Black Tennis Pros

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Top-seeded Gael Monfils of France breezed past Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-1, 6-4 Friday to reach the semifinals of the South African Open.

Monfils converted all three of his break points to complete the win in 56 minutes and set up a meeting with third-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who beat American Rajeev Ram 7-6(2), 6-3.

"I felt very good out there, I played a fast game and my form seems just perfect," said the 13th-ranked Monfils.

Second-seeded David Ferrer of Spain also advanced by beating India's Somdev Devvarman 6-1, 6-3 in 64 minutes.

"I did play very well," Ferrer said. "Last year I lost in the semifinals here but hopefully this time I can get to the final."

Ferrer will face No. 8 Stephane Robert of France, who beat Jamaica's Dustin Brown 7-6 (5), 6-3.

"It helps to have a big serve when you're playing at altitude which is the case here in Johannesburg, and I don't have the biggest of serves," Robert said. "So my strategy these past few days has been to work hard on perfecting my returns of serve and I've done that pretty good, beating three guys now with cannonball serves."

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American Shenay Perry has been replaced on the US Fed Cup Team. World No. 215 Christina Mchale has been called in for the replacement.

Perry, ranked 148th, is suffering from a wrist injury and US Captain Mary-Jo Fernandez decided to call up the 17-year-old Mchale.

Fernandez stated, "Due to Shenay's wrist injury, I felt it would be best to (choose) Christina. Christina has had a great week of practice."

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Top seed Gael Monfils defeated fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna 6-4, 7-5 on Thursday in Johannesburg to book his place in the quarter-finals at the SA Tennis Open, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.

Ouanna managed to save 13 of the 16 break point chances he faced on serve, but it still did not prove enough to prevent his more experienced countryman from closing out the victory in one hour and 21 minutes.

Afterwards, World No. 13 Monfils admitted he had to work for the win against the 88th-ranked Ouanna. “I think he knows me well, and it’s hard all the time when players know you well,” he said. “Also, I just didn’t get the big serve. It was a bit tough. I needed to be focused to get back the return. Also, sometimes he can hit very hard with his forehand, so today was definitely harder than the first game.”

Monfils made an impressive tournament debut Tuesday, taking just 53 minutes to dismiss Slovakian veteran Dominik Hrbaty. The 23 year old is attempting to keep the Johannesburg title in French possession, after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the SA Tennis Open last year.

He will look to reach an ATP World Tour semi-final for the second time this season when he next plays seventh seed Yen-Hsun Lu. Earlier in the evening, after a 90-minute rain delay, Lu knocked out South African wild card Raven Klaasen 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 56 minutes.

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As the highest-ranked player to ever emerge from Jamaica, 6’ 5” serve and volleyer Dustin Brown could feel entitled to a little more recognition in his sports-loving homeland. But in a country most famous for being home to the world’s fastest man, Brown accepts that, for now at least, he will fly below the radar.

“Five months ago I’d go to Jamaica and go through customs and it would be a hassle getting into my own country even though I am the No. 1 tennis player from the country,” he said. “If Usain Bolt comes, of course he’s a lot bigger than me, he probably doesn’t have to go through customs at all. Now that my ranking has gone to 140, 150 I have been getting a little more media attention in Jamaica; I have been on the TV once or twice on the news.”

Playing just his second tour-level event at this week’s SA Tennis Open in Johannesburg, 25-year-old Brown is one match win away from becoming the first player representing Jamaica to reach a semi-final of an ATP World Tour event. Doug Burke, whose best South African Airways ATP Ranking was No. 175, is the only other Jamaican player to reach a tour-level quarter-final, which he did at Wellington in 1989.

Watch Highlights of Brown's second-round win in Johannesburg



Tall, wiry and sporting dreadlocks, World No. 141 Brown commands attention on the court with his athletic, serve and volley game. And, ironically, the boy from the beach is making his breakout in Johannesburg at elevation, where his big serve pierces the rarefied air. Asked about his speed – a Jamaican trait – Brown replied: “Short distances from the net to the baseline I’m fine, but I don’t know if I would be doing 100m sprints against Usain. That wouldn’t look too good.”

Brown was born in Celle, Germany in 1984 to his Jamaican father Leroy and his German mother Inge and lived in the country until 1996, when he moved to Jamaica. After finishing high school Brown played Futures in Jamaica until 2004, when he moved back to Europe, driving himself to Futures and Challengers in a camper van bought for him by his parents. Brown said that his eight years in Jamaica had a significant impact on his personal and professional development.

“It was good to see a harder side of life. In Germany as a 10 or 11 year old you have a computer, a Gameboy, but in Jamaica…. It was good for me personally, mentally and also for my game to get a little tougher and not to whine about everything, which you tend to do if you get pampered all the time. In Jamaica there was not a lot of pampering.”

Before this week Brown’s lone main-draw ATP World Tour appearance came at Newport in July 2003, when he lost in three sets to five-time ATP World Tour Doubles Champion Bob Bryan.

Last year Brown broke through on the ATP Challenger circuit to compile a 29-16 match record, winning his first title at Samarkand, Uzbekistan in August while reaching four other finals -- Karlsruhe, Germany (as a qualifier), Almaty, Kazakhstan, and back-to-back events in November in Eckental and Aachen, Germany.

One year ago he was playing the Spain #4 Futures event (at which he reached the quarter-finals) and he was ranked No. 465. He finished last season a year-end best No. 144 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

In Friday's quarter-finals, Brown will meet eighth-seeded Frenchman Stephane Robert.

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The U.S. Fed Cup Team is in Lievin, France this week to open its 2010 season against the French team. U.S. Captain Mary Joe Fernandez is leading a team of Liezel Huber, Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Shenay Perry in what the team hopes will be the first victory on the way to the 2010 Fed Cup crown. During the days leading up to the competition on February 6-7, different team members will be blogging each day about practicing, their daily adventures, team bonding and more. After Huber started the week off, Perry follows in the second blog as she talks about the first team practice, the clay court and playing Charades. Check back each day to see who is writing next!


Shenay Perry - February 3, 2010

Hi Everyone! After Liezel's great leadoff blog yesterday, it is my turn today. The entire team has now arrived here in Lievin – we got here yesterday – and today was the first day of team practice, which I thought went pretty well. It was short this morning but we did do a few two-on-ones so it was a good, productive hit. I hit with both Melanie and Liezel and we did a few one-on-one circuit drills as well when one of us took a break.

This is the first time I have played Fed Cup since 2006 and my first with Mary Joe as captain but for me the team had already meshed before we even got here. This was the first day we have all been together but Bethanie and I both attended the same tennis academy as teenagers so we have been friends for a long time and I know both Melanie and Liezel pretty well. So I think it is going great so far with our team bonding.

Today was my first day out on the clay court at the stadium. It is indoors, which is a good thing since it poured rain yesterday and today. I think the surface is pretty similar to the one at Roland Garros. It plays a little quick, which I think will be good for us, and it had some good bounces for a clay court. As a whole, I feel all right on clay, I guess my results speak for themselves as I have played pretty decently on clay in my career. As long as I have the results, I feel comfortable!

I know the team has a tradition of playing Charades and/or Pictionary during Fed Cup week and I am a little nervous about it. I am just hoping someone will pick me for her team and if they do that I do not get booted for being too bad! I have heard there are plans in the works to play tonight for the first time so it looks like I will probably be forced into it. Wish me luck!

Shenay

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