Black Tennis Pros

Ladies' Doubles - Round 1

Madison Keys, USA and Alison Riske, USA
defeated
Petra Cetkovska, CZE and Vania King, USA
7(7)-6, 5(5)-2



Gentlemen's Doubles - Round 1

Raven Klaasen, RSA (13) and Eric Butorac, USA (13)
defeated
Ryan Harrison, USA and Kevin King, USA
6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4

Dustin Brown, GER and Jan-Lennard Struff, GER
defeated
Ken Skupski, GBR and Neal Skupski, GBR
5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2


Mixed Doubles - Round 1

Raquel-Kops Jones, USA (11) and Juan-Sebastian Cabal, COL (11)
vs.
Bye

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A Frenchman and an American serving one another into oblivion as the sun sets over the All England Club; it all sounds a little too familiar, doesn’t it? Yet here we are again, trading John Isner and Nicolas Mahut for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Sam Querrey. The duo will resume their second-round showdown on Thursday after play was suspended with proceedings all square at 9.21pm and the score teetering at 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 6-3, 9-9. Some matches are destined to go the distance.

The umpire announced the suspension of play at 8-8, but both the players and the crowd refused to budge. New balls were called for, and Tsonga attempted to finish the job before the ball disappeared in the twilight. He came close, bringing up break point, but Querrey stood firm, forcing a forehand error before serving his way out of trouble. The Frenchman also negotiated a dicey service game, which seemed enough to convince both player the time was right to call it a night.


source: wimbledon.org

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It would seem that the reports of Williams’s demise have been exaggerated. At the age of 33 and suffering from Sjorgen’s Syndrome, she is supposed to be a spent force, past it, consigned to history. But you write off Venus at your peril. The former champion has no intention of going anywhere for a very long time to come.

She moved impressively into the third round with a 7-6, 6-1 win over the diminutive Kurumi Nara on Wednesday, the world No. 41 from Japan, and much as a couple of wins does not constitute a championship-winning run, she clearly has plans to stay in town for a while. She served well enough, she hit 46 winners, she kept the error count down to a respectable 16 and she bossed the show once the first set was done.

Back in 2011, Venus revealed that she had been diagnosed with Sjorgen’s Syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that leaves the sufferer with a range of symptoms from a dry mouth to joint pain and chronic fatigue. Yet, through diet, careful management of her schedule and grim determination not to be beaten, she has found a way to compete at the top level despite everything. There are still good days and bad days, but Venus will not give in. And as she pushed Nara this way and that on No. 3 Court, it was the Japanese who was struggling physically, not Venus.

As for the future, Venus was adamant. Nothing, not a disease, not a syndrome and not another birthday, was going to stop her.

“I feel like I am still a great tennis player,” she said earlier this year. “When I’m ready to go, I’ll go.”

But clearly not just yet.


source:  wimbledon.org

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The Williams’ last Slam doubles victory was on the SW19 lawns two years ago, and they had lost their only previous doubles outing this year in the United Arab Emirates. With a ranking of 88, they are seeded No.8 here in a nod to their record at the All England Club.

It should not be overlooked that the two women now have a combined age of 66, in contrast to 26-year-old Savchuk and 23-year-old Kalashnikova. The years may not always favour the sisters now – both arrived on court in long-sleeved tops, with Venus additionally in capris, none of which extra warmth was required by the opposition – but the trade is that all that experience does no harm at all. Moreover, time seems to make no impression on their competitive hunger, with both sisters determined to wring the very most from their careers.

Venus held her opening serve, the first game of the match, so quickly to love that the clock had yet to register even one minute. Amid some fabulous volleying exchanges they broke Kalashnikova’s serve for 4-2. But the Russian-Ukrainian pair were up for the fight and not only leveled but powered on, increasing their service accuracy. At five-all Serena attempted a backhand down the line which fell way short of requirements, and moments later a Kalashnikova volley yielded the crucial break.

But at the start of the second the sisters combined brilliantly to break for 3-1.
With Serena pounding the ball from the baseline and Venus doling out the punishment at the net, the set went by in a flash. Yet at the start of the third confusion reigned as the two literally bumped into each other at the net, while Savchuk and Kalashnikova capitalised to go 3-0 up. Serena expressed her frustration with a mighty smash at the Russian to hold serve, which drew a particularly withering look from Savchuk. But Serena was accelerating into super-aggressive mode and the sisters levelled. Indeed, at 3-3 her impetus was such as she chased a backhand wide that she ended up in the lap of a startled spectator at courtside. Cue laughter from Serena, Venus and their mother Oracene who was in the stands.

It did not alter the focus of “Team Williams”, as umpire Julie Kjendlie labelled the Americans. They broke again for 5-4, and the result was sealed on the first match point as Serena punched away the winning volley.


source:  wimbledon.org

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Gael Monfils reached a milestone Tuesday, recording his 300th match win by defeating Tunisian Malek Jaziri 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-4. Monfils, making his first appearance since 2011, has never advanced beyond the Wimbledon third round and called every grass-court win a "bonus" after the match.

The 24th-seeded Frenchman will next face Czech Jiri Vesely, who led 5-1 when Victor Estrella retired with a leg injury. "For me on grass, he is a good player," said Monfils. "It's hard for me to play on grass court. Basically, no matter what, is going to be tough match for me."

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In addition to stripping down for the issue, Williams exposes harrowing new details about her ongoing battle with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that, according to the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation, causes white blood cells to attack a person's moisture-producing glands.

"At my worst point, I wasn't able to play tennis at all," says Williams. "Just the whole quality of my life was compromised. You are so tired it hurts. You have to accept that you're never going to be 100 percent."

Williams, who was forced to stop playing for more than six months in 2011-12 because of the illness, reveals how she was able to work her way back up the rankings.

"Because of Sjogren's syndrome, I have to be careful," she says. "If I train too hard, then I won't be able to do anything the next day. There would be times when I'd park my car at home and I fell asleep behind the wheel because I was so tired. It's a balance between pushing myself as much as I can and being reasonable about what I can achieve and what my body will tolerate."

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Five-time Wimbledon Champion Serena Williams has her eyes on the prize - as usual. The world no. 1 eased through round one with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Anna Tatishvilli of Georgia. Serena is without a doubt the favorite to win.


'I have nothing to prove, nothing to hide, nothing to lose' ~ Venus Williams. There you go! It's all in the history books at this point and what will be, will be. Ms. Williams etched another win in the books, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 over Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain. WORK IT OUT VENUS!!


Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wasted little time in securing a place in the second round of Wimbledon when returning to Court One on Tuesday morning.

The 14th seed had been left frustrated by heavy late-evening rain which denied him the chance to serve for the match in an epic clash against Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Tsonga won the match 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.


Still buzzing from her first WTA title a few days ago, American teenager Madison Keys showed again why she is being tipped for a big future as she powered into Wimbledon's second round on Tuesday.

Hurling down 25 clean winners, including seven aces, she had too much weaponry for Puerto Rico's Monica Puig in a 6-3 6-3 win.

"It feels really good. There was definitely a moment on Saturday where I was like, this would be awesome if it happened every week," she told reporters after the match, calling the title her "biggest milestone" to date.


His unorthodox approach is well known, yet today he took this to new heights in his 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-4 victory over Tunisian lucky loser Malek Jaziri.

Monfils complained of injury, chatted frequently between points with his supporters and at the change of ends with the umpire, vacillated wildly in his intensity levels – sometimes he wouldn’t even attempt to run for shots, other times he would fling himself about the court in mad pursuit of them – and also produced some jaw-dropping tennis.

“On grass is never easy for me. (So) I'm very relaxed. I'm just the coolest than ever on grass,” he explained. “Then is hard for me to play like solid tennis, I will say, because I can't move. Actually I can't move. I don't feel comfortable. So I try to play just some part of the match. It was fun, so it's good for me.”

Monfils, seeded No.24, recovered from deficits of 1-3 in the first set and 1-4 in the second, finishing the match with a tidy stats sheet reading 50 winners to just 24 errors along with 17 aces. “For me, it's like shot after shot, just focus on my serve. If the ball is very short, I try to hit it and come to the net,” he surmised.


Heather Watson became the third British player to reach round two with an impressive straight-sets win over Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia at Wimbledon.

Watson came through 6-3, 6-2 on Court Three to follow up Monday's victories by Andy Murray and Naomi Broady.


Victoria Duval’s sugary manner and broad smile was understandable given she had won her debut match at Wimbledon, defeating 29th seed Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

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