I'll be going back to hometown tonight. So, no blogging during this weekend.
Before I knock off for my weekend rest, here's a picture (or two) of Nicolas Kiefer. Finally he got himself a haircut (and clean shaven)! Look so much better now.
Handsome and confident (Sorry but he's out from Gstaad Open anyway due to foot problem).
Ugly and depressing, eh? No more.
And lastly, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have confirmed their place at the prestigious Tennis Masters Cup, to be held for the fourth year at Shanghai’s Qi Zhong Stadium from November 9-16.(Images by Getty Images/AFP/File/Glyn Kirk)
Rafael Nadal might give the Mercedes Cup a miss but not former Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. She and Henri Leconte from France were playing at an exhibition match at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.
(Images by AP Photo/Daniel Maurer)
After a successful run at the Wimbledon Championships, Rafael Nadal arrived to a hero's welcome in his home town of Manacor on the Spanish island of Majorca, and declared that the number one spot in world tennis is now his goal.
"Now it has become a little objective," Nadal said.
Nadal has long been world number two, behind five-times Wimbledon champion Roger Federer of Switzerland.
However, Nadal admitted that things have changed after beating Federer in Sunday's historic final.
Federer continues to lead the way in the ATP ranking with 6,600 points, followed by Nadal on 6,055. This is the closest gap for them.
Nadal acknowledged that he has "good options" to reach the top spot in the upcoming North American tour, when he plays the Masters Series tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati.
He was acclaimed by hundreds of fans - including Balearic Islands regional president Francesc Antich and Manacor Mayor Antoni Pastor - as he waved to them from the balcony of the Manacor town hall.
Nadal, 22, said he stands a chance of becoming world number one provided he maintains his current level of play and keeps "working with the same humility," while he again praised Federer as "the best player in history."
I think he made the right decision by pulling out from the Mercedes Cup due to fatigue and to prevent further injury to his knee.
(Images by JAIME REINA/AFP/Getty Images)
(Most of the text via bangkokpost.com)
The newly crowned Wimbledon men's singles champion, Rafael Nadal, arrives at the dinner.
Wimbledon women's singles champion, the undisputed grass court queen, Venus Williams.
Tell you what, I'm still awed by last night's battle between Nadal and Federer.
(Images by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani spent another day at the Centre Court cheering for Roger Federer.
The couple sat next to Federer's girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec throughout the 4 hours 48 minutes match, the longest in the history of Wimbledon final.
Throughout the tense final, it seems that the heavily pregnant Gwen Stefani is merely accompanying her husband. She looked bored, what more had to put up with the match suspensions due to rain.
However it's totally different for Gavin who, just like Mirka, seems to show a lot of emotions during the match.
Stefani is expected to remain in London until she gives birth to her second baby.
(Via dailymail.co.uk)
If you are a Nadal fan, you'll be just as emotional as me witnessing his win at the Wimbledon men's singles final moment ago. He finally became the first man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Bjorn Borg in 1980.
Nadal, the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon since Manolo Santana in 1966, also avenged his losses to Federer in the last two finals here and snapped Federer's All England Club winning streak at 40 matches and overall grass-court run at 65.
During the championship point, Federer sends a forehand error into the bottom of the net. After so much of drama and rain delays, the 4 hours 48 minutes match finally ended with the results 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7.
Nadal in tears, hugs his great rival and immediately runs up to his box to hug his family and pick up a Spanish flag. He then hops over to the royal box to shake some hands of Spanish royalty!
Nadal celebrates his win with Crown Prince Felipe of Spain and Princess Letizia of Spain.
During the interviews with the players, Federer said, "I tried everything, it went a little late and everything, but look Rafa is a deserving champion, he just played incredible today. He's the worst opponent on the best court, but it's been a joy again to play here, I know I couldn't win it under the circumstances, but I'll be back next year."
According to the new Wimbledon champion, "This is my favourite tournament, for me to win on this court is a dream. I'm playing in the same time as the best player in history, Roger Federer. He's still number one, he's still the best, he still has five titles here, and I just have one."
Now Nadal has won his 5th Grand Slam title, adding to his four consecutive French Open championships. Federer, meanwhile, remains two shy of Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam wins.
Wow, it's almost 5 a.m. and I'll have to go to work in a couple of hours. But this is one of the best Monday morning, ever. And I can't wait for the Olympics tennis to start.
(Image by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Julian Finney/Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
(Some part of the text from Yahoo! UK Eurosport)
Once again, we will see the two top seeds meet in the final again. Let me tell you, I've never get bored watching both players play against each other, every time. And tonight's match is extremely an important one.
Another Wimbledon trophy in waiting, no?
As a Rafael Nadal's fan, I've heard and read quite enough about people having doubt in Nadal's ability in beating the world no. 1, Roger Federer, particularly on lawn. Yes, Federer is still the best player on this surface, but you have got to see how much Nadal has improved on grass court this year. Better slice, better backhand and better control on the court. And mentally, he is still the man with the mind of steel!
Bjorn Borg seems uncomfortable with Federer and Nadal breaking his records.
It's funny to read that tennis legend Bjorn Borg changes his mind about who's going to win at the championships, veering towards Federer instead of Nadal.
After the French Open when Nadal thrashed Federer in the final for the loss of only four games, Borg, the last man to win both tournaments in the same year, said he thought Nadal would win Wimbledon for the first time.
Not many tennis legends see what Nadal is seeing.
But after watching both men play “unbelievable tennis” to reach the semi-finals he told reporters: “Roger is playing perfect tennis.
“Before the tournament I picked Nadal just to pick someone else… Nadal has improved his game a lot since last year but if Roger is playing the way he has until the semi-finals it’s going to be tough to beat Roger,” Borg said.
After winning the claycourt French Open, the Spaniard quickly adjusted to the slick surface by capturing the Queen’s Club title a week later.
“Nadal looked like he had been practising on grass for a month… for me it was impossible to get used to the grass that quickly,” Borg said.
In Paris, Borg said Federer had a bad match. “But this is his home field.”
Well, whatever, Borg. We'll see if you make another wrong prediction, again. Same goes to Vijay Amritraj who seems not very good in making 'precise' prediction.
(Image by AFP/Carl de Souza/AP Photo/Kevin Lamarque/Alastair Grant)
Now, my chance to win a trip to London under the ESPNStar.com's Thai Airways contest is brighter as I've predicted Venus Williams win at the Wimbledon women singles.
Venus proves she is really comfortable playing on grass court by winning her 5th Wimbledon women singles trophy! Not only that, it's a double celebration for Venus as she also won the women's doubles title!
“I’m definitely more in tune with my sister’s feelings because one of us has to win and one of us has to lose,” the No. 7-seeded Venus said. “You could never detract from winning a Wimbledon, so of course it doesn’t detract from that. But I’m definitely thinking about how my sister’s feeling.”
I think it's bullshit when people said the sisters will sit down together with their parents and discuss who's going to win at Wimbledon. Serena lost to her big sister Venus 5-7, 4-6, as though she had just finished losing to a stranger.“It’s definitely not any easier,” Serena said. “I just look at her as another opponent at the end of the day.”
About 3.5 hours after the women singles final ended, the sisters returned to the same court, except now they were playing on the same side of the net, and they beat Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-2 to win the women’s doubles title.
On the men's doubles final, Daniel Nestor celebrates with Nenad Zimonjic after winning 7-6 (14-12), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-3, in a match that lasted 2 hours, 39 minutes against Kevin Ullyett and Jonas Bjorkman.
(Images by AFP/POOL/Glyn Kirk/Ian Walton/Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Handsome and confident (Sorry but he's out from Gstaad Open anyway due to foot problem).
