Li Na just one step away from Grand Slam title

I wonder how many billion people will be watching this year's Australian Open women final.

It could be a recording breaking year with the entire country of China rooting for Li Na alone.

Congrats to Li Na for becoming the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam final after defeated world no.1 and top seed Caroline Wozniacki 3-6 7-5 6-3.

(Iimage via Yahoo! Sports)

Li Na in festive mood as Lunar New Year draws near

On Tuesday, Li Na made a visit to Chinatown and was photographed attending a lion dance performance.

She'll be playing against Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinal at the Australian Open today and in her bid to become the first Asian player to play in the final and win a Grand Slam.

To get your final week pass to watch the Australian Open LIVE online, click here:

(Images via Sina Sports, Getty Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Justine Henin retires... again

Justine Henin retired from tennis for a second time.

She announced that on her website yesterday, citing a lingering right elbow injury that cut short her comeback.

(Image by Getty Images)

BMW Malaysian Open: Dinara Safina, Marion Bartoli among players announced

The BMW Malaysian Open official website was updated yesterday.

The tournament organiser has posted the main draw list but we have no idea who are the players that will receive wildcard this year.

Here's the complete list:

• Marion Bartoli FRA
• Alisa Kleybanova RUS
• Lucie Safarova CZE
• Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN
• Shuai Peng CHN
• Bojana Jovanovski SRB
• Tamarine Tanasugarn THA
• Akgul Amanmuradova UZB
• Ayumi Morita JPN
• Dinara Safina RUS
• Alberta Brianti ITA
• Shuai Zhang CHN
• Magdalena Rybarikova SVK
• Maria Elena Camerin ITA
• Junri Namigata JPN
• Regina Kulikova RUS
• Kai-Chen Chang TPE
• Zuzana Kucova SVK
• Kurumi Nara JPN
• Xinyun Han CHN
• Misaki Doi JPN
• Tatjana Malek GER
• Jelena Dokic AUS
• Michaella Krajicek NED
• Plus 4 qualifiers and 4 wild cards

Li Na who came here last year will most likely miss this small tournament.

I'm quite impressed with the quality and number of sponsors this year. And because of that fans get to enjoy affordable ticket prices this time around. I suggest you get your season passes before February 25, 2011 as a single pass only costs you RM100.

To grab your tickets, go to Ticketpro website.

BMW Malaysian Open: Cheap tickets up for grab

The tickets for the BMW Malaysian Open are finally up for sale and the tickets are really, really cheap!

If you're a women's tennis fan (or not) and enjoy a good outdoor tennis tournament under the sun at affordable prices, this is the place to be with.

The season passes are as cheap as RM100 (early bird tickets purchased before Feb 25, 2011) while entrance is free from Monday to Wednesday! To get your tickets, go to Ticketpro website.

Click image to enlarge

Just like last year, I think there'll be a lot of Japanese and Russian players.

I still haven't got the entry list yet but some of the names mentioned so far are Marion Bartoli, defending champ Alisa Kleybanova, Dinara Safina, Peng Shuai, Michaella Kracijek and Kimiko Date-Krumm.

The tournament organiser could be announcing the players entry list any time this week... so watch this space.

(Images via ticketpro)

Golden Flower Li Na does it again at Australian Open

Li Na is currently the only quarterfinalist from last year's Australian Open to reach the last eight.

In an amazing winning streak of 10 matches so far this year, the Chinese player defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-4 in today's match to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the second straight year.

“It’s good for me—second time in a Grand Slam semifinal always in Australian Open,” Li said.

“Hopefully I can do better in this year. I don’t want to lose in semis again.”

There are just two more steps left for Li Na to make tennis history... and the road ahead has never been so clear...

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

A peep into Rafael Nadal's Armani campaign ads

If you haven't read this anywhere yet, a series of sizzling new Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans ads, featuring Rafael Nadal (and Megan Fox), were revealed last Thursday.

Is this really Nadal? While it's impressive, I think David Beckham flaunts it better... I prefer a 'raw' version rather than this heavily photoshopped photo.

Here's another one... Nadal the Superman!

The campaign, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, will start popping up on billboards next month as part of the fashion house's Spring 2011 campaign.

According to Roberta Armani, the niece of Giorgio Armani said: "He (Nadal) always chose interesting clothes for tennis, like long trousers or long sleeves on court - he wears a lot of colour."

"He is not just an amazing sportsman but also an artist. I'm so proud he is joining the family," she added.

Here are some pictures from behind the scene:

A younger version of Johnny Depp?

Take off that bath robes...

Let's fix this hair loss problem...

To me, Nadal's decision to accept the campaign doesn't come off as a surprise because even though he is well known for his shy and reserved attitude, he has appeared in many sexy mag covers and hot music video with Shakira.

To move to an on court news at the Australian Open, Nadal will play against Marin Cilic in the fourth round today.

There's a little bit of concern over Nadal's fitness as he is still not over a virus-type illness which he developed on the way to Australia. He was having problem with excessive sweating during the match against Bernard Tomic in the third round.