OUR PROUD TRADITION Of EXCELLENCE DEFINES US

OUR PROUD TRADITION Of EXCELLENCE DEFINES US
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2019 BRASIL OPEN: Back To Back Tournaments Successful For Laslo Djere In Taking Out Felix Auger-Aliassime

Friday, March 1, 2019

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in quarter final of the 2019 Brasil Open.

Serbian Laslo Djere and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime met in the Brazil Open quarter final five days after dueling for the title in Rio De Janeiro. Just like on Rio clay, Djere triumphed and eliminated the young Canadian 6/2, 3/6, 6/3.

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Posted by Shelia at 11:08 PM
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2019 DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS: A Semi Final Match Ending One Minute Shy Of Three Hours With Stefanos Tsitsipas Prevailing Over Gael Monfils

Gael Monfils and Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi final.

Frenchman Gael Monfils, who was 3-0 down in the first set before storming back to win five games in a row to take it 6-4, the defeat by Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece was hard to take, and one he pinned on his faulty serve. The defeat came in at 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.

“In terms of the game, I guess I had some opportunities,” the world No. 23 said.

“I couldn’t make them great today. I think I was up a break, and I didn’t serve that good starting the second set. It was big confirmation when he broke me back. Less first serve, less accuracy.”

Monfils has admiration for the Greek player, “He’s a great player. He just broke the top 10. He’s one of the best players in the tour.”

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Posted by Shelia at 9:08 PM
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2019 ORACLE CHALLENGER SERIES: Donald Young Secures Wild Card Into 2019 BNP Paribas Open

Thursday, February 28, 2019


Congratulations are in order for Donald Young, as the American has secured a wild card into the main draw of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open.

The fourth event in the 2018-2019 Oracle Challenger Series is underway at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and Young clinched one of the two men’s wild cards by advancing to the third round of the tournament and taking the leaderboard lead with 80 points going into his third round match against Lloyd Harris. Yong’s admirable run, coupled with several American losses yesterday, have cemented his claim to a main draw wild card into the 2019 BNP Paribas Open.

Full article here.

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Posted by Shelia at 11:43 PM
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The WTA Remembers The First Title Won By Serena Williams On This Date Twenty Years Ago


Twenty years ago today, one of the greatest careers in tennis began in earnest as Serena Williams won the first of 72 WTA Tour titles to date at the Open Gaz de France in Paris. wtatennis.com looks back at how it all kicked off for the American champion.



A post shared by WTA (@wta) on


Full Article here.

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Posted by Shelia at 9:19 PM
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2019 DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS: Gael Monfils Into Thursday's Semi Finals


Thursday's 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi finals include No. 2 seed and seven-time champion Roger Federer, No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 6 Borna Coric and Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Monfils defeated Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-3. Up next for Monfils is Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

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Posted by Shelia at 8:55 PM
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2019 BRASIL OPEN: The Ever Evolving Felix Auger-Aliassime Is Through To The Quarterfinals In Sao Paulo


Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime hit the clay courts today and continued his ability to successfully ascend through recent tournaments.  Auger-Aliassime defeated Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(2), 7-6(5).


Auger-Aliassime also experienced ankle issues during the match, hopefully they will be resolved overnight.

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Posted by Shelia at 8:26 PM
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TWITTER FILES: Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina Just Want To Bring Greetings From Dubai.. Then The Best Video Bomb Ever Occurs


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Posted by Shelia at 6:47 PM
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH: "A Blueprint For Life," Bill Davis

Black Tennis Pro's Bill Davis A Blueprint For LifeBill Davis


I grew up in Harlem, which was an unlikely place to find a private Black tennis club. In 1940 at the age of ten, while walking past the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club at 149th street and Convent Avenue, a voice in the doorway said, "Hey kid, want to run balls for this match?". My answer was an immediate "Yes", for I had always wanted to see what was on the other side of that fence. It so happens that the American Tennis Association (ATA) was conducting their annual National Championships at the club. Once inside, it was like Alice In Wonderland to me. They had a club house, five red clay courts and a junior program. That's the day I fell in love with the world of tennis.

As I ran around the court picking up the balls, I noticed that the players would shake hands at the end of the match, even though they had been fierce competitors a moment before. I understood later that good competition and sportsmanship was not just about who won and who lost, but also had to do with the quality and determination of how each played the game. Did they give it their all and play near their full potential? Were their calls honest, even on important points? Did they learn something about themselves as well as their game? This would be only the first of many lessons tennis, and it’s environment would teach me. Finding the answers to these questions would be an invaluable lesson in the years to come.

My eagerness and desire to learn the game eventually earned me a membership in the club. As I got to know the members, many of whom I considered the Black middle-class of the day, and listened in on their conversations, their words and stories, indicated that there were no short cuts to success, either in tennis or in life. They talked of the importance of getting a good education if you wanted a job with a career. They said that tennis was a game for honest people because you had to continually execute the basic techniques of the game, such as watching the ball on contact or making sure you completed your follow-through on your ground strokes. Respect for those who came before you also was essential, they said, because they had both seniority and experience over you. I over-heard them say that discipline came from hard work and diligence, and that with each act you perform you are putting your own signature on it. As I look back now, I realize that a blueprint for living was beginning to take shape in my mind.

As my game improved I became aware that tennis was not only a game of sets and matches, but in reality a game of points, with each point having it's own scenario and meaning. Although speed and strength may have its own merits, competitive tennis is at least 50% mental. Fortunately, for me many of my matches were to be won on my ability to concentrate for the entire time it took for the match. A fire-cracker could go off next to the courts and it wouldn't bother me. But my biggest mental weapon however, was my determination to win. Being down a set just made me more determined to hang in. Later on I would find this attitude indispensable in the world of business for too many people limit their challenges instead of challenging their limits .

As a result of my accomplishments in tennis I got a scholarship to Tennessee State University, where I had to manage the dual roles of athlete and student. Remembering the sage words of getting a good education in order to get a meaningful job, I managed to graduate with a 3.5 average, and in 1955 get selected to "Who's Who In American Colleges and Universities". The experience of traveling, both for the team and on my own after graduation, gave me a special kind of enrichment.

Fortunately, tennis took me all over the world. From the ATA Championships in Wilberforce, Ohio where I was fortunate to win it’s Championships a grand total of 11 times, to the US Grass Court Championships at Forest Hills, the All Bermuda Tournament, Wimbledon, and the British Hard Court Championships in England, the German Nationals in Wolfsberg Germany where they made the Volkswagon car. Tennis became my passion, and opened up the whole world to me. There's no experience like seeing different lands and meeting people of diverse backgrounds and cultures. Tennis taught me never to change a winning game, and experiencing people of diverse backgrounds taught me what a great value there is in respecting each other's differences. After all, where would the world be if we all thought or acted alike?

The long arms of tennis once again caressed me when a tennis contact of mine arranged a job interview for me with IBM. I would stay with them for the next 27 years as a systems engineer and education producer. After an early retirement from IBM, I was fortunate enough to be appointed an Assistant Commissioner in the NYC Parks Department during the Dinkins administration. As you can see so many of the lessons and contacts that I received from tennis transcended into the world of business. The matches I won because I refused to give up, or the patience to focus for an entire match had all prepared me for this other competitive world. Patricia, my beautiful and loving wife, who I had met earlier in my tennis days at a tournament in New Haven, but didn’t meet again for some 30 plus years, was another wonderful blessing of tennis. That's why I feel so strongly that the many experiences, lessons, and contacts we encounter in sports can go a long way in filling out that blueprint called life.



©Bill Davis - All Rights Reserved


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Posted by Shelia at 5:04 AM
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