VIDEO: It Must Be Love US Open promo videos

If you haven't watch any of the US Open promo videos released by the USTA, here are the players so far who has taken a seat in the director's chair and express their love for tennis.

Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dinara Safina, Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Jelena Jankovic, James Blake, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Ana Ivanovic, Sam Querrey

2009 Davis Cup Quarterfinals matchups

As usual I'm not too keen about Davis Cup.

That simply because I don't get to watch the events LIVE on TV in my country.

Besides with Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Andy Roddick out of this team competition, it just gives me more reasons not to watch it on live stream.

If you can't watch it on TV in your country, you can always count on atdhe.net.

Anyway here are the matchups and photos (can't find Team Argentina, Team Israel and Team Czech Republic photos yet).

The Davis Cup world group quarterfinal ties beginning Friday (all times GMT).

CROATIA v UNITED STATES
Venue: Sportska Dvorana, Porec, Croatia
Surface: Indoor clay
Times: Friday (1400), Saturday (1330), Sunday (1400)
Head-to-head: Croatia lead 2-0

CZECH REPUBLIC v ARGENTINA
Venue: Cez Arena, Ostrava
Surface: Indoor hard courts
Times: Friday (1300), Saturday (1200), Sunday (1100)
Head-to-head: Czech Republic lead 2-1

ISRAEL v RUSSIA
Venue: Sport Palaces, Tel Aviv
Surface: Indoor hard court
Times: Friday (1000), Saturday (1200), Sunday (1200)
Head-to-head: Russia lead 1-0

SPAIN v GERMANY
Venue: Plaza de Toros de Puerto Banus, Marbella
Surface: Outdoor clay
Times: Friday (1100), Saturday (1400), Sunday (1100)
Head-to-head: Germany lead 9-5

SPAIN team: Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Feliciano Lopez; Captain: Albert Costa

GERMANY team: Philipp Kohlschreiber, Nicolas Kiefer, Mischa Zverev, Andreas Beck; Captain: Patrik Kuhnen

RUSSIA team: Igor Kunitsyn, Marat Safin, Igor Andreev, Mikhail Youzhny; Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

UNITED STATES team: Mardy Fish, James Blake, Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan; Captain: Patrick McEnroe

The other members of the following teams are:

CROATIA: Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, Roko Karanusic, Lovro Zovko; Captain: Goran Prpic

CZECH REPUBLIC: Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek, Ivo Minar, Lukas Dlouhy; Captain: Jaroslav Navratil

ARGENTINA: Juan Martin del Potro, Jose Acasuso, Leonardo Mayer, Juan Monaco; Captain: Tito Vasquez

ISRAEL: Dudi Sela, Harel Levy, Jonathan Erlich, Andy Ram; Captain: Eyal Ran

(Images via Getty Images)

Wimbledon Day One wrap

The 2009 Wimbledon Grand Slam Tennis doesn't belong to Roger Federer alone. There are many other players in the tournament too.

So, let's take a look at some of the happenings on Day 1 yesterday.

First of all, I was really, really upset with ESPN Star Sports yesterday because they failed to show Federer making his Centre Court appearance.

Don't they already know all the hype about Federer's Wimbledon jacket?

Instead they showed Sania Mirza's match!

Besides, as an Asian-based sports broadcaster, how can Star Sports not show Asia's no.1 men's player, Rendy Lu Yen-hsun against the unofficial-GOAT from the beginning?

I supposed Star Sports worried that Rendy may be bageled thrice by Federer? You know what, they only start to show the match after convinced that Rendy can actually play!

And by the way I have nothing against Sania. Just like Vijay Amritraj, I admire Sania too. I'm just as happy when I saw Sania beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

No.4 seed Novak Djokovic came from a set down to defeat Julien Benneteau 6-7(8-10), 7-6(7-1), 6-2, 6-4.

During the match, Benneteau had a couple of painful moments. First, he slipped and hurt his knee earlier in the match before inflicting further damage to himself when he crashed into the screen at the back of the court trying to reach a Djokovic lob! Ouchh!

Robin Soderling continues his Grand Slam run to the second round after rallying to beat Gilles Muller 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1, 6-2.

Thai Danai Udomchoke received a late call-up to the tournament on Monday as a 'lucky loser' after Ivan Ljubicic pulled out with an ankle injury.

Danai could hardly have been any less prepared for the demands of a Grand Slam clash and he never threatened to spring a surprise as American Sam Querrey cruised through with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Another American James Blake however suffered a setback when he was beaten 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (5) by 50th-ranked Andreas Seppi. I'm speechless... disappointed.

British wildcard entrant Jamie Ward suffered a straight-sets defeat on his Grand Slam debut against Fernando "Mohawk-No-More" Verdasco.

Verdasco who spotted a new hairdo wrapped up a comfortable 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 victory in a little over an hour and a half.

Pretty boy Feliciano Lopez joined Blake to become another seeded player to lose on Day 1. Feliciano lost to Slovakian Karol Beck 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 in nearly four hours on Court 18.

Marin Cilic became the last man through to the second round before bad light halted play. Cilic defeated Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Maria Sharapova, who also paraded her military-themed jacket earlier, had a tough Day 1 at Wimbledon on Monday, rallying from 4-1 down in the first set to overcome Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova, the top seed in qualifying, 7-5, 6-4.

Serena Williams decided to go 'all English' this year.

And despite the warm weather the American insisted on wearing her coat as she practised with Neuza Silva before the match began.

Serena easily cruised to the next round after winning 6-1, 7-5.

Michelle Larcher de Brito toned down her grunts yesterday but still able to win against Klara Zakapalova 6-2, 7-5.

Last year's semifinalist, Zheng Jie reached the second round after beating Kristina Barrois of 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4). Zheng, the 16th seed, will take on Daniela Hantuchova in the second round.

To check out other results, click here.

(Images by Getty Images)

James Blake gives his wolverine-ish look a clean shave

I understand the wolverine-ish look was really hip a few months ago.

James Blake is back to his clean-shaven self again for the Wimbledon!

(Images by Getty Images)

Andy Murray beats James Blake to win Queen’s Club final

Andy Murray fulfilled his duty to end a seven-decade victory drought for home players to become the first Briton to win the Queen's club title since Bunny Austin in 1938.

Murray defeated James Blake 7-5, 6-4.

"It was a good match, even if there weren't so many rallies," Murray said.

"James is tough and since I'd only played him once, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm very glad to win."

The world no.3 will now face huge pressure with Wimbledon starting a week from Monday.

The last Briton who lift the Wimbledon title was Fred Perry which dated back in 1936.

"I played well all week and when I had chances I managed to take them," Murray said.

"But I was nervous before the match."

"I guess the only thing now is to try and win a Grand Slam hopefully in a few weeks."

In the meanwhile, it wasn't a bad result for Blake.

Perhaps he can celebrate by getting a clean shave before the Wimbledon starts.

(Via news.com.au; Images by Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)

Andy Roddick retires; James Blake to meet Andy Murray in final at Queen's

Andy Roddick suffered a huge blow after he was forced to retire with an ankle injury during the first set of his Queen's Club semifinal against compatriot James Blake.

He called for treatment three games into the match and resumed after having his ankle and foot heavily bandaged.

However, Roddick was clearly still in some discomfort as he served in the next game and decided to take the safety-first option with Wimbledon starting in just nine days.

Blake, who was a finalist here back in the 2006, admitted he did not take much pleasure from this victory.

"It was unfortunate but Andy is such a great player and he doesn't want to endanger the injury anymore," Blake said.

"He normally moves so well and you could tell this wasn't the same Andy Roddick."

The American will now try to stop Andy Murray who is bidding to become the first Briton to win the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event since 1938.

Earlier, Murray completed a ruthless 6-2, 6-4 win over Juan Carlos Ferrero.

"I felt it was a good match. I started well but the second set was very close," Murray said.

"I'm obviously happy to win in two sets. I was very happy with the way I played all round."

"I didn't have the easiest draw so it's been a good week all around and hopefully I can finish it off on Sunday."

(Via cnn.com; Images by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

More Roland Garros practice photos

It's less than 1 day before the 2009 French Open starts.

Here are more photos of the players practicing and adjusting to the red clay at Roland Garros.

Maria Sharapova heading to the court for some practice.

Novak Djokovic taps his happy feet.

Andy Murray

James Blake

Dinara Safina

Juan Monaco

Rafael Nadal

Andy Roddick

Fernando Verdasco

(Images via Yahoo! Sports, zimbio.com)

Weekend winners everywhere

Rome - World no.1 Dinara Safina won her first title of the year Saturday by defeating fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Italian Open.

Estoril - Spain’s Albert Montanes battled past American James Blake 5-7, 7-6, 6-0 to win the Estoril Open on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in the women's singles, Yanina Wickmayer claimed her first career title with a straight-sets victory over Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-2 to pick up her maiden WTA Tour crown in Portugal.

Munich - Tomas Berdych rallied from four points down in the decisive tiebreaker to beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5) in the final of the BMW Open Sunday for his first title of the year.

Belgrade - Top-seeded Novak Djokovic beat lucky loser Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-3, 7-6 (0) in the Serbia Open final to win the first ATP Tour tournament held in his home country.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports, Djokovic's pic by Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty Images)

Winners of 2008 ATP World Tour & Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Awards

While Ana Ivanovic is still not done with the "kickoff" party last night (clue: look for a tennis ball), let's take a good look at the nice rundown of winners of the 2008 ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Awards.

2008 ATP World Tour Player Awards
Player Of The Year - Rafael Nadal
Doubles Team Of The Year - Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic
Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Of The Year - James Blake
Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award - Roger Federer
Most Improved - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Newcomer of the Year - Kei Nishikori
Comeback Player of the Year - Rainer Schuettler
ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favorite (Singles) - Roger Federer
ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favorite (Doubles) - Bob & Mike Bryan
Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award - Alan Trengove

2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Awards
Player of the Year - Serena Williams
Doubles Team of the Year - Cara Black and Liezel Huber
Most Improved Player - Dinara Safina
Comeback Player of the Year - Zheng Jie
Newcomer of the Year - Caroline Wozniacki
Humanitarian of the Year - Ana Ivanovic
Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award - Elena Dementieva
Player Service Award - Liezel Huber
Favorite Premier Tournament - Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart)
Favorite International Tournament - Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

(Images by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)