Black Tennis Pros

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The 18-year-old from Montreal crushed Cameron Norrie of Britain 6-3, 6-2 in the first match on centre court on Thursday at the ATP Tour Masters 1000 event.

Auger-Aliassime, ranked 58th in the world, had 20 winners — 12 more than the 48th-ranked Norrie.

The Canadian got 80 per cent of his first serves in and had the same percentage for first-serve points, well above Norrie's 59 per-cent success rate on the latter stat.

Auger-Aliassime converted on all three of his break-point opportunities and won all his service games.

The result continues an impressive stretch for Auger-Aliassime, who moved well inside the top 100 for the first time in his career after making the final and quarterfinals, respectively, in his past two events on clay in Brazil.

Auger-Aliassime will next face No. 9 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who got a first-round bye. The 20-year-old Tsitsipas made headlines in Toronto last year when he advanced to the final of the Rogers Cup.

No. 13 seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and No. 24 seed Denis Shapovalov will join Auger-Aliassime in the second round after getting first-round byes.

On the women's side, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., was scheduled to play a first-round match later Thursday against Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., had Thursday off after winning her first-round match on Wednesday.

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World No. 1 Naomi Osaka joins the group of powerful and inspiring women who are already part of Barbie’s “Sheroes” initiative.

 “Growing up, I’ve had a lot of role models and I think that’s really important because that’s sort of like a goal that you set,” Osaka explains. “I think having a really good female role model is really good for kids. I feel like it’s a really big responsibility, but in a way, I’m also really honored, and I won’t take it for granted.”

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So honored to be selected as a Barbie Role Model to help inspire the next generation of girls. Feels surreal because I played with barbies as a kid, never imagined to have one modeled after me 😳🙏❤️ @barbie #Barbie60 #youcanbeanything #barbie

A post shared by Naomi Osaka 大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) on Mar 7, 2019 at 9:58am PST

 “In athletics they have this statistic that girls drop out of sports quicker than boys, and for me I feel sad hearing that because of course I’m a professional athlete,” Osaka says. “I hope that girls feel inspired, and I hope they somehow see a lot of possibilities when they look at all the dolls.”

In conjunction with the release of Osaka’s doll, Barbie — which is celebrating its 60th anniversary — plans to donate $1 from any doll sold, up to 250,000, to the Dream Gap Project, an initiative that raises awareness about the limiting factors girls face when trying to accomplish their dreams. And when it comes to those dreams, Osaka wants young girls to know they should never give up, and never let society make them wonder “what if.”

“You wake up every day and you have a dream and you can only try to accomplish that dream,” she says. “For me, I just feel like I like to live without regrets and that’s always been my motto.”

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It's @Naomi_Osaka_'s world and we're just living in it 🌎#BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/g86C06FdcT

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 6, 2019

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Tennis has become the world’s second most popular sport largely because of the geographic, cultural, stylistic and racial diversity of its professionals. The sport has developed passionate fans of different backgrounds because of this diversity. Unfortunately, diversity was not always encouraged by the sport’s leadership. Most people are familiar with the tennis and life successes of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe. However, because of racial discrimination in tennis and America, few people know the incredible story of the many talented players who were not allowed to compete in major tennis tournaments because of their race.

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 American Tennis Association (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.

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.

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#CitiTasteOfTennis was bigger and better than ever this year! Check out our #recap video to relive the fun!https://t.co/dSlhmN46xd

— Citi Taste of Tennis (@TasteofTennis) September 7, 2018

.@Venuseswilliams pours the important ingredient to @RichardBlais dish @TasteofTennis. #TasteofTennis #BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/3STEIBqibU

— Palm Springs Life (@palmspringslife) March 5, 2019

.@RichardBlais brings out his secret weapon for this tuna dish just for @Venuseswilliams @TasteofTennis. #CitiTasteofTennis #BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/1sY24kQSZS

— Palm Springs Life (@palmspringslife) March 5, 2019

RT @ElinaSvitolina Great people, Delicious food = @TasteofTennis 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/03LG6dMN0o

— Tennis X News (@tennisx) March 5, 2019

Thank you @Tasteoftennis for a great night. Can’t wait for Miami! #cititasteoftennis March 18 pic.twitter.com/Ru4UuEfGeR

— Gael Monfils (@Gael_Monfils) March 6, 2019

Always a good idea to be part of the @TasteofTennis party👌😃
Thanks for having us 🙏 ! pic.twitter.com/uZT8gsoYvq

— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) March 5, 2019

Quel plaisir meeting @Gael_Monfils and @stanwawrinka at @TasteofTennis. Classy guys at a classy event! ✨ pic.twitter.com/OIcci3VEnJ

— Amateur Tennis Hour (@thetennishour) March 5, 2019

Last night @TasteofTennis ♥️ pic.twitter.com/tFMFnWNuAD

— Sonya Kenin (@SonyaKenin) March 5, 2019

@geniebouchard always come out with great style every event👌😄 #fashun #extra @TasteofTennis pic.twitter.com/SWstyJKnuv

— #GenieBouchardLover❤ (@KarlGBLover) March 5, 2019

Fun fun fun @TasteofTennis #Woody pic.twitter.com/EYQjTPN4mt

— A. Pavlyuchenkova (@NastiaPav) March 5, 2019

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This time last year, the story unfolding in the 2018 WTA season revolved around the return of serve. Twelve months on and it's the serve that has set the current Top 10 apart from the field.

Current WTA Top 10

1. Naomi Osaka (9-2)
2. Simona Halep (10-4)
3. Petra Kvitova (17-4)
4. Sloane Stephens (5-4)
5. Karolina Pliskova (13-3)
6. Elina Svitolina (9-4)
7. Kiki Bertens (10-5)
8. Angelique Kerber (7-4)
9. Aryna Sabalenka (12-4)
10. Serena Williams (4-1)

In 2018, the start of the season was dominated by counter-punchers and aggressive counter-punchers. Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber, and Elina Svitolina swept the biggest tournaments in Australia, before Petra Kvitova tore through February. This season has been about the power players, highlighted by Naomi Osaka, Kvitova, and Karolina Pliskova picking up the big titles Down Under.

Champions at Premier or higher events: 2018 vs. 2019

Brisbane International
2018: Elina Svitolina (d. Sasnovich)
2019: Karolina Pliskova (d. Tsurenko)

Sydney International
2018: Angelique Kerber (d. Barty)
2019: Petra Kvitova (d. Barty)

Australian Open
2018: Caroline Wozniacki (d. Halep)
2019: Naomi Osaka (d. Kvitova)

St. Petersburg
2018: Petra Kvitova (d. Mladenovic)
2019: Kiki Bertens (d. Vekic)

Qatar Total Open
2018: Petra Kvitova (d. Muguruza)
2019: Elise Mertens (d. Halep)

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
2018: Elina Svitolina (d. Kasatkina)
2019: Belinda Bencic (d. Kvitova)

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