2019 SOFIA OPEN: Frenchman Gael Monfils Gives Wakandan Love After Defeating Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas
Friday, February 8, 2019
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| Frenchman Gael Monfils at the 2019 Sofia Open after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. |
ATP TOUR - Gael Monfils recorded his biggest win for four months on Friday to book his place in the Sofia Open semi-finals. The seventh-seeded Frenchman beat World No. 12 Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals champion, 6-3, 7-6(5). It was his biggest win since October 2018, when Monfils beat then No. 9-ranked John Isner at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna.
"Stefanos is a great player. There's no doubt," Monfils said. "Today I think it was just a few points. He's a real champion and he will become a big champion."
Monfils broke Tsitsipas in the opening game and clinched his third set point in the 35-minute opener. Solid on serve throughout — winning 93 per cent of his first-service points — the Frenchman recovered from 4/5 down in the second-set tie-break for his fourth win of the season. Tsitsipas, who had beaten Monfils in October 2018 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, came into the match in strong form having reached the recent Australian Open semi-finals (l. to Nadal).
Alive to thrive!— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 8, 2019
🇫🇷 🙌@Gael_Monfils rallies past second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-6(5) to reach the semis at #SofiaOpen pic.twitter.com/gh4cCmv74B
Monfils will now challenge Daniil Medvedev, who struck nine aces and lost only six of his service points to cruise past Martin Klizan of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1. The third-seeded Russian, who broke serve four times for victory in 70 minutes, improved to 9-2 on the season, which includes a runner-up finish at last month’s Brisbane International (l. to Nishikori).
"It's going to be a tough one as well. Daniil is coming on strong, won a lot of matches this year already," Monfils said. "It's going to be another battle. I think [I need to use] another gameplan because he's a different player. The ball stays very low, he serves big. I will have to adapt myself again, I guess be aggressive as well and also try to serve as big as I can."
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BLACK TENNIS HISTORY: The Black Tennis Hall Of Fame
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Mission Statement
The Black Tennis Hall of Fame is a non-profit, privately funded organization dedicated to preserving the history of African American tennis and honoring those who made exemplary contributions to the sport, with special consideration extended to those who overcame racial barriers.
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| Dr. Dale G. Caldwell, Founder |
The BTHOF honors individuals who have broken through the barriers of race and class to achieve success in the wonderful sport of tennis.
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| Robert Davis, Executive Director |
For over fifty years prior to Gibson’s victories, blacks had been competing in club and regional tournaments. Banned from entering segregated events, African American tennis enthusiasts in 1916 formed their own organization, the ATA, to provide blacks with the opportunity to play competitive tennis on a national level. Their struggle to gain equal access to tennis paralleled the struggle of all blacks to gain equal access to American society.
Presiding over the BTHOF is one of its own inductees, Mr. Robert Davis. If not for Davis, much of the early history of blacks in tennis (Black Tennis History) might have been lost. He has been relentless is preserving the history and the photos of the men and women who played the sport ... and fought for that right. And maybe the BTHOF might not be where it is today if not for the nurturing by Davis, who now serves as executive director. In this capacity, he has managed the day-to-day operations of this organization dedicated to recording and promoting tennis history. However, Davis could certainly play the game. He was a two-time ATA national champion and winner of numerous other titles. But it is what he has done in the background that has made the biggest impact. In more than 40 years dealing in the business end of the sport, Davis has a long history of working with children to provide guidance and opportunity in the game of tennis. He helped create, and served as National Program Director for the Ashe/Bollettieri “Cities” Tennis Program. A driving force of the program, and what later became known as the Arthur Ashe Safe Passage Foundation, Davis was instrumental in introducing more than 20,000 inner city children to tennis.
The Black Tennis Hall of Fame (BTHOF) was founded to honor the achievements of those individuals who achieved success in tennis and life in spite of the many barriers that they faced, as well as those who helped them achieve those successes. We honor these individuals by permanently inducting them into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame.
Source(s)
Black Tennis History
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