Roger Federer: Last minute race to the World Tour Finals

With Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the ATP Swiss Indoors event in Basel due to fatigue, it is a good news for Roger Federer as his obstacles (based on rankings) are now down to Juan Martin del Potro and Tomas Berdych.

Seeded third, the five-time Basel champ needs to have a strong run this week as well as the upcoming Paris Masters in order to secure one of the four spots left in the World Tour Finals (WTF) at the O2, London in November. If you are following these events very closely and looking for online sportsbooks that provide a straightforward and convenient way for your sports betting needs, go to list of top sportsbook sites.

A couple of days earlier, Federer admitted that he had made disastrous errors in this year's campaign. However he said retirement is not on his agenda.

The seventeen-time Grand Slam winner proved made a winning start at the Swiss Indoors with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Adrian Mannarino yesterday. He will face either Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in the second round tomorrow. While Federer needs to keep winning this week and in coming week, you can achieve exactly the same winning moments by visiting this sports handicapping guide.

Federer has qualified for the season-ending tournament WTF every year since 2002, winning it six times. I believe he is not going to miss it this year too.

(Images via menstennisforums.com)

US Open: Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams serve up double bagel each

We are already in Day 10 at the US Open. The men's quarterfinalists and women's semifinalists are on line-up, battling for the weekend's finals.

Earlier today, World no.1s Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams both powered through the next round by serving double bagel each. If you think that's a heavy meal to take on, you might need some weight loss tips.

Djokovic eliminated Spaniard Marcel Granollers 63 60 60 in just 79 minutes while Williams shut another Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 60 60 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Meanwhile Wimbledon and US Open defending champion Andy Murray dropped the first set but eventually came back to beat Denis Istomin in the first New York night session of his US Open title defence. He will face Stanislas Wawrinka on Thursday's quarterfinal match.

Djokovic is set to play against Mikhail Youzhny next, Richard Gasquet to meet Ferrer and Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal will battle it out in an all Spanish showdown.

In the women's category, Williams will play against Li Na in the first semifinal after the Chinese player defeated Ekaterina Makarova in three sets.

Roberta Vinci will play against Flavia Pennetta while Daniella Hantuchova will compete with Victoria Azarenka for places in the semifinals.

(Images via zimbio.com)

Happenings: Dope claim, tech-savvy grandparents, wins and losses

Lu seems to have gotten over the loss yesterday after befriending a wombat

It was quite a devastating loss for Rendy Lu Yen-hsun yesterday. After bageled the 'injured' Gael Monfils in the third set, it seemed like Lu had the ticket to the third round in his bag. He also twice forced Monfils to hold to stay in the match. However, Monfils who double faulted 23 times converted his fourth match point to win in an ugly fashion.

Sexy Seppi

It wasn't an easy match for Italian Andreas Seppi either. After enduring a 4-hour long match against Denis Istomin, Seppi cooled down at the Garden Square fountain on-site at the Australian Open while doing an ATP photo shoot.

Stephens and her grandpa

Meanwhile, Sloane Stephens who is currently world no. 25 said the reason why she likes winning at the Australian Open is that her tech-savvy grandparents can keep watching her from the States.

"My grandpa texted me," the 19-year-old Stephens said. "He said they stayed up again to watch me 'on the machine' as my grandpa calls it."

Murray defends tennis over Rochus doping claim

On a more serious note, retired Belgian tennis player Christophe Rochus recently gave an interview to a newspaper in his home country claiming that doping was widespread on the ATP tour.

“There’s a lot of cheating,” he said. “Simply, people don’t like to talk about it. I simply would like to stop the pretending. This hypocrisy is exasperating.”

He suggested that the authorities might as well give up and legalise performance-enhancing drugs.

However Andy Murray hit back at Rochus doping claim.

"I would say that is far from the truth," said Murray. "Anyone can see the amount of hours of training and practice that go into what we do and there are other sports that are endurance-wise far more challenging than tennis."

"The guys can't play five or six hours and then come back the next day and run around like a rabbit.

"When guys play five or six hours in the slams, like we often do, we have a day's rest. I was told that after our match last year here, I was told that Novak, on the day off, didn't practice, didn't hit a ball, didn't get out of bed till three o'clock. Providing you put the work in, it doesn't mean it hurts any less when you have to play a couple of days later after a five-hour match, but I would not say it is impossible."

(Images via Rendy's FB Fanpage, ATP website, Sloane Stephen's Twitter page, Zimbio.com)

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)

India could be the best in Asia

I'm still saddened by Rendy Lu's lost to Somdev Devvarman in the fourth rubber in last weekend's Davis Cup tie between Taiwan and India.

His fluctuating performance is probably one of the reasons why I don't blog for days.

But to be fair to Rendy, India already knew from the start that they had the extra edge over Taiwan.

With Grand Slam doubles specialists like Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, and upcoming tennis star like Somdev Devvarman, they look like a tough team to beat.

Kudos to the Indian Davis Cup team for making it to the third round where they will be meeting Australia who narrowly beat Thailand.

However congrats to Thai no. 1 Danai Udomchoke for his perfect performance in the second and fourth rubbers which saw him beating Australian teenage player Brydan Klein and former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.

The other two countries who made it to the third round tie of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 are Japan and Uzbekistan lead by Kei Nishikori and Denis Istomin respectively.

For complete results, click here.

(Images via udn.com, hindu.com, zimbio.com)

Australian Open wildcard recipient Meng Yuan in tip-top condition

WTA's world no. 123, Meng Yuan who resides in Hong Kong, has received a wildcard into the main draw of the Australian Open, her favourite tournament.

She has posted her best results here – second round appearances in both 2006 and 2008.

We didn't hear much about her last year as she was plagued by illnesses. Fever, stomach problems and allergies were the main culprits, and Yuan was forced to take two-and-a-half months off to recover.

Now, fully rested and with the all-clear from doctors, she is back hitting the court starting the new year in high spirits.

Last year, Meng battled through qualifying before her defeat to Serena Williams. This year, she was handed a wildcard as part of an exchange agreement between Tennis Australia and the Asian Tennis Federation.

The initiative has also awarded Denis Istomin - the other highest Asian player not yet in the main draw – a wildcard as part of a move to promote tennis in Asia.

“Every time I come here, I’m feeling very good," Meng said.

"I have fans here. I don’t know where they are coming from,” she laughs.

“I have Chinese fans and last year there were more Australian boys and girls.

“It’s fun. I like hot weather. The people are very helpful; (the) service is very good. I relax here. It’s my favourite tournament.”

Off the court, Meng likes to explore the city, and lists Chinatown as her top destination.

“I like Melbourne for the city because I can find everything – shopping, it’s very good for walking, beautiful buildings. I have a very good feeling for here in a different way.”

Meng travelled here with her coach Yu Fung Ming. The pair have worked on strengthening Meng’s body and tailoring her training program that shaped her current tip-top condition.

“I wanted to change my body because last year I got a lot of fever," she explained.

"Now it’s better. Everything is fine and my coach has changed my treatment. My body is getting stronger.”

Psychologically, Meng is mentally ready especially by starting the year fully fit at a tournament where she feels at home.

“First to play here is good, my thinking is better, body is better. I am positive about this year,” she said.

So will she be able to make it past the second round this year?

(Via AO official website; Image by Brent Bignell)