Black Tennis Pros

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Although his opponent in the final of the $50,000 USTA Men's Pro Tennis Championship of Calabasas was 11 years his senior and ranked 129spots higher on the ATP World Tour, it was 20-year-old Donald Young who played like a savvy veteran Sunday.

Relying on clutch serving and some timely passing shots, Young recorded the final six points to capture the first-set tiebreaker and rode the momentum to win the last five games of the match en route to a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over No. 100 Michael Russell of Houston at Calabasas Tennis and Swim Center.

It was Young's first singles title since winning a $50,000 Challenger event in Sacramento a year ago and his third as a professional, including a victory at the $75,000 Aptos Challenger in July 2007.

"I'm just happy to get one," said Young, an Atlanta resident and former world junior No. 1. "These are few and far between."

Young's performance also helped erase the disappointment of losing in the semifinals of last year's event to Sam Warburg, in addition to a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 setback to Robert Kendrick in the final of the 2007 tournament.

"It gives you a lot of confidence doing that," said Young, who defeated No. 112 Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-2 in the round of 16.

"For me, it's all about being consistent. I've started keeping more balls in play and playing a lot smarter. And I feel like if I'm moving well, I'm playing well."

After recording the match's first break to take a 3-2 lead, it appeared the left-handed Young would be able to serve out the first set. But Russell, who dropped only one set entering the final, broke back in the 10th game, then held to take a 6-5 lead.

Young also held to force the tiebreaker, but hit unforced errors after his first two serves to face a 3-0 deficit.

After Young, who trailed 4-1, hit a backhand winner on the line to tie the tiebreaker at 4-4, Russell hit a backhand into the net, followed by two forehand errors to relinquish the set.

"Donald obviously played great all week," said Russell, who reached the final of the first Calabasas event in 2001. "He handled the conditions much better than I did today."

Young, who rebounded from a first-set loss in his opening-round match against qualifier Louk Sorensen to win his final 10 sets, broke Russell twice in the second set to atone for a 6-4, 6-2 loss in February in Dallas.

"If you don't come with your `A' game against (Michael), you're going to lose," Young said. "It was a big key for me to win the first set, especially serving for it. (Trailing 4-1 in the tiebreaker) I wasn't going to give it up because I knew it would be even tougher to come back and win two sets."

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Even though both Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils have been having a pretty good go of it lately, Thursday morning presented all manner of issues for both of them at the Shanghai ATP Masters.

First up was Big Jo-Willie, whose forehand was an obstacle in and of itself. In falling to Swede Robin Soderling, Tsonga was all over the place. He couldn't seem to get his game organized in his head or on the court. I've rarely seen Tsonga so frustrated on court. He demolished one of his uncooperative racquets after an errant forehand. He may have killed that stupid racquet, but it didn't improve his game.

Soderling was playing much better and took advantage of the out of sorts Tsonga. He went on to defeat the number five seed 6-3, 6-3.

The same seemed to be true for fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils who went up against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic after the Tsonga vs. Soderling match. After losing the first set and continuing to play very poorly, down 6-3, 3-0, Monfils came to net, shook Ljubicic's hand, then retired.

I didn't catch the nature of the injury, but I'm sure we'll be hearing about it at some point today.

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I don't understand all of the negative hoopla surrounding this cover. I think the photos of all the athletes are very artistically done and represent 'the body' beautifully.

The cover of Serena shows a very athletically built, yet feminine Black woman who is proud of her frame - what's wrong with that?

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American James Blake had a brief glimpse at winning again when he took out Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 7-6⁴, 6-3 on Monday in the first round of the Shanghai ATP Masters, but the victory was short lived.

On Wednesday Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated Blake in three sets 6-2, 6-7⁴, 6-4. And the hits just keep on coming... perhaps not for good though. Blake is now working with former pro and longtime friend American Kelly Jones. Shockers!

After 17 years on the job, American Brian Barker can now contemplate doing something different with his days, as he is no longer coaching Blake. Nevertheless, Blake states that they continue to have a strong relationship and that this parting is on good terms.

"It's not like we're ending our relationship, we're still good friends, which will never change. Right now we both feel like I need to hear some things from a different voice. Kelly's been close to both of us for a long time, and he's a perfect fit for now. If things go well with him, every one's happy. Brian wants nothing but the best for me. If they don't, then I go back to Brian and we know there's a reason I'm back. It was just time to take a little break and see how it goes with someone else.''

Of the change Barker stated, "I told him that the most important thing in his tennis career is to have a clear head and peace of mind for the rest of your life that you did everything you possibly could to get better, maximize your potential and not leave anything on the table. He eventually agreed that was a good idea."

Barker anticipates that Blake will "... hear the same things in a different way. Sometimes when you're not playing your best, the thinking is that you stir the pot. You put your hat on backwards. There are no guarantees, but you need to look at every option."

After mounting more loss in Cincinnati in August, Blake also stated that he and Barker again discussed the possibilities of a change. "We were going through the same things over and over, and I was looking for answers that probably weren't there. It may not have had anything to do with the coaching. Going into the Open, we had both had come to the understanding that we were going to stop, but we didn't want to change anything during or before the Open, being so important. The comfort level between us is very good and will always be very good."

In response to a cry from various persons that he should get rid of Barker, Blake stated, "If they're talking about you that much, you must have earned that pressure that you've gotten. We never let it affect us. I didn't keep him just to spite people. I'm going to do what's best for me. Now I've hit a point where I need to try something a little different. Kelly's a great coach and people he worked with clearly improved when they worked with him.''

Well, we'll see how it goes, I truly hope that this is a change for the better.

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Tokyo (AP) -- Defending champion Dinara Safina and Venus Williams were knocked out of the second round by qualifiers at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Monday.

Chang Kai-chen, an 18-year-old from Taiwan, upset the top-ranked Safina 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5. Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova edged Williams 7-6 (6), 7-5 to reach the third round.

Safina was serving for the match in the third set when she double-faulted to give up a break. Chang, ranked 132nd and playing only the fourth time in a WTA main draw, held her serve and broke Safina again for victory.

“The double-fault didn't affect me that much,” Safina said. “Whether it's a double-fault or a mistake it's the same. It's just the way I played at 5-4. It wasn't the right game, I didn't use my first serve the whole game.”

A dejected Williams made a hasty exit from Ariake Colosseum, saying only she was looking forward to her next match in Beijing.

Williams took a 3-0 lead in the first set but the 18-year-old Pavlyuchenkova fought back, breaking Williams to tie it 5-5 before holding serve and winning the tiebreak.

Pavlyuchenkova hit a forehand down the line to go up 6-5 in the second set. She had a triple-match point in the 12th game and won when Williams' return was long.

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