Finally, Maria Sharapova joins Twitter

Maria Sharapova once said her life was too boring for Twitter.

Looks like her life is no longer boring when she tweeted her first post @mariasharapova. Within the first hour, she had racked up more than 12,000 followers.

The Russian, who won her opening match at the Australian Open earlier today, also tweet a photo taken from one of the many graffiti and street art seen in Melbourne.

(Images via Maria Sharapova's Twitter page)

Mahesh Bhupathi tweets picture of Mascos Baghdatis semi naked on the massage table

It's not every day you get to see players in their locker rooms or half naked on the massage table.

Doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi tweeted a picture of daddy Marcos Baghdatis half naked on the massage table getting a good treatment not only from one Australian Open staff but three!

Which tennis player would you like to massage?

(Image via Mahesh Bhupathi's Twitter page)

Crown Melbourne's IMG Tennis Players' Party

Held on the eve of the Australian Open, the IMG Tennis Players' Party was attended by world class tennis professionals and entertainment industry heavyweights.

The event saw the appearances of Maria Sharapova, Li Na and Daniela Hantuchova among other tennis players. Also gracing the event were Elizabeth Hurley and Ian Thorpe.

Elizabeth Hurley and Shane Warne

Maria Sharapova

Ian Thorpe

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Heather Watson

Janko Tipsarevic

Sabine Lisicki

Daniela Hantuchova

(Images via Zimbio)

Australian Open 2013 gets thumbs up from tennis stars

While it must be love for the US Open, the Australian Open gets the most 'likes' from the tennis players and fans. This is not a surprise since the 'Happy Slam' is usually the most anticipated tennis event after a year-end break.

Here are some of the players who show their support for the event.

Andy Murray

Victoria Azarenka

Bernard Tomic

Novak Djokovic

Li Na

(Via Australian Open Facebook page)

Australian Open 2013: Kids Tennis Day with Nickelodean and tennis stars

A special show was presented at the Rod Laver Arena in conjunction with Kids Tennis Day today. The annual kids event featured Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Ana Ivanovic.

The event also featured singer Guy Sebastian. Nickelodeon stars SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Starfish, Dora the Explorer and Diego joined the entertainment line-up as well. 

Federer's and Lleyton Hewitt's children were spotted at the event.

(Images via Australian Open website, Sina Tennis, Tennisfoum)

Australian Open 2013 official players party

Players attended the official Australian Open players party at the Grand Hyatt last night. Those who attended were greeted by some wildlife e.g. koala, snake and a joey. There's a video at the end of this post.

Stanislas Wawrinka

Lucie Safarova

Chen Ti

Jelena Jankovic

Michael Llodra 

Radek Stepanek

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Petra Kvitova 

Sania Mirza

James Ward and Anne Keothavong

Daniela Hantuchova 

Denis Istomin

(Images via Zimbio)

Novak Djokovic defeats an Audi race car but Sugarpova is the winner of the day

Novak Djokovic defeated an Audi R8 LMS GT3 race car by hitting a tennis ball faster than the race car during a photocall at Sandown Racecourse earlier today.

However, no events were bigger than the Australian Red Carpet Launch of Maria Sharapova's lolly brand, Sugarpova. Not even the Australian Open draw ceremony that took place in the morning at the same venue in Crown Plaza Riverside. Sharapova signed fans’ bags of the brand new sweets in a meet and greet setting.

(Images by Graham Denholm/Getty Images; @AustralianOpen twitter page, Yahoo! Tennis)

Australian Open 2013: Novak Djokovic eyeing a hat-trick

Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka, both currently ranked no.1 in the world attended the Australian Open official draw ceremony this morning. The event was made public this year and was held at the Crown Riverside.

Djokovic's bid for a third consecutive Australian Open title received a boost when Roger Federer and Andy Murray landed in the other half. The Serbian will face Paul-Henri Mathieu in the first round and also has Tomas Berdych in the quarter of the draw and David Ferrer in his half. Click here for the complete draw.

Meanwhile, Azarenka is in the same quarter as Caroline Wozniacki and has Serena Williams in her half. Maria Sharapova, who is launching her Sugarpova in Melbourne today is on the other half of the draw and could meet Venus Williams in the third round. Click here for the complete draw.

(Images via Yahoo! Tennis)