Black Tennis Pros

Jesse Huta Galung, The Netherlands

James Blake was on court for a bit longer than he would have liked on Tuesday afternoon at the US Open. The former quarterfinalist dropped the third set and struggled through the fourth as he eeked his way past qualifier Jesse Huta Galung, winning their encounter 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Blake has been a true journeyman over the last year on tour, making trips to out-of-the-way places like Tallahassee, Fla., Savannah, Ga., and Winnetka, Ill. But the off-the-beaten-path approach seems to be working out for the American, who recorded his eighth win of the summer with his four-set victory on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Blake, once ranked inside the top 10 and is best known at Flushing Meadows for his epic five-set quarterfinal loss to Andre Agassi in 2005, has struggled with injury in the last two years and at times has contemplated retirement. He began 2011 outside the top 150.

I was thinking about every match I've played on this court and Arthur Ashe when I walked out tonight," Blake said on court after his win. "I've come full circle. I appreciate every single one of those matches."

But after losing in the second round at Wimbledon this year, Blake took his chance in entering a Challenger tournament at Winnetka and won it -- giving him the confidence to move forward.

He continued to move forward on Tuesday, blasting his big-weapon forehand and serving well when it mattered. The American, currently ranked no. 63, opened the match with an ace and closed out the first set by breaking Huta Galung's serve for the third time.


In the second set it was much the same for Blake, who jumped out to a 4-1 lead and saw the set through with a running forehand up the line that just landed in. Huta Galung challenged the call, but the ball had dropped landed on the baseline, giving Blake a two-sets-to-love lead.

After a hiccup in the third set, Blake's late afternoon match slowly drifted into the evening, the lights on Armstrong springing to life as darkness fell. Blake went down a break in the fourth set, gesturing to his box in confused frustration and arguing with the chair umpire at times. But the 31-year-old New York native used a well-timed backhand lob to earn two break points in the eighth game of the set and prevailed on his second opportunity as Huta Galung sprayed a groundstroke long.

Blake used the break to spur him, his mom and brother cheering him on from his player's box. Holding serve for 5-4 in the fourth, he shouted, "Come on!" as he trotted to his chair. It would be the next game where he would break Huta Galung for the match, the world's No. 160 crumbling under the pressure from the American crowd.

Blake sprung out to a 0-40 lead on Huta Galung's serve in the tenth game and sent a blazing forehand return up the middle of the court for a winner, letting out a loud scream in victory.

"This is where it all started," Blake said, remembering his five-set encounter with Lleyton Hewitt on Armstrong in 2001. "I can win any match out here with this crowd behind me," Blake said. "I have a good shot in the next round. I'm just happy to be here."

Blake is set to take on No. 5 seed David Ferrer in the second round.

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Sloane Stephens, USA

Reka-Luka Jani, Hungary

American Sloane Stephens, three-time junior Grand Slam doubles champion will now break into the WTA top 100 for the first time due to her win over Hungarian Reka-Luca Jani.

It took some doing, and three sets to accomplish the 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3) victory over Jani, but Sloane hung in there and tactics outlasted errors.

Israli Shahar Peer awaits Sloane in round 2 - she won't be nearly as generous with errors.

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The No. 11 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga began his US Open campaign with a solid, straight-set win over Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan.

Tsonga showed no signs of the right arm injury that forced him to retire against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semis of Montreal in early August. His serve and forehand were firing on all cylinders, at least when he needed them to, as he secured a service break in each of the first two sets and jumped out ahead in the third for a comfortable 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Tsonga, his demeanor relaxed and confident, hit seven aces, 39 winners and had 29 unforced errors. The times the No. 82-ranked Lu did challenge Tsonga on his serve, the Frenchman overcame the threats with almost routine efficiency, by pouding serves and forehands to Lu's weaker backhand side.

Tsonga is now a solid 20-9 in Grand Slam matches in 2011, with a semifinal finish at Wimbledon in his last major. He also has two wins over Roger Federer in the past three months--one in the quarters at Wimbledon and the other in the round-of-16 in Montreal. A finalist at the 2008 Australian Open, Tsonga's hard-court suited game makes him one of the main challengers here to the big three of Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal.


In his first round match today at the U.S. Open, World No. 84 Donald Young, chalked up a win against Slovak Lukas Lacko, ranked 162nd in the world in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.


Post match Donald was asked about being the first American male to win on the new court, he said " It's awesome.  I didn't know that.  I'm just happy to win the first match and happy to be on that court, which is great. Yeah, I'm happy that's part of history."

When compared to fellow American Mardy Fish in that he seems to be a late bloomer, Donald responded, "Yeah, I mean, I think everyone's light turns on at their own time.  I'm starting to feel like mine is turning on.  Yeah, people do it at their own time.  Not everybody does it when everybody expects it to be done. I wish it could have been earlier.  It's starting to come now and I'm excited about it."

COMPLETE INTERVIEW HERE

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I like it!

For the most part anyway -- not quite understanding what appears to be white french lace on the upper back.

Nonetheless, the fabric, the rich shade of black, even the pink zipper and shorts all work for me. Venus' "Eleven" emblem in pink on the front of the dress, all very well coordinated.

Even though the lace is a distraction for me, I like the extreme white color, given the extreme black dress color - the contrast works.

I even like how her headgear seems to be more of a head piece that goes with the dress as opposed to just a visor.

In her post-match interview last night Venus stated that the dress is in the "Tradition of the little black dress, love lace and zippers, just having fun."

A- for this year's fashion design Venus!

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NEW YORK (AP) - Even Venus Williams was surprised at how well she played after two months away from the game.

"I'm not sure I expected to be so sharp," Williams said.

In powering her way to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Vesna Dolonts at the U.S. Open on Monday night, Williams served up to 126 m.p.h. and hit six aces. She won the point on 15 of 20 trips to the net. She compiled a whopping 28-7 edge in winners against the travel-weary Russian.

All in all, Williams looked far more dangerous than the average unseeded player does. And, yes, she is unseeded at Flushing Meadows because she's ranked only 36th after entering the tournament having played only 10 matches over the last 50 weeks.

"I just want to play tennis," said Williams, whose seven Grand Slam singles titles include the 2000 and 2001 U.S. Opens. The 31-year-old American hadn't played a match since June 27, when she lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Then again, Williams is accustomed to missing time but still playing well. In 2010, she was sidelined between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open by a left knee injury, yet made it all the way to the semifinals in New York.
"Last year, I had little to no preparation also, too, so I hope can I play just as well as I did last year."

Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria

NEW YORK (AP) — Seventh-seeded Gael Monfils won his opening-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday, defeating Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4.

Monfils, who made the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows last year, was called for a double fault while facing break point at 5-4 in the third set. He challenged the call and the replay showed the ball squarely in. Given a second chance, Monfils saved break point then served out the match.

Dimitrov, ranked 52nd, was making his U.S. Open debut after making the second round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.

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Singer Tony Bennett and wife Susan Crow

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Maria Sharapova, RUS

Heather Watson made Arthur Ashe Stadium her stage as she pushed third seed Maria Sharapova all the way in an enthralling first-round match at the US Open.

The 19-year-old from Guernsey led by a set and a break early in the second set and kept battling with the 2006 champion right up until Sharapova clinched a 3-6 7-5 6-3 victory after two hours and 34 minutes. It was Watson's first appearance in the main draw at the US Open, two years after she won the junior title.

She said: "I had a lot of fun. It's what I want to do. I want to be out there on the big courts playing the top players. It was a really great match, very competitive. We played some really great tennis. I had my chances in the second set. You have to create the opportunity but also execute, and I was probably a bit too defensive on those important points."

Watson added: "But I always believed I could win. There's no point in my going out there if I don't believe that I can win.

"I just wanted to make every ball, make her play every ball, and just fight. Because Maria's a fighter. She's never going to give up. That's what makes her a champion. That's why she's won this tournament before.

"I absolutely loved the atmosphere. I thought everyone was going to be supporting Maria. She's won here before. She's been number one in the world. I had a lot of support. I heard some people calling me Cinderella, all sorts of stuff. And just when they were chanting my name, I kind of got the goosebumps. I thought, 'Stay calm, focus on the match.'"

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Jill Craybas, USA

NEW YORK (AP) — All in all, 16-year-old Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla., thought her Grand Slam debut was "awesome."

As well she should. After all, Keys became the youngest player since 2005 to win a match at the U.S. Open by beating 37-year-old Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-4 on Monday.

Keys was playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, and appearing in a tour-level event for only the third time. At 455th, she is the lowest-ranked woman in the field.
"Obviously it was a good first day. It's just been awesome," Keys said. "I'm really excited, and hopefully I have another good match Wednesday."

She wasn't intimidated by the setting Monday, even though she never had played in a match this important or at a tournament this big.

"It's pretty crowded. There's lots of energy," Keys said. "So it's definitely an awesome experience."

Her secret to dealing with the hustle and bustle of the U.S. Open?

"I have two younger sisters who are always really loud and everything, so I'm kind of used to noise," Keys explained.


 Keys won her first WTA main-draw match in 2009 at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., when she was 14 — about a decade after she first took up tennis.

Her interest in the sport came about after seeing Venus Williams on TV at home.

"I was 4, and I walked through my parents' bedroom — I think they were watching Wimbledon or something — and I decided I wanted Venus' dress. They told me if I played tennis, they'd buy me a tennis dress," Keys said. "I said, 'All right, I'll try it.' I have been playing ever since."

Craybas, who lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., was playing in her 45th consecutive Grand Slam tournament — tied for the longest active streak — and 49th overall. But she is 111th in the WTA rankings and — like Keys — needed a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association to get into the main draw.

Craybas made her Grand Slam debut at the 1996 U.S. Open, about 18 months after Keys was born, and was the second-oldest entrant this year.

This was the 15th time Craybas has played at Flushing Meadows.

"I was told there was a pretty big age difference," Keys said, "but I wasn't really thinking about it."

Four 16-year-olds, all days or weeks younger than Keys — Vania King, Nicole Vaidisova, Sessil Karatantcheva and Alexa Glatch — won U.S. Open matches in 2005.

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