Black Tennis Pros

Too much too soon?

"I'm going to have to figure that out," responded Serena with regard to whether she is overplaying. "Nothing against Cincinnati or Toronto or the Stanfords that I've played, but everyone is preparing for the U.S. Open. I have to be smart and make sure it's not too much."

Serena is currently topping the U.S. Open Series Leaderboard with 170 points, having won the last two titles. On Tueday at the Western and Southern Open, Cincinnati, Ohio, she began to rack up even more points with a first-round-straight-sets win over the Czech Republic's Lucie Hradecka, 3-6, 6-7 (5).

At the same time, the match took a gradual toll on Serena that was very evident in her play and body language as well. It appeared towards the end of the second set that she would either be withdrawing, or calling for the trainer. In typical Serena fashion though, neither occurred -- she trudged along and found a way to win.

Hopefully a good night's rest will do the trick for play on Wednesday... wouldn't want to see her have to drop out of the Series -- and definitely not the U.S. Open!


Jo-Wilfried Tsonga used a powerful serve and a spotless return game to pick up his first career win at the Western & Southern Open, 6-3, 6-4 over Marin Cilic in the first round on Tuesday.

Serving near 130 mph, Tsonga hit nine aces and took advantage of more than 20 unforced errors by Cilic. "It was really a fluid match," Tsonga said. "Like everything was easy for me today, to serve and everything."

"This morning in warmups, I was feeling really good," said Tsonga, who has been battling an arm injury. "And during the match I felt really good."

After beating Cilic for the first time in his career, Tsonga next will play qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the second round today or Thursday.


American wild card James Blake will meet Switzerland's Roger Federer in a repeat of the 2007 Cincinnati final. Federer holds a 9-1 record against the former World No. 4, with his only loss coming in the quarter-finals of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Blake, who currently stands at No. 84 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, comfortably rolled past Italian Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-2 in 58 minutes as he converted three of his five break points.

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James Blake, a Cincinnati singles finalist in ’07 and an ’02 doubles titlist with Todd Martin, defeated Marcos Baghdatis in a rematch of their Wimbledon first round meeting. The veteran Blake, who’s been ranked as high as No. 4 in the world back in ‘06, advanced to the second round 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

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Former World No. 1 Venus Williams made a special appearance to sign autographs on High School Day for a throng of students gathered in the Grandstand Tent.


Williams, who made the third round of Cincinnati in ’09, has won seven Grand Slam titles in her career and 43 Tour titles overall. A viral illness has forced her to withdraw from this year’s Western and Southern Open, but she came on-site Sunday to fulfill sponsor obligations.

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Kid's Day

Highlighting the day’s Kid’s Day events was the appearance of ’07 Cincinnati finalist James Blake and recent Carlsbad quarterfinalist Sloane Stephens. The American duo played an exhibition match in the Quickstart tennis format. Instead of racquets, however, they were equipped with frying pans.


The 2011 Casting Call was bigger and better, with something for the entire family. Auditions took place on the Fountain Square stage, siblings played on the tennis courts installed right on the square, and parents enjoyed lunch from Skyline under the sun. Kids between the ages of 7 and 12 tried out for a chance to sing in front of thousands at this summer's Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open. These lucky winners will have the special opportunity to sing "America the Beautiful" prior to a session of the 2010 tournaments at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

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2011 Men's Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Mardy Fish (USA)	185
2	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	100
3	Ernests Gulbis (LAT)	85
T-4	John Isner (USA)	70
	Gael Monfils (FRA)	70
	Radek Stepanek (CZE)	70
7	Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)	60
8	Ryan Harrison (USA)	50
9	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)	45
T-10	Kevin Anderson (RSA)	30
	Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)	30
	Viktor Troicki (SRB)	30
T-13	Nicolas Almagro (ESP)	25
	Tomas Berdych (CZE)	25
	Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA)	25
	Gilles Muller (LUX)	25
	Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)	25
	Donald Young (USA)	25
T-19	Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)	15
	Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)	15
	Marin Cilic (CRO)	15
	Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)	15
	Somdev Devvarman (IND)	15
	Ivan Dodig (CRO)	15
	Roger Federer (SUI)	15
	Richard Gasquet (FRA)	15
	Ivo Karlovic (CRO)	15
	Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)	15
	Rajeev Ram (USA)	15
	Fernando Verdasco (ESP)	15

   

2011 Women's Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Serena Williams (USA)	170
2	Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)	130
3	Samantha Stosur (AUS)	70
4	Vera Zvonareva (RUS)	60
5	Andrea Petkovic (GER)	50
T-6	Victoria Azarenka (BLR)	45
	Marion Bartoli (FRA)	45
T-8	Ana Ivanovic (SRB)	40
	Sabine Lisicki (GER)	40
10	Maria Sharapova (RUS)	30
T-11	Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)	25
	Lucie Safarova (CZE)	25
	Roberta Vinci (ITA)	25
	Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)	25
T-15	Marina Erakovic (NZL)	15
	Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)	15
	Petra Kvitova (CZE)	15
	Na Li (CHN)	15
	Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)	15
	Ayumi Morita (JPN)	15
	Shuai Peng (CHN)	15
	Francesca Schiavone (ITA)	15
	Sloane Stephens (USA)	15
	Jie Zheng (CHN)	15

Standings through Week 4

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Ten years after winning her first Rogers Cup presented by National Bank title, Serena Williams once again lifted the trophy of Canada's most important tennis tournament.

A lot has changed for the 13-time Grand Slam champion in the decade gone by, but one thing is still for certain - she sure is one impressive tennis player.

Williams won the title on Sunday in emphatic fashion, nailing an ace at match point to defeat Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2.

Though the contest was evenly matched through the first eight games, the American turned it up a notch to break at 4-4 and never looked back. She was dominant in the second set, ripping seven aces while losing just one first service point.

It was clear the championship meant a lot to her, as upon clinching victory she immediately jumped and spun around in elation. In her post-match press conference she talked about how Toronto was definitely a tournament she had targeted as an event she really wanted to win this year.

With her mission now accomplished and her 39th career title in her pocket, the 29-year-old should move up nearly 50 spots in the rankings to around the No. 35 spot.


Though Stosur's tournament ended with a loss, her successful week should help her gain confidence heading into the final Slam of the season. Prior to coming to Toronto, the Australian had lost in her opening round twice in a row, but she turned it around here and improved her play with each match up to the final.

Her performance means she'll move back into the Top 10 after spending just one week outside of the upper echelon of the sport. If she keeps it up, she'll definitely be in the conversation at the final Slam of the season.


With the entertaining final between Williams and Stosur now over, Rogers Cup wraps up a successful week of tennis. Though the back-end of the tournament was lacking in the star power provided by such players like Kim Clijsters, who retired in the second round, Maria Sharapova, who was a third-round dropout, and world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki who fell in her opening match, Williams shines brighter than almost anyone on the tour.

She now has two titles in just four tournaments played since her return to tennis following a year-long absence due to serious health issues, and both of those triumphs occurred on hard courts. She will no doubt be a huge threat at the US Open in two weeks times.

For now, the pair will head to the next tournament in Cincinnati, where a Rogers Cup re-match could occur in the second round as Stosur and Williams were drawn in the same quarter.

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On Saturday night, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia qualified for the final of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank after a match that never actually ended.

Djokovic was leading 6-4 and 3-0 when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who defeated Roger Federer on Thursday, retired due to a right arm injury.

There were some spectacular points in the two-sided first set. Until 4-4, things were running smoothly despite the three break points that went to Djokovic.

In the ninth game, the World No.1 broke Tsonga and ran away with the set.

As the second set got underway, it seemed that Djokovic had also broken Tsonga's spirit. At 2-0, the Frenchman asked the chair umpire to call the trainer, who came out at the next changeover and quickly saw that Tsonga couldn't go on.

Attack, defense

At the start of the match, Tsonga pulled out his best offensive arsenal, pushing Djokovic to the limit. Unfortunately for him, the world no.1 stood firm. All Tsonga could do was fold.

Slowed by pain in the second set, the Frenchman changed his game and rallied from the backcourt with the king of counter offensives to no avail.

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CINCINNATI, Ohio (AFP) — Venus Williams has pulled out of WTA Tour's Western and Southern Open tournament, complaining of a viral illness, organizers said on Friday.

It is the second consecutive year the American has withdrawn from the event as she skipped the 2010 tournament with a sore knee.

The world No. 34 was forced to withdraw from this week's Rogers Cup in Toronto with the same illness.

"I regret not having the opportunity to compete in the Western and Southern Open this year," Williams said. "I am making progress towards recovering from a viral illness that began affecting me last week, and have plans to return to the practice court in the coming days. I am optimistic that I will be ready for the US Open at the end of this month."

The 31-year-old American has been limited to three tournaments this year because of injuries and illness. She retired at the Australian Open in January because of a right hip injury and contended with hip and abdominal ailments through May.

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