Black Tennis Pro's

Championship Match Of The Titan Sisters Goes To Serena

2009-11-01T17:28:00.005-05:00

Serena Williams, 2009 Sony Ericsson Champion

(Photos by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images)

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Serena Williams bested big sister Venus again Sunday, winning 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships final.

Serena broke twice in the first set and lost just seven points on serve in her last match of the year. She looked sharper than Venus in every facet of a match that featured few long rallies and little of the spectacular tennis the two have provided in some of their previous meetings.

Serena sealed the match with a crosscourt forehand winner, and celebrated calmly with a simple fist pump before hugging her sister at the net.

"It feels great," said Serena, who also won the WTA Tour's season-ending event in 2001. "I totally didn't expect to come here and win."

It was Serena's fourth straight win over her sister. She also beat Venus in the round-robin stage of the Doha tournament, the Wimbledon final and the semifinals in Miami this year. She leads their head-to-head record 13-10.

"Playing a final against Venus is really tough," Serena said. "Even though she wasn't really feeling great, she kept hitting every ball back."

Serena earned $1.55 million for the win after finishing the event undefeated. She also clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking earlier this week after Dinara Safina of Russia pulled out injured in her first match.

The tournament featured the eight top-ranked women in the world divided into two groups, with the semifinalsts decided by a round-robin stage.

Venus lost two of her three round-robin matches but still advanced. The defending champion looked tired after rallying for a three-set win over Jelena Jankovic on Saturday, and each of her other group matches went three sets.

She played with her left knee strapped while Serena had strapping on her left thigh.

"It was the end of the season, so I have no complaints," Venus said about her fitness level. "You have to show up and play no matter what. So that had nothing to do with it."

Serena, who advanced after U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki retired injured in the semifinals, held five of her last seven service games at love and lost just one point in each of the other two.

It was her third tournament win of the season after Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

"I haven't won a tournament that wasn't a Grand Slam in a while, so that was even more exciting," she said. "My losing streak in (other) tournaments in over."

The Sisters Are Headed The Same Way - Final In Doha

2009-10-31T15:35:00.006-04:00

Americans Venus and Serena Williams

(Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images)

As unlikely as it seemed in the beginning, American sisters Venus and Serena Williams will appear in yet another final, this one being that of the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships.

As defending champion, older sister Venus had a hard time sinking her teeth into this tournament and it was the actual performance of others in the Maroon Group, Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva, that allowed Venus to ascend to the semifinals.

Against Serbian Jelena Jankovic in Saturday's final, Venus came out strong but was not able to hold on to the first set. More consistent play and some impressive serving propelled Venus to a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 win.

Serena has literally sailed through the tournament undefeated and had no problem making her way to the final. The semifinal against Caroline Wozniacki even provided a little more breathing time as the high-spirited Dane retired at 6-4, 0-1.

For big fans of the sisters, such as myself, the title will remain in the family for at least another year.

Gael Monfils Advances In Vienna

2009-10-29T04:29:00.005-04:00

VIENNA -- Third-seeded Gael Monfils of France beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in a straight-set, first-round match Wednesday at the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy in Vienna.

Monfils, the tournament's 2008 runner-up, defeated his Spanish foe 7-5, 6-4, winning 79 percent of service points and hitting seven aces.

If Monfils, a Paris native, wins the Vienna event, he will earn 160 points in his effort to qualify for the season-ending men's singles final at London next month.

Monfils, provisional 16th, faces long odds to make it into one of the two spots remaining for the ATP World Tour Final starting November 22 in London. But he says the chase is the last thing on his mind as he competes at the event where he lost the 2008 final.

"I'm really not thinking about London, not at all. I'm more excited about maybe winning a title here after missing it last year.

"I hope to play well here and next week in Valencia - maybe I can grab the title in Bercy (Paris Masters), that would help."

Source UPI/AFP

Safina's Loss Is Serena's Gain

2009-10-29T02:12:00.009-04:00

Americans Serena and Venus Williams
(Photo by AP)

In what was one of the strangest retirements from a match that I've ever witnessed, on Wednesday at the Sony Ericsson Championships during a second round match between Russian Dinara Safina and Serbian Jelena Jankovic, a sobbing and clearly overwhelmed Dinara Safina simply began crying, walked over to the official, retired, shook her opponents hand and made her way off court. It was heart wrenching to see.

We were later informed that she had been struggling with a back injury for three months and had been taking cortisone injections.

Safina said she will be sidelined for at least six weeks and is struggling to compete in the opening grand slam of 2010 in Australia.

"My body just gave up. I did everything possible to play. I went to have a cortisone injection, but I couldn't handle the pain anymore," Safina told reporters.

Hopefully she will have a speedy recovery.

On the flip side, the woman that caused all kind of ruckus earlier this year when she stated "we all know who the real number one is, will indeed be the real world number 1, again, come Monday, November 2.

After playing a very tight match against big sister Venus, and then being asked if she knew that she would regain the number one ranking Serena said," It's a great feeling to be world number one, but I feel really sorry for Dinara. She's a great player and never gives up."

Top Seed Tsonga Advances In Lyon

2009-10-27T23:41:00.006-04:00

LYON, France (AFP) — Top seed and home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga squeezed past Kevin Kim and into the second round of the Lyon ATP event here Tuesday.

The unseeded American belied his 87th world ranking to give Tsonga a run for his money but the 2008 Australian Open finalist eventually prevailed 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5).

The unexpectedly tight first round duel had the Gerland crowd captivated for an hour and a half.

In the second tie break Tsonga was trailing 5-3 but he managed to raise his game to close out the set and match.

The 24-year-old is aiming for his sixth career title and his fourth this season after wins in Japan, Johannesburg and Marseille.

Elsewhere Croatian third seed Ivan Ljubicic, who took the Lyon title in 2001, ended the hopes of Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello with a 6-3, 6-4 success.

Tsonga's compatriots enjoyed differing fortunes.

Veteran Fabrice Santoro, a winner here back in 1997, was knocked out by Spanish eighth seed Albert Montanes 6-4, 6-4, but Michael Llodra lives on after brushing aside Algerian Lamine Ouahab 6-1, 6-2.

Two qualifiers, France's David Guez and South African Kevin Anderson, respectively saw off Rajeev Ram of the United States and German Simon Greul to also make it into the second round.

Round Robin Play Puts Serena Up One, And Venus Down One

2009-10-27T20:45:00.004-04:00

Americans Venus and Serena Williams
(Photos by Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture is worth a thousand words, and the above photo says it all...

On Tuesday evening in Doha at the 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships, American sisters Venus and Serena Williams split the outcome of their round robin play down the middle... Venus lost and Serena won.

First up was Venus against Russian Elena Dementieva. During the first set Venus played beautifully and was in total control, it appeared that the outcome of Venus winning was a foregone conclusion. Wrong.

Somewhere mid second set, after being up a set and a break, Venus took her foot off of the gas, loaded up her game with errors and allowed Dementieva to breeze right on by her to set up a third and final set; the handwriting was already on the wall.

Dementieva came out even stronger in the third set and sealed the deal by defeating Venus 3-6, 7-6(6) 6-2 - very disheartening.

Serena Williams and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova immediately followed that match and played in very different fashion. The two ladies were literally toe-to-toe until the very end. Serena was able to win critical points when necessary and came out the victor defeating Kuznetsova in straight sets 7-6, 6-5.

Serena Williams Returns To Fed Cup Play For 2009 Final

2009-10-26T20:35:00.000-04:00

2007 USA Fed Cup Team (l-r) Vania King, Lisa Raymond, Venus Williams, Serena Williams
(Photo by Getty Images)

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- Serena Williams is back on the U.S. Fed Cup team for the first time since 2007.

Surprise U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin is also on the roster announced Tuesday by the U.S. Tennis Association for the Nov. 7-8 final against host Italy.

Williams leads active women with 11 Grand Slam singles titles and is 4-0 in Fed Cup singles matches over her career. Her sister Venus is not on the team.

Top-ranked doubles player Liezel Huber and Alexa Glatch round out the roster.

U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez says she strongly believes her team can win the Fed Cup title, something the country hasn't done since 2000.

(PHOTOS) Venus And Serena Williams Join WTA Elite Eight In Doha

2009-10-26T04:41:00.007-04:00

Last year's Sony Ericsson Championships winner, American Venus Williams, shares the stage with 2009's WTA elite eight.
(Photos by Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)

American super sisters (l-r) Venus and Serena Williams.

(L-R) Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, Serena Williams, USA, Dinara Safina, Russia, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, Elena Dementieva, Russia, and Venus William, USA.

The ladies line up during the draw for the WTA Championships at the Museum of Islamic Art on October 25, 2009 in the Qatari capital Doha. The 1.55-million-dollar championship willl take place in Doha betwee October 27 and November 1. The eight players are split into two groups of four with the top two in each making the semi-finals.

(l-r) Russian trio of Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva

(l-r) Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, Jelena Jankovic, Servia, Victoria Azarenka, Belarus

The Young One Shines As He Takes Title In Calabasas: "I'm Just Happy To Get One"

2009-10-26T01:41:00.009-04:00

American Donald Young
(Photo by Getty Images)

By Erik Boal, Special to the Daily News

Although his opponent in the final of the $50,000 USTA Men's Pro Tennis Championship of Calabasas was 11 years his senior and ranked 129spots higher on the ATP World Tour, it was 20-year-old Donald Young who played like a savvy veteran Sunday.

Relying on clutch serving and some timely passing shots, Young recorded the final six points to capture the first-set tiebreaker and rode the momentum to win the last five games of the match en route to a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over No. 100 Michael Russell of Houston at Calabasas Tennis and Swim Center.

It was Young's first singles title since winning a $50,000 Challenger event in Sacramento a year ago and his third as a professional, including a victory at the $75,000 Aptos Challenger in July 2007.

"I'm just happy to get one," said Young, an Atlanta resident and former world junior No. 1. "These are few and far between."

Young's performance also helped erase the disappointment of losing in the semifinals of last year's event to Sam Warburg, in addition to a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 setback to Robert Kendrick in the final of the 2007 tournament.

"It gives you a lot of confidence doing that," said Young, who defeated No. 112 Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-2 in the round of 16.

"For me, it's all about being consistent. I've started keeping more balls in play and playing a lot smarter. And I feel like if I'm moving well, I'm playing well."

After recording the match's first break to take a 3-2 lead, it appeared the left-handed Young would be able to serve out the first set. But Russell, who dropped only one set entering the final, broke back in the 10th game, then held to take a 6-5 lead.

Young also held to force the tiebreaker, but hit unforced errors after his first two serves to face a 3-0 deficit.

After Young, who trailed 4-1, hit a backhand winner on the line to tie the tiebreaker at 4-4, Russell hit a backhand into the net, followed by two forehand errors to relinquish the set.

"Donald obviously played great all week," said Russell, who reached the final of the first Calabasas event in 2001. "He handled the conditions much better than I did today."

Young, who rebounded from a first-set loss in his opening-round match against qualifier Louk Sorensen to win his final 10 sets, broke Russell twice in the second set to atone for a 6-4, 6-2 loss in February in Dallas.

"If you don't come with your `A' game against (Michael), you're going to lose," Young said. "It was a big key for me to win the first set, especially serving for it. (Trailing 4-1 in the tiebreaker) I wasn't going to give it up because I knew it would be even tougher to come back and win two sets."

Missed Serena On Conan O'Brien? Here's The Interview Clip

2009-10-16T00:35:00.003-04:00

Serena Conan Int
by yardie4lifever2

Funky Round For The French: Tsonga Defeated, Monfils Retires

2009-10-15T06:19:00.008-04:00

(l-r) J0-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils of France.

Even though both Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils have been having a pretty good go of it lately, Thursday morning presented all manner of issues for both of them at the Shanghai ATP Masters.

First up was Big Jo-Willie, whose forehand was an obstacle in and of itself. In falling to Swede Robin Soderling, Tsonga was all over the place. He couldn't seem to get his game organized in his head or on the court. I've rarely seen Tsonga so frustrated on court. He demolished one of his uncooperative racquets after an errant forehand. He may have killed that stupid racquet, but it didn't improve his game.

Soderling was playing much better and took advantage of the out of sorts Tsonga. He went on to defeat the number five seed 6-3, 6-3.

The same seemed to be true for fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils who went up against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic after the Tsonga vs. Soderling match. After losing the first set and continuing to play very poorly, down 6-3, 3-0, Monfils came to net, shook Ljubicic's hand, then retired.

I didn't catch the nature of the injury, but I'm sure we'll be hearing about it at some point today.

Serena's Nude Mag Cover: Her Body, Her Choice

2009-10-15T06:01:00.004-04:00

I don't understand all of the negative hoopla surrounding this cover. I think the photos of all the athletes are very artistically done and represent 'the body' beautifully.

The cover of Serena shows a very athletically built, yet feminine Black woman who is proud of her frame - what's wrong with that?

Blake And Barker Have Parted, Is It Too Late?

2009-10-15T04:59:00.005-04:00

James Blake, USA
(Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

American James Blake had a brief glimpse at winning again when he took out Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 7-6⁴, 6-3 on Monday in the first round of the Shanghai ATP Masters, but the victory was short lived.

On Wednesday Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated Blake in three sets 6-2, 6-7⁴, 6-4. And the hits just keep on coming... perhaps not for good though. Blake is now working with former pro and longtime friend American Kelly Jones. Shockers!

After 17 years on the job, American Brian Barker can now contemplate doing something different with his days, as he is no longer coaching Blake. Nevertheless, Blake states that they continue to have a strong relationship and that this parting is on good terms.

"It's not like we're ending our relationship, we're still good friends, which will never change. Right now we both feel like I need to hear some things from a different voice. Kelly's been close to both of us for a long time, and he's a perfect fit for now. If things go well with him, every one's happy. Brian wants nothing but the best for me. If they don't, then I go back to Brian and we know there's a reason I'm back. It was just time to take a little break and see how it goes with someone else.''

Of the change Barker stated, "I told him that the most important thing in his tennis career is to have a clear head and peace of mind for the rest of your life that you did everything you possibly could to get better, maximize your potential and not leave anything on the table. He eventually agreed that was a good idea."

Barker anticipates that Blake will "... hear the same things in a different way. Sometimes when you're not playing your best, the thinking is that you stir the pot. You put your hat on backwards. There are no guarantees, but you need to look at every option."

After mounting more loss in Cincinnati in August, Blake also stated that he and Barker again discussed the possibilities of a change. "We were going through the same things over and over, and I was looking for answers that probably weren't there. It may not have had anything to do with the coaching. Going into the Open, we had both had come to the understanding that we were going to stop, but we didn't want to change anything during or before the Open, being so important. The comfort level between us is very good and will always be very good."

In response to a cry from various persons that he should get rid of Barker, Blake stated, "If they're talking about you that much, you must have earned that pressure that you've gotten. We never let it affect us. I didn't keep him just to spite people. I'm going to do what's best for me. Now I've hit a point where I need to try something a little different. Kelly's a great coach and people he worked with clearly improved when they worked with him.''

Well, we'll see how it goes, I truly hope that this is a change for the better.

Source

Venus Shoots Cover For Upcoming Book: "Come To Win"

2009-10-15T03:57:00.005-04:00

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (October 14, 2009)-
Venus Williams, at PGA National Resort & Spa, shooting cover for upcoming book "Come to Win" by Amistad/Harper Collins on shelves summer 2010.

Venus Toppled In Tokyo

2009-09-29T03:56:00.004-04:00

Venus Williams, USA

(Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

Tokyo (AP) -- Defending champion Dinara Safina and Venus Williams were knocked out of the second round by qualifiers at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Monday.

Chang Kai-chen, an 18-year-old from Taiwan, upset the top-ranked Safina 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5. Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova edged Williams 7-6 (6), 7-5 to reach the third round.

Safina was serving for the match in the third set when she double-faulted to give up a break. Chang, ranked 132nd and playing only the fourth time in a WTA main draw, held her serve and broke Safina again for victory.

“The double-fault didn't affect me that much,” Safina said. “Whether it's a double-fault or a mistake it's the same. It's just the way I played at 5-4. It wasn't the right game, I didn't use my first serve the whole game.”

A dejected Williams made a hasty exit from Ariake Colosseum, saying only she was looking forward to her next match in Beijing.

Williams took a 3-0 lead in the first set but the 18-year-old Pavlyuchenkova fought back, breaking Williams to tie it 5-5 before holding serve and winning the tiebreak.

Pavlyuchenkova hit a forehand down the line to go up 6-5 in the second set. She had a triple-match point in the 12th game and won when Williams' return was long.

Shenay Perry And Mashona Washington Conquer Coleman Championships

2009-09-27T22:18:00.007-04:00

Americans Shenay Perry (l) and Mashona Washington (r)

Americans Shenay Perry and Mashona Washington walked away with the singles and doubles titles, respectively, after Sunday's finals at the Coleman Vision Tennis Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For the singles championship Perry defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-2.

Mashona Washington and American Riza Zalameda took the doubles title by defeating the doubles team of Melinda Czink of Hungary and American Lindsay Lee-Waters 6-3, 6-2.

Congrats ladies!!

Monfils Prevails In Metz - "The Curse Is Over"

2009-09-27T21:50:00.007-04:00

Open de Moselle singles champion Gael Monfils of France

(Photos by AP)

METZ, France (AP)Gael Monfils ended a four-year title drought with a 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the Open de Moselle final on Sunday.

Monfils served 14 aces and broke the 23rd-ranked Kohlschreiber twice in the third set before closing out the match. The Frenchman had won their previous encounter last year in Vienna Monfils, who reached the fourth round at this year’s U.S. Open, won his second career ATP title following his victory in Sopot, Poland, in 2005.

Kohlschreiber saved three set points in the first set to force a tiebreaker that Monfils concluded at the net with a drop shot.

Kohlschreiber broke Monfils in the sixth game of the second set and leveled with an ace. But the Frenchman finally broke his opponent’s serve twice to improve to 2-6 in ATP finals.

“For a long time people spoke about my lost finals,” Monfils said. “But now the curse is over. I’m happy with this victory. I managed to win, and on top of that it was in France.”

The 13th-ranked Monfils added that he wouldn’t be satisfied “until I win the French Open, which is my ultimate goal.”

The last Frenchman to win the French Open was Yannick Noah, in 1983.

(PHOTOS) Venus And Serena Hang Out With The Dolphins And Teach Tyra Tennis

2009-09-26T22:22:00.007-04:00

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - SEPTEMBER 21: Bob Griese and Dan Marino with Serena and Venus Williams before the Miami Dolphins play against the Indianapolis Colts September 21, 2009 at Landshark Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
(Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Venus and Serena at the Ocean Drive Club prior to Miami Dolphins game.
(Photo by Alexander Tamergo/Getty Images)

Serena made an appearance on the Tyra Show and gave Tyra a tennis lesson.
(Photos by Tyra Show)

(l-r) Tyra, Serena, Michael Strahan and guest.

Mashona Washington And Shenay Perry Into Coleman Vision Finals

2009-09-26T13:42:00.005-04:00

Americans Shenay Perry (l) and Mashona Washington (r)

Americans Mashona Washington and Shenay Perry have advanced to the championship rounds of both the singles and doubles of the USTA Pro Circuit 2009 Coleman Vision Tennis Championships.

In Saturday's singles semifinals, Perry defeated Croatia's Ani Majacika 7-6(2), 6-2 to set up a final match with the Czech Republic's Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Mashona Washington, teamed with fellow American Riza Zalameda, defeated the doubles pairing of Argentine Jorjelina Cravero and Frederica Piedade of Portugal 7-5, 4-6 [10-6]. The two will face Melinda Czink of Hungary and American Lindsay Lee-Waters in Sunday's final.

Congratulations ladies - Work it out!!

Monfils Earns A Shot At Moselle Title

2009-09-26T13:32:00.004-04:00

METZ, France, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Top seed Gael Monfils downed Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-3 in an all-French semi-final at the Metz ATP tournament on Saturday to set up a final with Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Gasquet, fighting to recapture his best form after a 2-1/2-month suspension following a positive test for cocaine, stayed in contention until he dropped serve with a double fault in the ninth game.

Monfils then took control, relying on booming serves and getting another break early in the second set.

In Sunday's final, the Frenchman will meet Kohlschreiber, seeded second, who beat France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 6-4. Their semi-final was tighter with the German showing more composure when it mattered.

Monfils, who leads 1-0 against Kohlschreiber, has been chasing a title since his maiden win in 2005 in Sopot, Poland. He has lost six finals since.

Monfils And Gasquet To Meet In Moselle Semifinal

2009-09-26T00:02:00.005-04:00

Gael Monfils, France

METZ, France (AP)—Top-seeded Gael Monfils reached the Open de Moselle semifinals when Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia injured his right ankle and retired on Friday.

Next up will be fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who rallied to beat fourth-seeded Philipp Petzschner of Germany 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-3.

Petzschner served 16 aces but Gasquet managed to break him five times.

Monfils and Gasquet, both 23 and based in Switzerland, will meet in Metz for a third time. Both beat the other at the quarterfinal stage en route to reaching the final, Gasquet in 2004 and Monfils in 2005. Gasquet leads 2-1 overall.

Paul-Henri Mathieu was the third Frenchman to advance, reaching the semifinals for a second consecutive year with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Andreas Beck of Germany.

The third-seeded Mathieu hit 18 aces and converted three break points.

Mathieu is looking to reach his second final of the year after losing to Nikolay Davydenko in Hamburg. He will next play second-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who beat Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-1, 6-3.

Kohlschreiber broke Korolev four times and lost only seven points on his serve to oust the Russian in less than an hour.

Mathieu won his only previous meeting with Kohlschreiber, on clay in Gstaad six years ago.

(PHOTOS) Venus Williams Joins Other WTA Ladies For Tokyo Press Conference

2009-09-25T23:45:00.003-04:00

TOKYO, Japan - Nine of the world's Top 10 players will be in Tokyo this week for the Toray Pan Pacific Open, a $2,000,000 Premier-level tournament held on the outdoor hardcourts of the Ariake Colosseum.

Venus Williams, USA attends a press conference for the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis 2009 at Hotel Grand Pacific Le Daiba on September 25, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan.
(Photos by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)

Dinara Safina, Russia and Venus Williams, USA

Venus Williams, USA

Ai Sugiyama, Japan

Tournament officials join Dinara Safina, Ai Sugiyama, Ayumi Morita, and Venus Williams

Dinara Safina, Russia

Dinara Safina, Russia and Venus Williams, USA

(l-r) Dinara Safina, Russia, Ai Sugiyama, Japan, Ayumi Morita, Japan and Venus Williams, USA

(l-r) Ai Sugiyma, Japan, Dinara Safina, Russia, Venus Williams, USA and Ayumi Morita, Japan

Serena Williams Withdraws From Pan Pacific Open

2009-09-25T07:15:00.004-04:00

TOKYO (Reuters) -- World No. 2 Serena Williams has pulled out of next week's Pan Pacific Open with knee and toe injuries, organizers said on Thursday.

The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion has not played a singles match since her rant at a lineswoman in her semifinal loss to Belgian Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open earlier this month.

The rest of the women's world top 10, including Serena's older sister Venus, is among the field at the $2 million event.

World No. 1 Dinara Safina, who was not on the initial entry list, has opted to compete in Tokyo in a bid to retain the Pan Pacific crown she won last year.

Is It Me, Or Is Tampax Campaign Starring Serena And 'Mother Nature' Kinda Tacky?

2009-09-25T06:06:00.007-04:00

WTA, ATP and USTA Pro Circuit Tennis Action This Week

2009-09-25T03:55:00.012-04:00

SINGLES

Round 1

Angela Haynes, USA defeated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
6-7(5), 2-6

DOUBLES

Round 1

Angela Haynes, USA and Natalie Grandin, RSA
defeated
Wen-Hsin Hsu, TPE and Junri Namigata, JPN
6-3, 6-4

Quarterfinal Round

Angela Haynes, USA and Natalie Grandin, RSA
defeated by
Alisa Kleybanova, RUS and Ekaterina Makarova
3-6, 3-6

DOUBLES

Round 1

Ahsha Rolle, USA and Monica Niculescu, ROM
defeated
Maria Kondratieva, RUS and Sophie Lefevre, FRA
6-1, 7-5

Quarterfinal Round

Ahsha Rolle, USA and Monica Niculescu, ROU
defeated
Maria Elena Cumerin, ITA Ksenia Palkina, KGZ
w.o.

Semifinal Round

Ahsha Rolle, USA and Monica Niculescu, ROU
defeated by
Olga Govortsova, BLR and Tatiana Poutchek, BLR
1-6, 2-6

SINGLES

Round 1

Gael Monfils, FRA vs. BYE

Round 2

Gael Monfils, FRA defeated Sebastian Grosjean, FRA
6-1, 6-1

Quarterfinal Round

Gael Monfils, FRA defeated Janko Tipsarevic, SRB
6-1, 4-2, Ret'd

Semifinal Round

Gael Monfils, FRA defeated Richard Gasquet, FRA
6-4, 6-3

Final Round

Gael Monfils, FRA vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber

SINGLES

Round 1

Brittany Augustine, USA defeated by Ani Mijacika, CRO
6-4, 6-7(5), Ret'd

Shenay Perry, USA defeated Ming Yuan, CHN
6-0, 6-3

Mashona Washington, defeated by Lindsay Lee-Waters, USA
4-6, 6-2, 4-6

Round 2

Shenay Perry,USA defeated Olga Putchkova, RUS
7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(6)

Quarterfinal Round

Shenay Perry, USA defeated Frederica Piedade, POR
6-4, 5-7, 6-0

Semifinal Round

Shenay Perry, USA vs. Ani Mijacika, CRO

Eliminated during singles qualifying rounds:

Asia Muhammed, USA
Tiya Rolle, USA

DOUBLES

Round 1

Mashona Washington, USA and Riza Zalameda, USA
defeated
Varvara Lepchenko, USA and Coco Vandeweghe, USA
5-7, 6-4 [10-8]

Quarterfinal Round

Mashona Washington, USA and Riza Zalameda, USA
defeated
Brittany Augustine, USA and Ashley Weinhold, USA
6-7(4), 6-4 [10-7]

Semifinal Round

Mashona Washington, USA and Riza Zalameda, USA
defeated
Jorjelina Cravero, ARG and Frederica Piedade, POR
7-5, 4-6 [10-6]

Final Round

Mashona Washington, USA and Riza Zalameda, USA
vs.
Awaiting Opponent

SINGLES

Round 1

Nicholas Monroe, USA defeated Tyler Hochwalt,USA
6-0, 6-0

Marcus Fugate, USA defeated Tim Goransson, SWE
6-3, 6-4

Round 2

Nicholas Monroe defeated Erling Tveit, NOR
6-3, 6-3

Marcus Fugate defeated by Michael McClune, USA
2-6, 5-7

Quarterfinal Round

Nicholas Monroe, USA defeated by Blake Strode, USA

1-6, 3-6