Black Tennis Pros

The USTA and First Lady Michelle Obama’s "Let’s Move!" campaign have teamed up to encourage young people across the country to get active, try tennis and lead healthy lifestyles. Components of the collaboration include a new public service announcement to air nationwide, the construction and renovation of thousands of tennis courts across the country and the commitment to encourage 200,000 children to participate in the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.

"It’s important for kids to get the hour of active play they need every day, and there are so many fun things that each of us can do to be healthier," said First Lady Michelle Obama. "Thanks to programs like the USTA’s 10 and Under Tennis initiative, it’s easier than ever for kids to get active and have fun. And that’s a big part of what we’re doing with Let’s Move!, America’s campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids.

"Tennis is the sport of opportunity. With our new 10 and Under initiative, tennis is also the newest ‘pick-up sport,’ where kids can play in schools, in parks, at clubs and even at home," said Jon Vegosen, USTA Chairman of the Board and President. "Our new collaboration with the First Lady and ‘Let’s Move!’ will help us reach more families to teach them that tennis is easier to learn and access than ever before."

Working with the Office of the First Lady, the USTA is launching a public service announcement to promote tennis as part of the 60 minutes of play a day kids need. The PSA features First Lady Michelle Obama, Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf, all of whom play the role of ballpersons for youngsters playing tennis on courts and with equipment correctly sized for them. Ensuring that children compete with properly sized equipment and on smaller courts is a key component of the USTA’s new 10 and Under Tennis initiative designed to make tennis easier, more accessible and more fun. 10 and Under Tennis is real tennis brought to scale for the sport’s youngest participants, with slower-moving and lower-bouncing balls, lighter and smaller racquets and shorter courts.

The USTA plans to create both a 60-second and a 30-second version of this PSA. Initial plans call for the PSA to be used in tennis programming on CBS Sports, ESPN and Tennis Channel. The PSA will go into broader rotation during the summer months leading up to the US Open, which takes place from August 29 through September 11.

Additionally, the USTA, through its facilities assistance arm, is committed to constructing and renovating 3,000 tennis courts across the country in 2011. As part of this program, all courts that are built or renovated will be lined to enable use in the QuickStart Tennis play format. As part of a public-private partnership, the USTA will build the courts in places where local officials, public parks and schools commit to building tennis into their core programming for kids. The USTA has created a website – USTA.com/facilities – for those groups interested in applying for court construction or renovation and learning more about this major initiative. For more information on 10 & Under Tennis, visit 10andundertennis.com.

In another component of the collaboration, the USTA will use its national resources and programs to encourage 200,000 kids to take the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA), which encourages young Americans to be active 60 minutes a day, five days a week for six weeks in an eight-week period. PALA’s national goal is to get one million youngsters to take this challenge. The USTA plans to activate its National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network, which has 602 chapters impacting more than 250,000 kids, to meet this goal.

"Tennis Night in America" featuring the "BNP Paribas Showdown" on February 28 will serve as the kick-off event for the 2011 tennis season across the country. More than 600 tennis facilities will be participating in the USTA’s third annual National Youth Registration initiative, a month-long event. Tennis Night in America will serve as "opening day" for facilities to sign up children for spring and summer programs, with youth registration events around the country encouraging parents to get involved by volunteering and for everyone to learn more about tennis.

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As she recuperates at home, Serena has not forgotten about all those who have made their concern for her known. Today she posted the following message on her website, Serena Williams:

Hey Loves!

I am overwhelmed, and teary eyed by all the love and support from everyone. I am so blessed to have caring love from everyone. I love each and everyone of you! I am getting better each day. And I will continue to go forward with healing.

Thanks for the support , Prayers, and love.

I love you

Xxx

Serena

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Los Angeles - Tennis star Serena Williams is recuperating at home after suffering an embolism and an additional 'unexpected scare' with a hematoma, according to a spokeswoman. Williams says, 'This has been extremely hard, scary, and disappointing.'

The return to the Grand Slam stage by Serena Williams, who hasn't played in a tennis tournament since winning her fourth Wimbledon last July, will take much longer now after the 29-year-old star underwent emergency medical treatment in Los Angeles this week, less than 10 days after doctors had hospitalized her for a blood clot in her lungs.

It was not immediately known what triggered Monday's treatment of a hematoma -- an area of bleeding -- at Cedars-Sinai, something first reported Wednesday morning by People magazine. She is now recuperating at home.

Late Wednesday, however, it was learned that Williams also had been hospitalized 10 days ago for a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot.

"She was first hospitalized for two days, Feb. 19 and 20," Jill Smoller, Williams' longtime publicist, told The Times. "She'd just gotten to Los Angeles." Williams owns homes in Florida and Los Angeles.

That hospital stay coincided with a tweet by Williams on Feb. 19 in which she said, "My day could not get any worse."

Williams' career, which includes 13 Grand Slam titles, is now on hold indefinitely.

Last week, she told the New York Post that she expected to return to the game in time for the French Open in May. Now she has to hope she can be well enough in time for Wimbledon, which begins June 20.

A statement released Wednesday afternoon by a Williams spokesperson said, "Serena did indeed suffer from a pulmonary embolism last week, and the hematoma was another unexpected scare. Thankfully everything was caught in time. With continued doctor visits to monitor her situation, she is recuperating at home under strict medical supervision.

"Says Serena, 'Thank you everyone for all of your prayers, concerns, and support. This has been extremely hard, scary, and disappointing. I am doing better, I'm at home now and working with my doctors to keep everything under control. I know I will be OK, but am praying and hoping this will all be behind me soon. While I can't make any promises now on my return, I hope to be back by early summer. That said, my main goal is to make sure I get there safely.'"

Williams has been out of action since shortly after Wimbledon when she cut tendons in her right foot in an accident that she said was caused by stepping on broken glass at a restaurant. That required two foot surgeries and until last week she wore a walking boot to restrict movement.

In fact, it was only late last week that Williams was told she would no longer need the boot. On Sunday she wore high heels to Oscar parties.

It is possible that clotting around her foot injury contributed to the embolism, said Dr. Ralph Brindis, president of the American College of Cardiology.

A pulmonary embolism usually originates in a vein in the leg, breaks loose and travels to the lung. Typically, a person develops a pulmonary embolism when he or she has risk factors -- these can include pregnancy, use of oral contraceptives, smoking, clotting disorders or obesity -- and then remains sedentary for a period of time, allowing blood to stagnate in the leg and form a clot. People who take long airplane trips are at particular risk.

Typically, doctors administer anticoagulant drugs such as Coumadin to prevent additional clotting. Williams may be on such medications for several months, doctors said.

In some cases, large emboli are also initially treated with clot-dissolving agents. Brindis said that such agents can cause bleeding, which could explain the hematoma.

Dr. Mark Adelman, chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at New York University's Langone Medical Center, said that Williams' lungs should heal completely. He estimated that for anywhere from six to 12 weeks her doctors would not want her to play tennis at all. After that, Williams might be able to play at a high level, but because the anticoagulants will put her at additional risk of bruises and bleeding, she'll want to avoid getting hit hard during play.

We will be in prayer for Serena and wish her a speedy recovery.

(Read full article at L.A. Times)

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Sorry for the delay in current posts. After being away from the site for so long, there is a lot of background housekeeping that needs to be done and I'm working on it now.

At the same time, I am responding to the emails that I have received and will get to each of them as soon as possible. Thank you for taking the time to write and for continuing to visit Black Tennis Pro's.

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Venus Williams, the No.4 seed, was forced to retire from her first-ever Grand Slam singles match, calling time on her third round encounter against Andrea Petkovic after just six minutes.

Williams, who injured her pelvic muscle during her gruelling three-set match against Sandra Zahlavova, began serving in the second night match on Rod Laver Arena, but was soon broken by a determined-looking Petkovic, winning just one point. And, having stretched and failed for a Petkovic passing shot, the multi-Grand Slam champion hobbled to her chair after the seventh point. Head in her hands, and consulting the trainer, she made the decision to retire from a Grand Slam singles match for the first time since 1994.

"I just obviously couldn't play. I mean, just couldn't move. Just too painful," said Williams. "The last 48 hours I did as much pain management and recovery that I could. I just hit some balls at 6:00 just kind of standing still. Just kind of warming up standing still and trying to give my best for the match.

You know, a lot times when you play, too, you get this adrenaline that blocks pain. But I just didn't get enough of that today".
"It's super disappointing because this is just not how I envisioned my Australian Open being. I've never had to retire from a Grand Slam especially after working so hard to pull out the match the other day. Just hoping for some magic that I could recover. I just wanted to give 100%. I mean when I think of myself and my career I don't make any excuses ever to myself or anyone. For me, it was just important to give 100%. I think I learn from experiences like this. If I'm not ready to play or if I'm still hurting maybe it's better to stop. That's just learning from life. I've learned now more or less what my limits are. Just learn from that the next time."

"When I come back to play next time, I'll be a 100%. So I won't be back until whenever that is. Hopefully, who knows, maybe it'll be for Fed Cup."

"I'm still pretty good, even when I'm injured. I mean, at the Open I came pretty close to winning that tournament just on a hope and a prayer and little to no preparation. Here, you know I was grinding. So I'm just going to focus obviously on getting healthy and coming back. Because I love tennis and I've got a lot of great tennis in me. I love my job, so no end in sight."

German Petkovic advances to meet Maria Sharapova in the fourth round.

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While I was away from the office my favorite former Jamaican tennis player, Dustin Brown, returned to the place of his birth, Germany, the country that he will now represent on the ATP World Tour.

As I was posting the Australian Open 2011 draw, I was totally surprised when I saw "GER" attached to Dustin's name. While surprised at the news, given Dustin's tennis history in Jamaica, an alternative had to be on the horizon.

In 2008 I posted my "Conversations: Dustin Brown" article, at which time he shared the following:

Dustin: In Germany at the age of 5, we lived beside a tennis club, and the coach there was also Jamaican and a friend of my parents.

Dustin: No, I don't receive any sponsorship from Jamaican sources.

Apparently things had not improved over the last couple of years. Dustin played his first tournament under the German flag in November 2010.

Hopefully Dustin will receive much better support in Germany, and is able to advance his tennis career accordingly. I'll try to catch up with him and get an update.

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After some very complicated early rounds, both Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils of France and the lone American female Venus Williams, have all advanced to the third round of the 2011 Australian Open.

Seven-time grand slam winner Venus Williams literally survived the onset of an injury during her second round match against Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic. After losing the first set and in obvious severe pain that caused her to scream several times, Venus continued with the second and third sets of the match digging deep into her mental and physical tennis reservoirs to not only survive, but to actually eventually thrive and win the match 6⁶-7⁸, 6-0, 6-4. It was definitely a nail biter to watch.

Post match Venus stated, "I wasn't very happy, to say the least ... I mean, with an injury like that, you just don't know what to expect. I think what keeps me going is knowing that when I'm healthy I play really, really well and knowing that I have so much good tennis in my body keeps me motivated."

The two Frenchman had to take five to win their first round matches. Tsonga and Monfils both lost the first two sets of their first round matches, and though they had to battle it out to prevail in the remaining three sets, both gentlemen rose to the occasion.

Tsonga and Monfils opted for a lot less drama in their second round matches against Italy's Andreas Seppi and Portugal's Frederico Gil. Tsonga greatly shortened his match time and defeated Seppi in close straight sets, 6-3, 7⁷-6¹, 7⁷-6⁵. Monfils shortened his match by one set to defeat Gil in four, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.

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ROUND 1

Women's Singles

(4)Venus Williams, USA defeated Sara Errani, ITA
6-3, 6-2

Doubles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigal Spears, USA
defeated
Polona Hercog, SLO and Petra Martic, CRO
6-3, 7⁷-6⁵


Men's Singles

(12)Gael Monfils, FRA defeated Thiemo de Bakker, NED
6⁵-7⁷, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1

(13)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated Philipp Petzschner, GER
4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Dustin Brown, GER defeated by (25)Albert Montanes, ESP
4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 5-7

(Q)Donald Young, USA defeated by (15)Marin Cilic, CRO
3-6, 2-6, 1-6

Doubles

Dustin Brown, GER and Rogier Wassen, NED
defeated
Dmitry Tursunov, RUS and Mischa Zverev, GER
6-2, 6-3


Eliminated during qualifying:

Sloane Stephens, USA
Stephanie Foretz Gacon, FRA
Josselin Ouanna, FRA


ROUND 2

Women's Singles

(4)Venus Williams, USA defeated Sandra Zahlavova, CZE
6⁶-7⁸, 6-0, 6-4

Doubles

Raquel Kops-Jones, USA and Abigail Spears, USA
vs.
(10)Monica Niculescu, ROU and (10)Zi Yan, CHN


Men's Singles

(12)Gael Monfils, FRA defeated Frederico Gil, POR
6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2

(13)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated Andreas Seppi, ITA
6-3, 7⁷-6¹, 7⁷-6⁵

Doubles

Dustin Brown, GER and Rogier Wassen, NED
vs.
Colin Ebelthite, AUS and Adam Feeney AUS


ROUND 3

Women's Singles

(4)Venus Williams, USA defeated by (30)Andrea Petkovic, GER
0-1 Retired


Men's Singles

(12)Gael Monfils, FRA defeated by (19)Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI
6⁴-7⁷, 2-6, 3-6

(13)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA defeated by Alexandr Dolgopolov, UKR
6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 1-6


ROUND 1

Singles

(WC)Jennifer Elie, USA defeated Lenka Wienerova SVK
6-2, 6-4

Ahsha Rolle, USA defeated Jan Abaza, USA
6-1, 6-2

Doubles

(3)Ahsha Rolle, USA and Mashona Washington, USA
vs.
Amanda Fink, USA and Elizabeth Lumpkin, USA

(2)Megan Moulton-Levy, USA and Courtney Nagle, USA
defeated by
Story Tweedie-Yates, USA and Natasa Zoric, SRB
6-4, 3-6, [8-10]


Eliminated during qualifying:

Mashona Washington, USA
Alexandra Stevenson, USA


ROUND 2

Singles

Jennifer Elie, USA vs. Galina Voskoboeva, KAZ

Ahsha Rolle, USA vs. Alexandra Cadantu, ROU


ROUND 1

Singles

(Q)Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert, FRA
6-4, 6-3

(5)Nicholas Monroe, USA defeated (Q)Haydn Lewis, BAR
7-6(6), 6-2

(Q)Devin Mullings, BAH defeated by (LL)Lucas Renard, SWE
3-6, 7(4)-6, 3-6

Doubles

Marvin Rolle, BAH and Haydn Lewis, BAR
defeated
(1)P Herbert, FRA and Stefano Ianni, FRA
6-4, 3-6 [10-8]

(3)Phillip Simmonds, USA and Daniel Yoo, KOR
defeated
Marcos Giron, USA and Alexios Halebian, USA
6-3, 6-7(4) [10-3]


QUARTERFINAL ROUND

Doubles

Marvin Rolle, BAH and Haydn Lewis, BAR
defeated
Suk-Young Jeong, KOR and Ji Sung Nam, KOR
6-3, 7-5

(3)Phillip Simmonds, USA and Daniel Yoo, KOR
defeated
(WC)Diego Ayala, USA and Andrew Lake, USA
6-2, 6-3


SEMIFINAL ROUND

Marvin Rolle, BAH and Haydn Lewis, BAR
vs.
Phillip Simmonds, USA and Daniel Yoo, KOR

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