Black Tennis Pros

Monfils and Lucky Loser Zemlja

WIMBLEDON - As the gusty conditions continued late into the evening on Wednesday, another gale was blowing in the form of Gael Monfils. The effervescent Frenchman recovered from a set down to dispatch lucky loser Grega Zemlja 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(7).

The match was sealed when the ninth seed hammered down an ace on match point but, unbeknown to Monfils, the ball ricocheted towards a line judge and rebounded off her head. The Frenchman was too busy celebrating his victory to notice the incident.

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Well, at least we know where Venus Williams will not be in the next couple of days - she will not be in the gym busting a gut. After spending nearly three hours huffing and puffing on Centre Court to get the better of Kimiko Date-Krumm, she has given herself a little time off.

"When you lose, that gives you extra time to go practice and work out in the gym. But I prefer not to have the extra time," she said with perfect comic timing (not that she was laughing as she said it). "I've had a ton of extra time to be in the gym in the last five months, then the three months before that, then the three months before that. So it's been too much gym time. I needed that win and I'm glad it worked out for me."

It was an odd assessment of what had been a stunning match. The 40-year-old Date-Krumm had given Venus the most almighty scare, nipping to a 5-1 lead and then refusing to lie down when Venus started to fight back. The tennis was remarkable, the atmosphere was electric and the result was up in the air until the last couple of points. The crowd loved it; Venus seemed marginally less enthusiastic about the whole affair. This had been just a little too close for comfort.

"As you can tell in the match, I was very serious about trying to get the win, even down 1‑5 in the first set," she said. "I really felt like if I held and broke, I would still be in there. Even down, I don't know, was it 2‑6 in the tiebreak, I was still trying to win that set. So I always thought I was going out there to win it.

"She runs down every ball. She hits every ball basically on the baseline, hard and flat. If you get it anywhere near the mid‑court, she hits for the corners and comes to the net. I thought she played unbelievable today. I thought she had some luck on her side, too, with net cords, balls hitting lines. I just thought today was a perfect storm for her to try to get a win. Thankfully I had some answers."

The perfect storm above (which was actually more like relentless drizzle) meant that the roof was closed for the duration of the match giving Venus her first taste of "indoor Wimbledon". This, it turned out, was not necessarily a good thing as the acoustics amplified her every yelp of disapproval as another ball went wide or long.

"The roof was a lot warmer and definitely you can hear some echoes," she said. "So when I was frustrated, you could definitely hear those screams echoing around the arena."

Those screams continued for much of the three sets but, no matter, Venus would not give in. Since leaving SW19 last year, she had only played three tournaments thanks to injury and now, at last fit again, she was not going to be dumped out of her favourite tournament without a fight.

"I thought my movement was really good and I was competing really well," she said. "Because, let me tell you, she was really competing well. On big points, she was hitting all kind of shots on the line. So when you play an opponent like that, you just have to kind of get into that competitive mode and compete no matter what happens.

"I've been extremely positive regardless of how my opponent's playing ‑ not only here but also in Eastbourne. Just no matter what the score, very positive. Just keeping fighting. I think that's going to be crucial, not only for me but for anyone in this championship to stay positive and keep fighting."

And the longer she fights, the less time she has to spend in the gym. From here, that definitely looks like a win-win for the No.23 seed.

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Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm

LONDON, June 22 -- Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams needed to fight for nearly three hours to edge out the 40- year-old Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in the women's second round at the 125th Wimbledon Champoinships on Wednesday.

The 23rd seeded Williams met strong challenge from Date-Krumm, who once reached the semifinals at the grass-court Grand Slam 15 years ago, but the American showed her quality as a great champion, eliminating the tough opponent 6-7(8), 6-3 and 8-6.

"It took me a while to adjust in the first set," said Williams, who lost the tiebreak 6-8 in the opening set although she managed to come back from 1-5 down.

"She runs down every ball. She hits every ball basically on the baseline, hard and flat," the seven-time Grand Slam champion talked about Date-Krumm.

"If you get it anywhere near the mid-court, she hits for the corners and comes to the net."

Date-Krumm, once ranked fourth in the world and retired for 12 years before returning to the tour in 2008, admitted that she was very disappointed as she was so close to a daunting win. "But most important, I played my tennis and then I can fight with Venus. She 's a five-time champion here. She's a great player. I can fight with her, so it's a very good match for me."

Williams, absent from the tour for half a year due to injury since Australian Open, will play Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the third round.

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Serena Williams, USA (7) defeated Aravane Rezai, FRA


"I'm not a crier," said Serena Williams.

 "I didn't expect to have any emotions," she said. "But it was definitely so emotional for me because, you know, throughout the last 12 months I've been through a lot of things that you guys don't even know about. It's just been a long, arduous road. To stand up still is pretty awesome.

"This was probably the most emotional I've gotten after a match. I think my first time, maybe, was when I won the US Open way back in '99. I think I got a little emotional then. But this was Centre Court; defending champion and it's Wimbledon. It doesn't get bigger than this."

"I don't think I played well," she said. "I could have done a lot of things. I had a lot of unforced errors. But it was all about going out there and doing what I could under a lot of pressure."




Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA (12)  defeated Go Soeda, JPN





James Blake, USA defeated by Marcos Baghdatis, CYP (32)


Asked if he thought this loss signaled the consideration of retirement, Blake responded, "That's going to be a decision that's going to take longer than one match, and I wouldn't want to make it within an hour, two hours, or even a day of a loss, especially because your head isn't where it's supposed to be at that time."

"I've lost over the years, probably, about a couple of hundred matches, and I'd say out of 200, about 198 of them I probably thought I should retire right after those losses.  But I'd come back the next day ready to play and ready to get better. I'm thinking this one will be the same."



Stephanie Foretz Gacon, FRA defeated by Andrea Petkovic, GER (11)





Heather Watson, GBR vs. Mathilde Johansson, FRA
Match postponed until Wednesday - Day 3

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SCHEDULED:

Serena Williams, USA (7) vs. Aravane Rezai, FRA

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA (12)  vs. Go Soeda, JPN

James Blake, USA vs. Marcos Baghdatis, CYP (32)

Heather Watson, GBR vs. Mathilde Johansson, FRA

Stephanie Foretz Gacon, FRA vs. Andrea Petkovic, GER (11)

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LONDON: French star Gael Monfils reached the Wimbledon second round on Monday and dedicated his victory to a cancer-stricken friend who has slipped into a coma.

Ninth seed Monfils said he found it hard to concentrate on his opening match, which resulted in a 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 win over Germany's Matthias Bachinger, after his friend and former physio Philippe Manicom was placed in an artificial coma.

"I did the job without playing a great match because I had too much to think about," said Monfils.

"My former physio Philippe Manicom has cancer. I was one of the last people he spoke to before he was put in a coma as he was suffering so much. It's not easy for me." 

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Venus Williams may have only played two tournaments this year but she was quickly into her stride in her bid for a sixth Wimbledon title, producing astonishing tennis to see off Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3, 6-1.

Williams, who turned 31 on Friday, took exactly an hour to sweep aside the unseeded Uzbek, who simply had no answer for the American's powerful baseline game. Apart from Eastbourne last week, Williams had not played a tournament since the Australian Open at the start of the year. There she was forced to retire in the third round with a right hip injury against Andrea Petkovic.

The lack of action had led her to tumble down the rankings and arrive at Wimbledon as the 23rd seed, an unusual position for one of the two sisters who have dominated the Championships over the past decade and more.

But despite that less than perfect preparation, Williams remains among the favourites for the ladies' singles crown and, as she opened the tournament on No.2 Court, it was clear to see the American was enjoying every moment of being back in the Wimbledon limelight. Her opening service game to love was perhaps an early indicator of the way the match would pan out and she could not help but smile as she quickly found her feet on the lawn she loves so much.

As usual there was equal interest in what one of the sport's enduring superstars was wearing and Venus - always with one eye on entertaining the fashionistas in the Wimbledon crowd - did not disappoint, with a rather unique, chic chiffon playsuit.

The outfit's delicate appearance was the polar opposite of her game as she employed her trademark aggressive play, drilling winners down the line and cross court. Serves were hammered down at 117mph. There was certainly no sign of the abdominal injury that forced Williams sister to miss 2011 Roland Garros - the first major she had been absent from since the 2007 Australian Open.

Williams reached the quarter-finals of Eastbourne last week, where she lost to Daniela Hantuchova and that timely run of grass court matches had clearly helped her on her way to the sparkling tennis she can so readily produce once she strides on to the lawns of the All England Club.

Williams brushed aside her opponent - ranked 97 in the world - with ease and the spectacular serving she employed at the start of the set continued throughout the match. By the ninth game, two aces and another 117mph serve helped her pocket the first set in 35 minutes.

This form continued in the second and while her opponent had been working hard to stay in the rallies early on, her game slowly began to fall apart. Williams made only five unforced errors throughout the entire match, hit 23 winners and fired down seven aces.

But is it possible for a competitor to win the tournament despite deing seeded as low as 23rd? Williams should know: she arrived at the 2007 Championships with the same seeding after another injury-affected year and finished as the champion. For some true competitors, it's not where you start that matters, it's where you finish.

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