I think I should spend some time to blog a bit about Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun (盧彥勳) who is having a great run at the Seoul Challenger this week.
Despite suffering from a jet lag and rain delay during the tournament, Rendy is doing everything he can to repeat his feat at Tashkent Challenger last week.
By the way, the new ATP ranking reveals a better position for Rendy; at no. 65, he is right behind Kei Nishikori.
Well, Kei is already out for the season due to a right knee injury. Here's a chance for Rendy to redeem himself and snatch back his position as the top Asian male player.
Today, Rendy who is the 2nd seed beat Bjorn Phau in the third round 7-6 (6), 7-5. He will play home boy Lee Hyung-Taik in the semifinal tomorrow.
In another semifinal match, Ivo Minar will face off with Thailand no. 1 Danai Udomchoke.
I'll leave you with some pictures of Rendy Lu at the Seoul Challenger forwarded by Esther via Rendy's brother, Thomas. The second picture below was taken earlier this week with Takao Suzuki.
Rendy, 加油 (Jia you in Mandarin means C'mon) and good luck for the weekend! (Via Rendy's website)
Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal attended an event at the Laboral Theatre, Gijon yesterday.
Doesn't he look good in that leather jacket?
In the event, Nadal was interviewed by a Spanish television journalist Maria Escario. No further information that I've heard of about the event yet.
Nadal will be awarded with the 2008 Prince of Asturias Sports award at a traditional ceremony today in the Asturian capital.
The Prince of Asturias Awards are held annually since 1981 to reward scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanitarian work done by individuals, work teams and institutions.
(Images via Flynet Pictures, Reuters/Felix Ordonez)
In the recent updates on her website, Jelena Jankovic said she was back in Belgrade shooting a TV commercial for Knjaz Miloš’s Aqua Viva Hydroactive brand which she presents as a promo face since May this year.
The director of the TV commercial, Aco Boskovic, is fascinated with her positive energy and professional approach.
In this commercial Jelena of course plays against herself and wins thanks to the mental and physical power that she gets from Aqua Viva Hydroactive.
Jelena Jankovic's face is on the bottle and it has already sold in one million samples in just two month since launching on Serbian market!
Here are the photos taken on set.
In addition here are a couple of still pictures taken from Tennis Forum. Jankovic was doing a promo at a shopping mall for the Aqua Viva water.
"JJ Aqua Viva water" huge ads on building in Belgrade.
Rafael Nadal, the world no.1 tennis player, took time off from tennis to be part of the team led by Sergio García in the pro-Am (one professional and three amateurs) prior to the Masters Golf Castellón that begin today at the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo, in Borriol, Spain.
"I've played to a correct level. It was a pleasure and we have fun," said Nadal, the star today on the golf course.
Nadal, with a 9.6 handicap (the level of play is usually measured between 0 and 36), also showed his skill with the golf clubs (and the handles are for right-handed player).
"I'm right-handed for everything except for tennis and soccer. The last sport, football is my passion, but I can not practice often entailing the risk of injury."
"So the golf is a good sport. I like I relax and has no danger of injuries, and it serves to disconnect me for four hours in an environment very nice, "said Nadal at the press conference.
"I think I'm playing the best golf that Sergio playing tennis," Nadal said, in the same celebratory tone with which he expressed confidence in his post pointer ladder.
Nadal also said to be "very grateful" for the Prince of Asturias prize for sports, which he will receive the award next Friday in Oviedo.
"It's an award that fills me with pride and gratitude, not only by how much this award means, but also by the high level of all candidates and the very high level of Spanish sport," he added.
Here are some of Nadal's actions on golf course. The youtube video is pretty good.
(Via elperiodic.com, Images by Stuart Franklin of Getty Images Europe)
Finally former French Open winner and Hall of Famer Michael Chang married Amber Liu last Saturday, Oct. 18 at Lake Hills Community Church in Laguna Hills, Calif.
The reception and dinner took place at the St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point, California.
Michael Chang poses with his fiancee, Amber Liu, after he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame back in July 2008.
And that's in a form of a yellow tennis ball (hehehe!).
Agnieszka Radwanska definitely has a sense of humour. Or perhaps she's telling us something here.
The retirement of Justine Henin has resulted in a stiff competition for the WTA no.1 position among many players including Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and Jankovic.
And Jankovic is considered the last man standing after winning 3 titles in a row and hold on tight to the no. 1 place.
Sometimes it can be lonely at the top.
Especially after a series of battles to the top, you could have made quite a number of 'enemies' along the way. If you know what I mean ;)
Now, I wonder how Jelena will react to this. I bet she's not going to be impressed by the drawing for sure. By the way the drawing will be auctioned for the benefit of a local children's charity at Linz, Austria. It could snatch the highest bid!
Back in August, AskMen.com, the world's leading men's lifestyle web site, asked its readers to help identify the most influential men of 2008: the guys who have had the biggest influence on the way other men behave, buy and think.
More than 200,000 votes were cast and when the results are in, it is not a surprise that a number of prominent sports personalities have made the final cut – including Nadal.
Nadal who is at no. 30 on the list had an overall score of 79.8 (82.5 from Askmen.com and 77.0 from readers).
Here are the reasons why Nadal is no. 30, according to Askmen.com:
All sports need subplots, and Rafael Nadal supplied men around the globe with a scintillating story this year when he faced off against No. 1 seed Roger Federer in the Wimbledon finals for the third consecutive time.
The pair proceeded to play the longest final in the tournament’s history, with Rafael Nadal coming out on top 4 hours and 48 minutes later with a hard-fought victory.
Sports scribes and fans alike were left breathless by the phenomenal spectacle and three-time champ John McEnroe even went so far as to label it "the greatest match I have ever seen."
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama tops the list of most influential men, followed by Apple Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs at No. 2 and American swimming superstar Michael Phelps at No. 3. (Via ATP, Askmen.com)
Dmitry Tursunov and St. Petersburg Open organizers visited Children`s Crisis Center - a charitable public organization that supports children at risk and children from crisis families.
The meeting with the children from the centre went on in a very joyful and relaxed atmosphere.
Dmitry told the children about his childhood, his school years, and about the long time he spent in the USA away from his family.
The children had opportunity to ask him questions that concern them most at the moment - how to achieve success in life, how to choose the right profession.
They were interested in many other things as well, for instance, the attitude of the famous tennis player to bad habits.
Tursunov answered that the only thing he tried was smoking.
"Though I did not like smoking and I quit not even having started", Dmitry added.
It turned out that the kid`s main hobby is table tennis, and Dmitry played with the children with great pleasure.
Though, no one could beat Dmitry in the mini-table tennis tournament that they held after tea - his tennis skills showed up. After the tournament Dmitry gave the children prizes with St. Petersburg Open logo, and invited them to the tournament and the master class for young players held by Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn.
Besides, the children will have an opportunity to take part in different competitions and games organized in the arena of the St. Petersburg Sports and Concert Hall within the framework of the Family Day.
Updates: The bad news is veteran Dominik Hrbaty upset Dmitry Tursunov 6-1, 6-1 in the first round at St. Petersburg Open. (Via St Petersburg official website)
After a successful run at the Madrid Masters, Andy Murray made a short trip back to UK before heading off to another tournament at St Petersburg.
There was no glamourous celebration awaited him unless you think an ice bath is one.
Murray warned that the ice bath is not for the faint of heart.
He said with Neoprene boots or not, nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you have to put your body - up to your waist - into the water. Brrrrrrr..........
Here are some tips from Murray:
There's a few clearly identifiable phases in the ice bath. Somewhere after getting in (phase 1) and screaming things like "will someone please say something funny to take my mind off this (phase 2), comes phase 3, which can be best described as trying to look like it's not really a big deal.
So what do you get from an ice bath? Murray explained:
The science of it all is that the cold forces the blood vessels to constrict, draining away the blood. Likewise, when they get out, their legs fill up with 'fresh' blood, helping to invigorate the muscles.
The next thing you know, Murray's ready for his next tournament and is now at St Petersburg.
I've been so busy! But I wanted to write something real quick.
I'm in Hawaii surfing, and practicing and having fun!
What do u think of my technique?
Will I come back tonight! I promise to keep u updated!
Why do people always take pictures of my A$$??? Ughhh!
Until next time.
Well, c'mon Serena, people are not only interested in your ass, but also your sis Venus' and Rafael Nadal's.
Only I haven't found a great photo of someone staring on Nadal's nice ass yet :D(Updates: What am I talking about? We already have the most controversial photos here.)
Finally the prestigious award has arrived.
Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia. 
Rafael Nadal looking good in suits.
Rafael Nadal and mom Ana Maria Parera.
Larry Page, founder of Google.
