Black Tennis Pros

PARIS (AP) –  Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain thwarted a comeback attempt by Donald Young of the United States and beat him 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4 Saturday at the French Open, making John Isner the only American man in the fourth round.

The 41st-ranked Garcia-Lopez, who surprised No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the first round, is in the final 16 at a major tournament for the first time.

Young, who is from Chicago, was trying to pull off his first victory in a match after dropping the first two sets, but Garcia-Lopez closed it out after more than 3½ hours.

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American Taylor Townsend's valiant effort to gain as much depth as possible into the 2014 French Open has come to an end.  Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, the women's 14th seed, proved to be more competition on clay than Townsend could handle.

After the brief twenty-four minute first set, Townsend appeared to gather herself and put forth greater offense than she had in the first set, but even with her adjustments, Townsend was still no match for Navarro who began to steamroll the talented teen into a 6-2, 6-2 defeat.

Townsend used her brief run to bring a great deal of excitement to this year's French Open, especially in light of the Williams sisters being eliminated so early. She can certainly return home knowing that she put her best foot forward and that all of her hard work has been worth the effort.

Great Job Taylor!!

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In his post-match interview American Donald Young said, "I have actually never won a match outside of the U.S. on red clay.  So to win two here at the French Open, it means a lot."

Young advanced to the third round today after a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez.  This represents only the third occasion that he has been able to get this far at a grand slam tournament.

When asked whether he believes he's doing well because of the big stage and the greater challenge, Young responded, "Yeah, actually, I like the big stage a little more than the challengers and everywhere else.  I feel like I play better against higher level players.

"But, yeah, I just feel like I put the work in and I'm playing well.  I'm just letting my game flow and do what it does."

Awaiting Donald in the third round is yet another Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.




Tsonga The First Of The Frenchman To Charge Into Round 3

Austrian Jürgen Melzer fell to the mighty swings of France's own Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday. The No. 13 seed took the match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Post-match Tsonga stated that, "Jerzy is a difficult player. You never know exactly what to expect on court. I'm not really talking about his behavior but rather his game. He's rather unpredictable. He's very tall, he strikes hard. He can have a very high first ball, first-serve percentage, striking really hard ... so you have to find a way to neutralize him, and it's not always that easy."

Up next for Tsonga is the No. 22 seed Jerzy Janowicz of Poland.




Gael Monfils Flies Through Yet Another Round

The consistently acrobatic Frenchman Gael Monfils also moved through the second round in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1, eliminating Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff.  Struff put up quite a defense in the first set, but was not able to overcome the game of the 23rd seed.

Italian Fabio Fognini, the tournament's 14th seed, awaits Monfils in the 3rd round.

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WAY TO GO TAYLOR!!

In the breath of fresh air that eighteen-year-old American Taylor Townsend brings to the courts, she convincingly advanced to the third round of Roland Garros today after taking out the 20th seed, France's own Alize Cornet.

She is now the youngest American woman to advance to the third round at Roland Garros since 2003.

Up next for Taylor is Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.

Matching Exits for the Williams Sisters

In what has to be one of the most unlikely unexpected combination of exits, both of the Williams sisters, World No. 1 Serena and 29th-seed-big-sister Venus both fell to their respective round two opponents.


Venus began her match well and it appeared that she would be able to contend well with nineteen-year-old Slovakian Anna Schmiedlova - not so.  As the American's game slowly dismantled, Schmiedlova picked up the pace, and control of the match as well, eventually winning 2-6 6-3 6-4.


Of  significantly greater shock was seeing the World No. 1 make her exit to Spaniard Garbine Muguruza - although her gameplay did not suggest that she was up for any task.  For whatever reason, Serena struggled throughout the match and committed a laundry list of 28 unforced errors. In a little over an hour, Muguruza had the win of her career under her belt.

Oh well...

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Men's Singles - Round 1
Steve Johnson (USA) vs. Laurent Lokoli (FRA)	To Finish 4-6 6-7(7) 7-6(3) 6-3 3-1

 
Women's Singles - Round 2

Serena Williams (USA) [1]
Garbine Muguruza (ESP)


Anna Schmiedlova (SVK)
Venus Williams (USA) [29]

Alize Cornet (FRA) [20]
Taylor Townsend (USA)


Men's Singles - Round 2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [13]
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)


Women's Doubles - Round 1

Stephanie Foretz Gacon (FRA)
Laura Thorpe (FRA)
Jana Cepelova (SVK)
Stefanie Voegele (SUI)

Kveta Peschke (CZE) [4]
Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) [4]
Lauren Davis (USA)
Megan Moulton-Levy (USA)

Madison Keys (USA)
Alison Riske (USA)
Irina Ramialison (FRA)
Constance Sibille (FRA)


Men's Doubles - Round 1

Tristan Lamasine (FRA)
Laurent Lokoli (FRA)
David Marrero (ESP) [4]
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [4]

Eric Butorac (USA) [14]
Raven Klaasen (RSA) [14]
Steve Johnson (USA)
Sam Querrey (USA)

Michael Llodra (FRA) [5]
Nicolas Mahut (FRA) [5]
Gael Monfils (FRA)
Josselin Ouanna (FRA)

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