Australian Open 2017 Players Party

Some of the biggest names in tennis were missing from the weekend's 2017 Australian Open players party at Crown in Melbourne, Australia. Nevertheless it was very refreshing to see some of the most familiar faces in tennis below all dressed up in their casual outfit to the party. The tournament has officially kicked off today and we're looking forward to exciting tennis as well as upsets over the course of the next two weeks.

Garbine Muguruza

Kei Nishikori

Agnieszka Radwanska

Stanislas Wawrinka

Gael Monfils

Bryan brothers

Images via zimbio

Switzerland wins first Davis Cup title

Roger Federer put his bad back and his brief difference of opinion with his Swiss team mate Stanislas Wawrinka and claimed the one prize that has always eluded him and Switzerland - the Davis Cup.

Switzerland won the Davis Cup for the first time in their history after Federer crushed France's Richard Gasquet in Lille. An inspired Federer raised his game to beat Gasquet 6-4 6-2 6-2. He collapsed in tears onto the clay at the Stade Pierre-Mauroyto after giving the Swiss a 3-1 lead.

On Saturday, Federer and Wawrinka had put Switzerland into a 2-1 lead with a straight sets defeat of Gasquet and Julien Benneteau in the doubles.

Federer was thrashed by Gael Monfils in his first singles match after struggling with a back trouble but recovered as the weekend progressed.

"I'm happy I was able to stay calm and play a good match, and I'm really happy for the guys in the team, everybody worked incredibly hard to get me match ready," Federer said. "Stan has put in so much effort over the years and played an unbelievable weekend that gave me the opportunity today. I'm very much aware of that, this one is for the boys."

It took 15 years for Federer to win the Davis Cup after making his debut in the prestigious event back in 1999.

"It's not for me, I've won enough in my career and did not need to tick any empty boxes," Federer said. "I'm just happy for everybody else. I'm happy we could live a great tennis historic moment in our country."

(Images via Facebook)

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)

Gianni Minna and Gael Monfils: Separated at birth?

If you've watched last night's match between Rafael Nadal and Gianni Mina, you would have realized the resemblance between him and Gael Monfils.

They have a couple of things in common too... both of them are French and their parents are from the French Caribbean.

Minna wears Nike while Monfils recently changed from Nike to K-Swiss.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Gael Monfils bringin' sexy moustache back

Gael Monfils has abandoned his signature wild hair for something a little more mature and sophisticated.

He was spotted with his new haircut in Douarnenez, France.

Also check out his mustache, probably the trendiest of manscaping lately thanks to Brad Pitt.

(Images via menstennisforums.com)

Rewind: Unseen before footage from the Malaysian Open '09

I had too much free time last weekend so I decided to put some of the unused footage clips from the Malaysian Open back in September into some sort of a music video.

As usual, I appreciate off court a lot, so you'll only find off court footage in this MV.

Novak Djokovic roars in Paris

The final match could have ended earlier.

When Novak Djokovic won the fourth game in the second set, I switched channel believing that the Serbian would have win it easily. I managed to catch the third set tie-breaker though.

Djokovic walked away with a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over Frenchman Gael Monfils to win the Paris Masters for the first time.

The victory gave Djokovic back-to-back ATP Tour titles after his win over top-ranked Roger Federer in Basel last Sunday.

Looks like Djokovic will be a strong favorite when he’ll try to defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals from November 22-29 in London next week.

In the doubles final, Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beat Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robredo with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Sake barrel cracking ceremony without the REAL Samurai

It only takes one player to complete this group.

The REAL Samurai, Sam Querrey!

However the rising son of America has been sidelined for four-to-six weeks after injuring his right forearm in a freak accident in Bangkok.

He could have joined Gael Monfils, Kimiko Date Krumm, Ayumi Morita, Juan Martin Del Potro, Lleyton Hewitt, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, to crack the sake barrels during a welcome reception on Day 2 of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis tournament at Hotel Grand Pacific Le Daiba yesterday.


(Images by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)

Proton Malaysian Open: Results and OOP for Day 4

Monfils said he wasn't comfortable with the new hairdo so he had to put the cap on. Hope that solves the mystery.

RESULTS - WEDNESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER, 2009

Singles - Second Round
[1] N Davydenko (RUS) d [WC] T Dent (USA) 63 76(4)
[3] R Soderling (SWE) d [Q] B Evans (USA) 61 61
M Youzhny (RUS) d [WC] M Baghdatis (CYP) 62 63

Singles - First Round
[5] G Monfils (FRA) d D Istomin (UZB) 76(3) 76(2)
S Greul (GER) d C Rochus (BEL) 64 36 62
R Gasquet (FRA) d V Crivoi (ROU) 61 62

Doubles - Quarter-finals
I Kunitsyn (RUS) / J Levinsky (CZE) d [WC] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) 26 76(4) 13-11

Doubles - First Round
M Elgin (RUS) / F Moser (GER) d [2] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 64 46 10-8
[3] M Damm (CZE) / R Lindstedt (SWE) d J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO) 76(6) 64
M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d [WC] J Johansson (SWE) / Y Si (MAS) 61 57 10-3


ORDER OF PLAY - THURSDAY, 1 OCTOBER, 2009

CENTER COURT start 11:30 am
[1] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) vs A Golubev (KAZ) / D Istomin (UZB)
S Greul (GER) vs [6] T Berdych (CZE)
M Vassallo Arguello (ARG) vs [5] G Monfils (FRA)
[WC] J Johansson (SWE) vs R Gasquet (FRA)

Not Before 5:45 PM
[Q] R Bopanna (IND) vs [4] F Gonzalez (CHI)
K Beck (SVK) vs [2] F Verdasco (ESP)

COURT 1 start 4:00 pm
S Huss (AUS) / S Lipsky (USA) vs M Elgin (RUS) / F Moser (GER)
[3] M Damm (CZE) / R Lindstedt (SWE) vs M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA)

(Image by Proton Malaysian Open)

Gael Monfils heading to Kuala Lumpur for a title streak

Gael Monfils the fifth seed at the Proton Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur 2009 is heading here soon after having just won his first tournament of the year.

Monfils ended a four-year title drought by defeating Philip Kohlschreiber 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 in the final of the Open de Moselle in Metz, France.

“I am very happy about winning this second title; I've been waiting for it for a long time. Being in France, this title is even more special to me, as I won it here in front of my family and friends.

“I am now flying to Kuala Lumpur and getting ready to play there as soon as I arrive. I hope I will be able to get some rest during the flight.”

(Via IMG; Image via Yahoo! Sports)

US Open Day 9 Wrap-up: Nadal gets the kiss, Murray gets the kick

More bizarre incident happened on Day 9.

Just when Rafael Nadal finished the match against Gael Monfils, a fan ran out of nowhere, approached the Spanish player and gave him a kiss before a woman security guard intervened.

Here's the video taken from Gototennisblog.

When asked about the incident, Nadal said, "For me, it wasn’t a problem. The guy was really nice. He said, ‘I love you,’ and he kissed me.” :D

By defeating Monfils 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to move on to the quarterfinals, Nadal will regain his no. 2 ranking from Andy Murray who was upset by Marin Cilic earlier.

Back to Nadal, he'll try to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the US Open.

He'll meet Fernando Gonzalez in the quarterfinal after the Chilean eliminated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

In another men's singles match, Juan Martin del Potro defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

In the women's singles, Kim Clijsters dispatched Li Na in straight sets with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

The opponent waiting for her next in the semifinals is none other than Serena Williams who sent off Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-3.

Here's Wednesday’s order of play on day 10 at the U.S. Open (prefix denotes seeding):

(Not before 1630GMT)
Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) v Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine)
4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v 10-Fernando Verdasco (Spain)

(Not before 2300GMT)
Melanie Oudin (U.S.) v 9-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) 12-Robin Soderling (Sweden)

(Via AP, US Open website)

US Open Day 7 Wrap-up: Lack of star power, Clijster, Pennetta steal the show

I remember very well that in the last couple of years, there were quite a number of celebrities who added glitter to the US Open every single day.

So what happen this year?

Besides Alec Baldwin, Will Ferrell, Kim Cattrall, Patrick Stewart, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Love Hewitt, I haven't really seen any hotter stars than those I just mentioned.

Celebrities aside, I think the player of the day is Kim Clijsters.

Clijsters marked her dazzling return to the grand slam by ousting Venus Williams with a wild yet weird 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 victory!

The Belgian mum will face Li Na next after the Chinese beat Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-3.

In another exciting match, Flavia Pennetta saved six match points to advance to the quarterfinal with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 victory over Vera Zvonareva.

Pennetta will face Serena Williams next!

In the men's singles, Andy Murray joined Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez to the next round.

Earlier of the day, Nadal knocked off compatriot Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

During the match, Nadal was treated for a stomach muscle problem while Almagro also received a treatment for back problem.

Nadal's next opponent is Gael Monfils who advanced when Jose Acasuso quit because of left knee pain while trailing 6-3, 6-4, 1-0.

In the last match of the day, Murray, needed only 90 minutes to sent off Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 and set up a fourth-round encounter with Marin Cilic.

US Open men's singles third round results from New York on Monday (prefix denotes seeding)

2-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Taylor Dent (US) 6-3 6-2 6-2
6-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Daniel Koellerer (Austria) 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-3
7-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4
11-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat 17-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 7-5 6-4 6-4
3-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat 32-Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 7-5 6-4 6-4
24-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat 9-Gilles Simon (France) 1-6 6-4 7-6(5) 1-0 (Simon retired)

US Open women's singles fourth round results from New York on Monday (prefix denotes seeding)

10-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) beat 7-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 3-6, 7-6, 6-0
Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat 3-Venus Williams (US) 6-0 0-6 6-4
18-Li Na (China) beat 26-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-2 6-3
2-Serena Williams (US) beat 22-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-2 6-0

(Via AP, Reuters, TVNZ, US Open website)

Pre-US Open: Pretty practice photos

Now that the US Open draw is out, let's see who has been practicing hard on court over the week.

Here are some eye candies for your viewing pleasure...

Juicy Jo-Willy

Flawless Ferrer

Mikhail Youzhny and Andy Murray

Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic


Lleyton Hewitt and James Blake

Cuddly Cilic


Mighty Monfils

Rusty Roddick

(Images via US Open official website)