Black Tennis Pros

The singer will be featured in “Alicia Keys Live! One Night…One Voice… One Life at a Time…” an 8 p.m. ET performance tonight at the Nokia Theater in New York. The show will be recorded and streamed live on Keys official YouTube channel.

In recognition of World AIDS Day (today), Alicia Keys and American Express are bringing fans together for a special charity concert, so fans across the globe can also participate and donate to Keep A Child Alive, of which Keys is co-founder and global ambassador. American Express cardmembers and lucky contest winners from AliciaKeys.com, Facebook and radio will be attending this exclusive live performance where Alicia will share insight into her charitable work and perform some of her greatest hits as well as songs from her new album “The Element of Freedom,” set for a December 15 release.

All ticket proceeds will go to the organization, and you can do the same by visiting www.keepachildalive.com or by texting “ALIVE” to 90999 to give $5.

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5 things you can do to Respect & Protect

1. Find out the facts about HIV and talk to your friends, family and colleagues about HIV - make sure they know the reality, not the myths.
2. Know your HIV status: get tested if you have put yourself at risk.
3. Talk to all new sexual partners about using condoms. Using a condom during sex (especially vaginal or anal sex) is the best way to protect yourself and your partner from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
4. If someone tells you the are HIV positive, treat them with respect and don't tell others without their agreement.
   
5. Wear a red ribbon as a symbol of your support for everyone affected by HIV, and to raise awareness.
   

What Does Respect And Protect Mean?

"Respecting yourself and those around you by protecting yourself, both by using condoms and by educating yourself about the dangers of HIV."

"For me confidentiality is top of the list when I think of Respect & Protect. And it is important we respect each other and protect one another."

"Respect people whether they are HIV positive or not. And protect yourself from catching an avoidable disease."

If the man respects me they will be happy to protect themselves and me.

If one has respect for their body, they will respect others and protect themselves and other people from HIV.

It brings us knowledge about the realities of HIV - protecting ourselves and other people are paramount.

To me it means respecting other people who I might have sexual contact with, as well as protecting myself and others from transmitting HIV.

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"I am thankful that we now have closure on the incident, and we can all move forward," Williams said in statement released by her Los Angeles-based publicist. "I am back in training in preparation for next season, and I continue to be grateful for all of the support from my fans and the tennis community."

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Let the truth be spoken up front; American sisters Venus and Serena Williams have conducted themselves over the lifespan of their tennis careers in an exemplary manner and there are others who could learn a lot from them. That said, sure, Serena has always been the highly emotional fiery player that causes the fans to raise the roof in the stadiums - all within the confines of the sport and nothing contrary to it.

Serena Williams' choice to lash out at the linesperson in the manner that she did at the 2009 U.S. Open was without question an aberration in the behavior that she typically displays during matches. Poor judgement in the heat of the match? Unquestionably. A continuance of longstanding bad behavior? Absolutely not!

On its own merit, the decision of the International Tennis Federation to fine American Serena Williams a record $82,500 for the incident is certainly not as extreme as it could have been and let's face it, the payout won't even make a slight dent in her stash.

The funky portion of this decision comes with the probation and and the potential for Serena to be suspended if she has another "major offense" at any Grand Slam in the next two years. WHAT A LOAD OF BULL!!

Holding Serena to a standard FAR different than other players, male or female, is just beyond the pale. If the ITF wants to set a new standard and then hold all players feet to the fire, fine; but to take an isolated incident and now set Serena up as the gold standard in bad behavior and place punitive sanctions on her that establish new lows in parity is absolutely ridiculous.

Serena has been placed on a probation over the four major championships that occur in 2010-1011. If she has another "major offense" at a Grand Slam tournament in that time, the $82,500 fine would increase to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open.

"But if she does not have another offense in the next two years, the suspension is lifted," says Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock. Oh how sweet.

He stated that "Williams violated the "major offense" rule for "aggravated behavior." The Grand Slam committee - with one representative from each of the sport's four major championships - approved his decision Saturday.

Babcock said a "major offense" under Grand Slam rules is "any conduct that is determined to be the 'major offense' of 'aggravated behavior' or 'conduct detrimental to the game.'" There is no specific definition of what sort of actions constitute a "major offense."

He said the highest possible fine that Williams could face - $175,000, if she violates her Grand Slam probation - was chosen because it is the difference in winnings between reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals at the U.S. Open. The $10,000 Williams already was docked by the USTA will be counted toward that total; that's why she is paying half of $165,000 now.

Call it what you will, view it in your own light and subject this decision to your own scrutiny - there's one thing that's for certain, this decision would take on a totally different color if this were a white male player. The history of the game bares all of the truth of that statement.

What's good for one should be good for all - this sucks...

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Media Contact:

Jasmyne Cannick

(323) 839-0216

LOS ANGELES – Hundreds of local youth ages 12-17 came out and celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Academy Saturday, Nov. 14. The celebration took place at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Courts located at the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex in Los Angeles and included an exhibition of their students.

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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In an epic three-setter at the 2009 BNP Paribas Masters tournament in Paris, France on Sunday, No. 15 seed Gaël Monfils was outlasted by the the No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3) in a match that thrilled the crowd for two and three-quarter hours.

Local hero Monfils confounded the pundits who presumed that Djokovic would make mincemeat of him as the Serb had done to the mighty Rafael Nadal 24 hours earlier. With adrenaline coursing through his veins and the roars of a 13,000-strong partisan crowd behind him, Monfils made light of the fatigue he was feeling after a protracted semi-final and battled all the way to a third set tie-break, treating his supporters to a roller-coaster ride along the way.

The first set was all Djokovic, as the 6-2 scoreline would suggest. He won his first seven points on service and lost only three all set, while his returns sent Monfils scurrying from side to side in a vain attempt to keep pace. The writing appeared to be on the wall when the Serb raced into a 3-0 lead in the second, but then the rigours of over 90 matches this season caught up with him, mentally more than physically. Monfils saw a chink of light and crept through, aided by Djokovic’s sudden propensity for coming to the net and then fluffing his volleys. 3-0 became 3-3, and just as a tie-break seemed on the cards, the Frenchman upped the intensity on his returns and broke to lead 6-5. An ace in the next game sent the crowd into paroxysms of ecstasy and the match was level at one set all.

Djokovic again broke to open the decider, and though Monfils responded immediately the Serb broke again and finally got some daylight between himself and his 23-year-old opponent at 4-1. Despite a sudden rash of double-faults – four in the space of six points – Monfils hauled himself back into the match and when Djokovic suddenly lost his radar in terms of length, the match was back level at 4-4.

A tie-break was the only way to decide what had been a fitting culmination to an incredible tournament, and the fans were indeed treated to the equivalent of a penalty shoot-out. Monfils was asked to summon up one last valiant effort, but it was not to be, and while his double-fault on match point may haunt him over the coming weeks, it will soon be expunged from the memories of those who witnessed his performance in the final and indeed throughout the week.

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Along with Canadian teammate Sharon Fichman, American Mashona Washington won the doubles title at the $50,000 Goldwater Classic in Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday after defeating the doubles team of Canadian Marie-Eve Pelletier and Georgian Anna Tatishvili 4-6, 6-4, [10/8].

Congrats Mashona!!!

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