Zahed is officially Roger Federer's no.1 lookalike fan!

Congrats to Zahed for being a featured topic in Tennis Week.

Here's an excerpt from the article which I want to highlight:

"When I was in Shanghai for Tennis Masters Cup I was walking around wearing the "RF" cap and a fan walked up to me and said 'I have some extra tickets for the exhibition'," Khan said.

"So I ended up going (to Kuala Lumpur) to watch Roger, Borg, Blake and McEnroe. I wasn't planning on going but went."

"Roger was doing an autograph signing at a mall before the match and my mom and I went and as soon as he saw us, he remembered us from Shanghai and said 'Hey, it's you again.' He was very nice to my mom. She made a special Olympic t-shirt for him and he shook her hand."

Esther, a regular contributor at HCFoo's Tennis Blog, met Zahed at Shanghai and invited him and his mom to KL for the exhibition match and meet-the-fans session as the three of them didn't have a chance to see Roger in action as he missed the TMC final.

Here's a lovely photo of Zahed and his mom taken during lunch after Roger's autograph session. And that's their infamous t-shirts :D

The American is currently back in the states to watch a series of tournaments including the BNP Paribas Open and the Sony Ericsson Open.


(Via Tennis Week; Image by HCFoo)

Grigor Dimitrov's journey ends in Bangkok

In a postponed match from Wednesday to Thursday, Grigor Dimitrov and his Thai partner Kittipong Wachiramanowong lost their first round match of the doubles draw of the $50K Challenger tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.

Their opponents German pair Daniel Brands and Dieter Kindleman won 6-0 6-4.

Now Grigor can take a breather over the weekend until the next tournament in Korat, Thailand on Monday.


(Via grigor-dimitrov.com; Image by Toppu via menstennisforums.com)

Rafael Nadal mobbed by fans! Where's the security?

I saw this video from Craig's blog and I wonder how can the security officials at the Indian Wells tournament can let this happen!



The last thing we want to see is a freaking stampede and a kid got killed!

Please take good care of our Rafa too! We don't want to see him get hurt in this tournament!

Grigor Dimitrov stumbles in Bangkok

Grigor Dimitrov lost to Thailand no.1 Danai Udomchoke 6-7(6) 5-7 in the second round of the $50K Challenger tournament in Bangkok yesterday.

However Grigor is not going to leave the tournament yet as he is also be playing in the doubles pairing up with Thai Kittipong Wachiramanowong. They will play their first round match against Daniel Brands / Dieter Kindleman of Germany.

Next week Grigor will appear in Korat, Thailand, another $50K ATP Challenger tournament.

(Image by Jai via menstennisforums.com)

Mirka gets parenting tips from Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani and Mirka Vavrinec were spotted at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Last August, Stefani gave birth to the baby boy, Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale.

I think Mirka and Roger's baby will have a more conservative name.


(Images by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Fernando Verdasco the new Radek Stepanek

We have a new Radek Stepanek! And he's more good looking!

Fernando Verdasco is probably one of the most-talked about tennis player right now because of his off court gossip that is getting more and more ridiculous every day.

We already knew his breakup with Ana Ivanovic early this year.

Just early this week, there was a gossip about Nando chasing after Sania Mirza at Indian Wells, following her wherever she goes.

And yesterday, Camilla Belle was spotted at his match and some sports commentators referred her as his fiancee!

And today, tennis forums are already talking about Nando with Caroline Wozniacki, who was once linked to another Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

This time some Eurosport commentators referred Nando (who was spotted at her box during her match) and Caroline as "an item".

So is Wozdasco the new couple?

I doubt so.

Perhaps all these are just early April Fool's pranks the commentators played on Nando.

(Image via menstennisforums.com)

An interview with Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun at Sunrise Tennis Club

Rendy Lu who has been dubbed the "giant killer" lately, went down to Stefan Koubek 6-7, 6-1, 3-6 in the first round at the BMW Tennis Championship.

How can Rendy who is currently ranked at 61 can lost to Koubek who is at 229?!

But let's just leave the disappointment aside and hope that Rendy will play better in Miami next week.

Now here's a good news though. The media official at BMW Tennis Championship managed to interview Rendy and sent the following transcript together with some photos to Esther this morning. Thank you Sunrise!

ON RAIN DELAY
"Of course it's not really easy going on the court, off the court two times. And also, there was no warm up, so it's really not easy to focus on the match. I mean, he's (Koubek) doing well. I didn't play bad after going out from the rain, but he played better. I didn't complain though. It's just a match. "

ON LETTING FIRST SET TIEBREAK GET AWAY
"I just made really not clever shots after the 6-2 [tiebreak] set point. He started to play better. Now, I'm really upset, but I know what happened today to me, and now I'll start to be positive and look to next week."

ON OUTCOME TODAY
"I have no negative thinking. This tournament is different. All the challengers, everybody practicing for their confidence. Of course, if you win this tournament, it's great. For me, I need to clear my mind mentally from last week and here. I like the way I'm playing but I need to refresh a little bit and practice to get ready for next week. I'm upset for today--I lost. Nobody's happy if he loses, but I'm still looking forward to next week."

ON BEATING LLEYTON HEWITT IN DELRAY
"It's good for me. It also gives me a lot of confidence. He's a good player, he's a number one before. I proved to myself I can beat the top players. Even though he's not number one [now], he's still a dangerous player. It showed me how I can compete with the top guys and I have an opportunity to beat them. So it really helped me a lot."


(Transcript by sunrisetennis.com; Images by C.R. Sigelakis)

Grigor Dimitrov, Guillermo Coria spotted shirtless in Bangkok

It was hot and sunny in Bangkok.

And that can only mean one thing: good opportunity to spot Grigor Dimitrov and Guillermo Coria shirtless ;-)

They are right now in the capital of Thailand for the LTAT-SAT Bangkok Open tournament.

Both players received wildcards to play in this Challenger event.

(Images via pantip.com)

Updated: More pictures of Grigor found!

Ex-BFF is back in the spotlight, Camilla Belle doesn't want to miss out too

Maria Sharapova's ex-BFF Camilla Belle was spotted at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells.

She was watching the third round match between Fernando Verdasco and Richard Gasquet.

Don't tell me Nando's mohawk and single status got her interested all over again!

Check out their 'history' here. Here's a couple of pictures to refresh your mind.

Back to Nando, here's a clearer shot of his new hairstyle.

I always have a thing for mohawks, so I definitely dig this look. I don't understand why most of you guys don't :P

(First & second images by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
(Other images via siberiasiren.com; menstennisforums.com)

Wonder how Roger and Mirka's baby would look like?

These are computer generated photos of Roger Federer and Mirka Vavrinec's baby.

If it's a baby boy... he would probably look like this:

And if it's a baby girl... she would probably look like this:

We have yet to know the gender of the baby.

But I hope they are boy/girl twins :D

(Images via sports.sina.com.cn)

Philippines wants Davis Cup tie transfer; Pakistan refuses

There's no fairplay in sports when politics come into play.

With the recent terrorist attack on a cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan, it is only wise to heed the appeal by Philippines’ tennis authorities to move the Davis Cup July regional playoff against Pakistan from Lahore to Manila.

Philippine Lawn Tennis Association vice president Randy Villanueva cited the March 3 attack on Sri Lanka’s cricketers in Lahore, which killed six police officers and a driver and injured several players, as evidence of the risk for sports team visiting Pakistan.

“We asked them to be moved here to the Philippines because of the safety of our players and because of recent events in Pakistan, especially the cricket team of Sri Lanka getting attacked,” Villanueva said.

Three of the five Filipino players, including Cecil Mamiit, are dual U.S.-Philippines citizens who Villanueva feared may be targeted because of their American passports.

Guess what, Pakistan Tennis Federation president Dilawar Abbas think otherwise by saying that any attempt to shift the tie would be refused!

(Via AP)

Desert Fashions by FILA and Trina Turk

Fila-sponsored tennis players including Marin Cilic, Caroline Wozniacki, Anna Chakvetadze, Agnes Szavay, Taylor Dent and Andreas Seppi hit the runway at a private fashion show that includes the latest Trina Turk styles.

Check out these photos. The guys look awesome!

Taylor Dent

Andreas Seppi

Anna Chakvetadze

Caroline Wozniacki

Agnes Szavay

Behind the scene photos of Caroline Wozniacki and Anna Chakvetadze.


(Images by Getty Images via BNP Paribas Open)