Black Tennis Pros

While Big sister Venus was all glammed up and attending the ESPY Awards last night, American Serena Williams was busy toiling away at the Bank Of The West Classic at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California last night.

Top seed Williams played the feature night match and picked up right where she left off during her run to the final of Wimbledon, beating qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The 15-year-old Larcher de Brito came out on fire, hitting her big ground strokes to perfection in building a 6-4 2-0 lead; the more experienced Williams was far from finished in her career debut at the Bank of the West Classic, however, rallying to win in three sets under the lights.

"I never underestimate anyone, especially when they play me, because they'll always bring out their best game," Williams said. "In a way it was surprising, but you've just got to deal with it. I had a plan and I started playing better, and it's encouraging for me to bounce back after losing the first set."

"I started off really well; I slowed down a little bit, but overall I was playing well the whole match," Larcher de Brito said. "Obviously she played such a great game. She's Serena Williams. I didn't have anything to lose and I gave it my all.

"I was getting close to an upset, but now I have a lot of things to work on, and a lot of years ahead of me."

Although Serena Williams is playing the Bank of the West Classic for the first time, the Williams brand has done very well at the Tier II stop in the past. Venus made the final in six of seven trips to Stanford, winning the title twice, in 2000 (beating Lindsay Davenport in the final) and 2002 (beating Kim Clijsters).

"I've never been able to make it here," Williams added. "I'm happy that I'm here. There's a nice atmosphere and it feels good to play in Stanford."

Venus poses in the press room at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. The 2008 ESPYs will air on Sunday, July 20 at 9PM ET on ESPN.

Love the shoes (and the pedicure)! And I've got to agree with Serena, nice legs Venus!

Ben Monroe, coach and father of player Nicholas Monroe shared the following results:

CHALLENGER BANQUE NATIONALE
July 7-13, 2008
Granby, Canada

DOUBLES

Final Round

Nicholas Monroe and Alberto Francis, USA
defeated by
Peter Polansky, CAN and Philip Bester, CAN
2-6, 6-1, [10-5]


MONCTON CHALLENGER
July 14-20, 2008
Moncton, Canada

SINGLES

Round 1

Nicholas Monroe, USA defeated Nathan Thompson, USA
7-6 (0), 6-2

SINGLES

Round 1

James Blake, USA defeated Dudi Sela, ISR
7-6(2), 6-2

Donald Young, USA defeated by Vincent Spadea, USA
2-6, 4-6


DOUBLES

Round 1

James Blake, USA and Sam Querrey, USA
defeated by
Paul Hanley, AUS and Jordan Kerr, AUS
4-6, 6-3, [6-10]


SINGLES

Round 1

Serena Williams, USA vs. BYE


DOUBLES

Round 1

Angela Haynes, USA and Natalie Grandin, RSA
defeated by
Cara Black, ZIM and Liezel Huber, USA
4-6, 3-6


SINGLES*

Round 1

Ellah Nze, USA vs. Emily Gelber, USA

Jewel Peterson, USA defeated by Svetlana Krivencheva, BUL
6-7(4), 1-6

Whitney Jones, USA vs. Petra Padalikova, CZE

Tiya Rolle, USA vs. Susanna Lingman, USA


*Eliminated during qualifiying rounds:

Whitney McCray, USA


DOUBLES

Round 1

Whitney Jones, USA and Tiya Rolle, USA
defeated
Sabrina Tahir, USA and Hilary Toole, USA
6-3, 6-2

Ellah Nze, USA and Anna Lubinsky, USA
vs.
Amanda Fink, USA and Christy Striplin, USA


SINGLES*

Round 1

Phillip Simmonds, USA defeated Cecil Mamiit, PHI
6-3, 7-5

Scoville Jenkins, USA defeated Alessandro Da Col, ITA
7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2

Todd Paul, USA defeated Alex Clayton, USA
6-2, 6-3


*Eliminated during qualifying rounds:

Aba Omodele, USA


DOUBLES

Round 1

Scoville Jenkins, USA and Alex Kuznetsov, USA
vs.
Rick Kepler, USA and Brad Weston, AUS

Aba Omodele, USA and Mason Fuller, USA
defeated by
Brian Cummings, USA and Pablo Pires De Almeida, USA
5-7, 2-6

I recently received an email from one of Black Tennis Pro's favorite players, Jamaica's Dustin Brown. He is busy playing tournaments, nonetheless, he took the time to drop a line and let us know how he is doing and what he's been up to. Good to hear from him!

Dustin says that he still does not have a sponsor, and continues to receive no assistance from the Jamaican Federation. This lack of support makes travel difficult, as well as entering the big tournaments.

At the same time, he has been having good fortune on the courts, which you can read about at his website. Most significantly, Dustin recently won the ITF - Future 8 Singles and Doubles Bitburger Tennis Grand Prix 2008 Trier, Germany, June 2008. Way to go Dustin!

Here is a video clip from the tournament:



Take care, stay in touch and keep up the good work Dustin!

The 2008 Olympus US Open Series gets underway on Monday, July 14, with the men competing at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships presented by Lilly in Indianapolis and the women at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif.

It is just the beginning of six weeks of the Greatest Road Trip in Sports that concludes with the 2008 US Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

Here is a quick look at the first tournaments next week:

The Indianapolis Tennis Championships:

Dates: July 14-20

Location: Indianapolis Tennis Center, on campus of IUPUI.

Defending champion: Dmitry Tursunov (defeated Frank Dancevic, 6-4, 7-5, in the 2007 final)

Top-10 players: No. 8 James Blake (USA), No. 9 Andy Murray (GBR)

Other players to watch: Tursunov, the world No. 33 from Russia, is back to defend his title, and Dancevic also returns. But besides Blake and Murray, there are several other players in the draw ranked ahead of defending champion Tursunov, as Feliciano Lopez has a No. 22 ranking (just two shy of his career high No. 20), and Gilles Simon is listed at No. 26. Blake has played extremely well in the Olympus US Open Series in his career, reaching three finals in 2007 and winning the Pilot Pen title en route to finishing second to world No. 1 Roger Federer in the final points standings. Murray played very well recently at Wimbledon, winning a five-setter over Richard Gasquet in the fourth round, before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Also lurking in the draw are many talented American players, including Robby Ginepri, Donald Young, John Isner, Sam Querrey, Bobby Reynolds and Wayne Odesnik.

Interesting fact: The Indianapolis Tennis Championships presented by Lilly has been named “Tournament of the Year” by the players on the ATP Tour a record 11 times.

Bank of the West Classic:

Dates: July 14-20

Location: Stanford University

Defending champion: Anna Chakvetadze (defeated Sania Mirza, 6-3, 6-2, in the 2007 final)

Top-10 players: No. 5 Serena Williams (USA), No. 6 Elena Dementieva (RUS), No. 8 Chakvetadze (RUS)


Other players to watch: There is no shortage of talent in the draw. The tournament has nine players ranked inside the top 20, as well as three-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport (also a former Bank of the West Classic champion). Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli, Daniela Hantuchova, Patty Schnyder, Francesca Schiavone and Nadia Petrova are all part of the top 20, and Mirza, No. 33, also is returning. Serena Williams is coming off a great run to the 2008 Wimbledon final, where she lost to her sister Venus. Dementieva also had a great run in London, where she defeated Petrova in three sets in the quarterfinals en route to a semifinal finish. In doubles, the world's No. 1-ranked team, American Liezel Huber and Cara Black, are competing.

Interesting fact: The Bank of the West Classic is in its 38^th year and is the oldest women's-only tennis tournament in the world.

SINGLES

Final Round

Milagros Sequera, VEN !! defeated Amanda Fink, USA
6-2, 6-0