Tennis players when they were young
I thought this youtube video is pretty cool (except for the music). It is a compilation of most of the current top tennis players childhood pictures.
Here are the list of the players again:
Andre Agassi
Pete Sampras
Tommy Haas
David Ferrer
Marcos Baghdatis
James Blake
Richard Gasquet
Andy Roddick
Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer
Marat Safin/Dinara Safina
Serena/Venus Williams
Steffi Graf
Monica Seles
Lindsay Davenport
Tatiana Golovin
Nadia Petrova
Amelie Mauresmo
Kim Clijster
Martina Hingis
Anna Kournikova
Elena Dementieva
Ana Ivanovic
Svetlena Kuznetsova
Maria Sharapova
Justine Henin
Celebrating gay marriage?
Errr, not quite actually. For your information, these are not Californian men celebrating the legalisation of gay marriage. They are tennis players having fun at the ATP Players' Night in Hamburg, Germany.
Israeli doubles stars Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram joke at the ATP Players' Night.
Tournament Director Carl-Uwe Steeb and Thomas Muster attend the ATP Players Night in the Copper House in Hamburg, Germany.And speaking about the controversial legalised gay marriage by the top court in California, Ellen DeGeneres announced during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she and girlfriend Portia de Rossi plan to swap vows.
(Images from Getty Images)
Quote of the Day: Maria Sharapova on Justine Henin's retirement
~ Maria Sharapova
(Image from AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
WTA Tour "Superheroes" marketing campaign
Here is the behind-the-seen images and video of the multi-million dollar WTA Tour "Superheroes" marketing campaign photo shoot. The advertisement was shot around some historic sites in Rome.
Jelena Jankovic to the rescue!
Ana Ivanovic runs rather gracefully, isn't she?
Serena Williams looks as if she's on a regular jog in the evening.
So, Venus Williams is the real superhero.
Maria Kirilenko and Ana Ivanovic sat at an outdoor cafe during the shooting ofthe "Superhero" marketing campaign TV commercial.
(Images from Getty Images)
Justine Henin retires from tennis
Coach Carlos Rodriguez is sad now that he has lost his job due to Henin's retirement.It is confirmed. Top-ranked Justine Henin has announced her retirement from professional tennis at a press conference in her native Belgium. So this means that the no. 1 spot on the WTA Rankings will go to Maria Sharapova and tailed very closely by Ana Ivanovic.
After her loss to Safina in Berlin, following a month of rest, Henin said:
"What I am have just gone through is not very reassuring."The 25-year-old Belgian, who has won seven Grand Slam titles, is making the surprising announcement at a press conference on Wednesday.
"I was hoping to rediscover my confidence, and it is not easy."
"I don't know if something is broken, but I seem to lack the ability. I need to think about."
Henin’s decision comes less than two weeks before the start of the French Open. She has won that clay court tournament four times. The only Grand Slam still out of reach is the Wimbledon.
Henin won 10 tournaments last year, but has been in one of the worst slumps of her career this season. She lost last week in the third round of the German Open and pulled out of this week’s Italian Open, citing fatigue.
Henin admitted she'd like to have some time to study and travel away from tennis.
(Image from DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images)
The winners are Nole and Dinara
Last weekend win proves to me that Novak Djokovic is an opportunist and seriously working his way to the no. 1 spot over taking Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
And even though Stanislas Wawrinka lost to Djokovic at the ATP Rome Masters, he is definitely the new name in the men's tennis. Now he has reached the an all-time high Top 10 in the ATP rankings making him the next best tennis player from Switzerland after Roger Federer.
At the German Open, Dinara Safina snatches the title after beating Elena Dementieva. If you still haven't know, Safina's brother is Marat Safin.
(Images from Getty Images)
The 'Worm' got the girl and a short success
Boy shows off his move.Radek 'The Worm' Stepanek success is at Rome didn't last long. He might have beaten World No. 1 Roger Federer but he couldn't survived the match against Novak Djokovic due to wrist injury.
Girl in love.But what the heck, he still got the girl. While playing against Roger Federer, girlfriend and tennis player Nicole Vaidisova was spotted supporting his match. Ah, isn't that sweet?
(Images from Getty Images)
Congrats to the winner of last week's Weekend Challenger!
Congrats to AndroJ for being the winner of last week's contest!
The answers are:
1. Rafael Nadal
2. Fernando Gonzalez
The winning weekly question is:
My favourite player is Roger Federer because he is a record breaker and tennis legend who is such a classy player and able to play effortlessly.
For those who did not win, don't give up. Try again end of this week!
What the f@#% is going on at the semifinals?!
Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka just got free tickets to enter the final at Rome Open.
What the heck is going on? There are two injuries in the semifinals where Radek Stepanek had to stop playing due to wrist injury and overheating while Andy Roddick had to pull out due to a back problem. And the day before, during one of the quarterfinal, Nicolas Almagro had to retire while playing against Djokovic due to wrist injury.
Stepanek complaining wrist injury and overheating.
Roddick experiencing back injury.Perhaps it's a bad timing for the Italian Masters. These players are having physical injuries and there's nothing can be done to avoid it. These retirements are definitely not the same as Djokovic's pull from Monte Carlo recently. Hopefully Djokovic-virus won't spread and spoil the world of men's tennis.
(Images from (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Dinara 'Giantkiller' Safina ends Serena Williams unbeaten run
Safina celebrates victory.Out of a sudden (or maybe since the Australian Open earlier this year), the top and favourite players suddenly seems so vulnerable.
Williams looks dejected.24 hours after booted off Justine Henin at the German Open, Dinara Safina out-muscled Serena Williams in a dramatic 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 match to end Williams 17-match unbeaten run and of course book her way into the semifinal.
(Images from STEFANIE DODEL/AFP/Getty Images)
AS Roma football players are into tennis
It seems that tennis is a favourite sports among the AS Roma football players. Besides Francesco Totti, other players from the same club, Alberto Aquilani (left) and Mancini of Brazil also taking time off to watch the men's quarter-final match between Roger Federer and Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek at the Rome Master tennis tournament, in Rome. Unbelievably, the match saw Federer lost 6-7, 6-7 to Stepanek.
(Images from (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Is tennis a boring sports or it's just Roger Federer?
Miroslava 'Mirka' Vavrinec, girlfiend of Roger Federer looks rather bored while watching him play against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia during the third round match at the Rome Master Series.
(Images by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Weekend Challenger: Guess who and win RM50
Guess who are these players and walk away with RM50 (so that you can buy your mom a cup of coffee this weekend). I've raised up the money this week and of course in return pose more challenging pictures. And don't forget to tell me who is your favourite tennis player.
Picture 1
Picture 2Read the following:
This contest is simple. Just do the following in the comment page of this post. No emails will be entertained.
1. Guess who are the tennis players in the pictures.
2. Tell me in 20 words or less who is your favourite tennis player and why.
3. Leave your email address.
The first contestant who guess it right will win. If there are more than one correct entries, winner will be based on your creativity in answering task no. 2. Winner will be contacted via email.
Conditions: I will only bank in RM50 to the winner via Maybank2U or Public Bank. Contest only open for Malaysians.
Closing date of submission is tomorrow, 10 May, 2008 midnight (Saturday).
It's not the end of clay court dominance for Nadal
Sometimes you just can't have it all.
Rafael Nadal who has just won the Monte Carlo Open and at Barcelona last Sunday, didn't have a chance defend his three straight wins at the Rome Masters after stumbled at the first hurdle when the Spaniard lost 7-5, 6-1 to compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero yesterday.
I wasn't really disappointed as Nadal has been playing non-stop for the past 2 weeks and defended 2 titles. This is the only second time in his last 104 games that Nadal has lost on clay. Ferrero now meets Andy Murray's conqueror, Stanislas Wawrinka, in the third round.
Ferrero who has never beaten Nadal on clay consistently put Nadal under pressure in the first set and then went on to win over his compatriot in eight encounters and his first on clay.
(Images from AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Footballers fancy tennis too
AS Roma's forward and captain Francesco Totti and team-mate Chilean midfielder David Pizarro were spotted at the WTA Italian Tennis Open in Rome. They were following the match between Roger Federer and Guillermo Canas. Federer won the game 6-3, 6-3.
(Images from FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)
What I've missed over the weekend
Another 4th consecutive win for Rafael Nadal at Barcelona. I'm always worry when Nadal play against David Ferrer but not on clay. Althought Nadal dropped a set against his Spanish compatriot, he came back and win 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. What a remarkable result!
In Munich, Fernando Gonzalez won the BMW Open, which is exactly what I expected. He won the match 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 against Simone Bolelli.
So how the guys celebrate their wins? Nadal was thrown into a pool while Gonzalez can proudly pose in front of his new BMW.
(Images from Getty Images)
