious career - and marked only the latest exclamation point on a life well and purposefully lived.

As a young girl, Serena began training with an adult-sized racquet that was almost as big as her. Rather than dropping the racquet, Serena saw it as a challenge to overcome-and she has confronted every obstacle on her path to success with the same unflagging spirit.

From growing up in the tough, hardscrabble neighborhood of Compton, California, to being trained by her father on public tennis courts littered with broken glass and drug paraphernalia, to becoming the top women's player in the world, Serena has proven to be an inspiration to her legions of fans both young and old. Her accomplishments have not been without struggle: being derailed by injury, devastated by the tragic shooting of her older sister, and criticized for her unorthodox approach to tennis.

Yet somehow, Serena always manages to prevail. Both on the court and off, she's applied the strength and determination that helped her to become a champion to successful pursuits in philanthropy, fashion, television and film. In this compelling and poignant memoir, Serena takes an empowering look at her extraordinary life and what is still to come.

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Day 3 of the 2009 U.S. Open saw Frenchman Gael Monfils in his usual and very enjoyable acrobatic style easily dismiss fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.

After being hampered by a number of injurys post the Australian Open, Monfils says that he is feeling much stronger coming into this tournament.

“Completely much better, but I think I still have a little problem with my knee and I have to make sure,” Monfils said. “ My wrist is getting better, so I’m quite good. But 100%? Not really.”

”I like to give a good show and they like to see a good show,” Monfils said. “So it’s a good atmosphere.”

Whatever the case, we always want to see more of this high flying Frenchman.

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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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