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)

Work it, girl, work it!

Jelena Jankovic was recently featured in an Austrian-based Story magazine.

Don't you think Jankovic make a great high fashion model with that 'quirky' attribute and memorably unusual face?


(Images by Bobisa via tennisforum.com)

Montreal magic for new world no.2 Andy Murray, Jelena Jankovic proves Serbian tennis still kick ass

I only needed a cup of 3-in-1 white coffee to keep me awake whole night for the Rogers Cup final.

I would say that this is one of the best "non-Nadal" match I ever watched for a very long time.

Although I was rooting for Juan Martin del Potro, I didn't mind the eventual title winner was Andy Murray.

Andy, you suck!

After all, Murray, the new world no.2 was clearly the winner in that battle of the fittest.

The Scottish tennis star defeated the Argentine 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-1 to win his fourth Masters title.

In Cincinnati, Jelena Jankovic captured her only second title of the year after defeated world no.1 Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2.

Haha... Safina, yours is smaller than mine!

Now that Jankovic is back in her game, I'm hoping that fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic will improve her game and eventually end her title drought too.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

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

Tennis stars let their hair down for Life magazine

Maria Elena Camerin, Julie Coin and Severine Bremond Beltrame

Professional tennis players work hard when on court.

So LIFE magazine wanted to see what happens when these players leave their competitive spirit behind.

Check these players letting their hair down for some relaxing (as well as some cheeky) poses.

Here are the players in sequence: Severine Bremond Beltrame, Jill Craybas, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Vera Zvonareva, Sabine Lisicki, Gisela Dulko, Jelena Jankovic and Alla Kudryavtseva.

For more pictures, go to Life.com.

A note of thanks to Natasha for this info.

(Images by Lee Jenkins Grooming: Kenny Campbell For Premier via Life.com)

Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova outclassed by teens on Wimbledon Day 6

American Melanie Oudin pulled the biggest upset on Day 6 by beating the struggling former world no.1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-2.

When the 124th ranked Oudin (pronounced Oo-dan') concluded the match of her life she had to ask where to find the exit from the court. Still finding her way around the All England Club, Oudin has made her way into the fourth round.

French Open champion and birthday girl Svetlana Kuznetsova did not get the birthday present she hoped for when she was also knocked out of Wimbledon by unseeded teenager Sabine Lisicki.

The Russian was outclassed 6-2, 7-5 in just one hour and 26 minutes.

(Via AFP, Images by Getty Images)

Wimbledon Day Two wrap

Honestly it's really tough to have a life and blog at the same time. Day 3 is almost over and I'm still struggling to come up with Day 2 wrap.

The guy in the picture fainted due to the heat at Wimbledon. I think I'm going to faint soon too.

I'll quickly wrap this up and go to bed, which I haven't been to for the last couple of days.

Venus Williams opened the defence of her Wimbledon singles crown in impressive fashion with a 6-3, 6-2 victory on Centre Court over Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele.

Jelena Jankovic overcame blisters and a broken toenail to win 6-4, 7-6 against German Julia Goerges .

Ana Ivanovic narrowly avoided a first round defeat at Wimbledon for a second successive year as she tiptoed past Lucie Hradecka 5-7 6-2 8-6.

The retiring Marat Safin said goodbye to Wimbledon singles on Tuesday at 29 after his defeat to Jesse Levine.

The 133rd-ranked qualifier found himself on Court No. 18 beating Safin 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Safin who has vowed to retire at season's end was asked how he feels about being done with Wimbledon.

"Relieved," the 29-year-old Safin replied. "Pretty much relieved."

Sixth seed Andy Roddick was given a brief scare before he secured a 6-3 7-6 4-6 6-3 victory over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

Meanwhile, one of my favourite, Juan Martin del Potro also reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win over Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

Del Potro will now play 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt for a place in the last 32.

To check out other results, click here.

(Images via Getty Images)

Serena Williams thinks WTA is better & 'cattier'

"Clearly, women's tennis is better than men's tennis. There's no comparison. I mean, I'm on the tour. We have great personalities like Jelena (Jankovic) on the tour. I mean, it's way cattier, so it's way more exciting to watch."
~ Serena Williams defended women's tennis.

Earlier this week, Jankovic confessed that she paid more attention to men's tennis.

"To be honest, I'm watching only men's tennis on TV," Jankovic said earlier this week.

"I don't really watch too much women's."

"That's why many times when I play against them, you know, many times I don't know my opponent."

"I think men's tennis is much more advanced than women's, and if I can try to learn some things and try to add that to my game would be a good advantage."

The Serbian players have a VIP fan

Serbia's President Boris Tadic showed up at Roland Garros to meet and support his Serbian tennis players.

Jelena Jankovic certainly knows how to stand out in front of the camera.

The other guys who stood behind President Boris were Novak Djokovic, Nenad Zimonjic and Victor Troicki.

Look at Djokovic's face. He seems like a big fan of Mr. President.

(Image by Tom Gandolfini/AFP/Getty Images)

2009 French Open Day 3: Slightly boring...

It was boring, rain-interrupted day at Roland Garros. Seriously.

I went to bed early and didn't bother to blog about until the next day.

Perhaps I didn't get enough sleep for the past couple of days.

So, Serena Williams needed 9 match points to win her first round match at the French Open? No kidding.

Serena who called her performance “horrendous" finally overcame 100th-ranked Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4.

Jelena Jankovic had an easy win, defeating Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-3.

Nice nails to match your lovely dress, Jelena!

One of my favourite, Svetlana Kuznetsova also had an easy win. She beat Claire Feuerstein 6-1, 6-4.

Gael Monfils had seriously debated not playing at Roland Garros at all this year because of the chronic tendinitis in his left knee.

It had been also more than a month since he had played a match on tour.

However, in his first round match yesterday, Monfils showed he was not rusty on court as he rolled past Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, in just 1 hour and 28 minutes.

Monfils fellow countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also picked up win against Julien Benneteau 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-French affair.

Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro had little trouble in his first match at Roland Garros, beating another Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

According to James Blake, being an American his main goal of the year are Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

And because of that he was eliminated 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 by Leonardo Mayer, a qualifier from Argentina.

Leonardo who was making his Grand Slam debut is currently ranked 93rd in the world.

Another American, Mardy Fish also failed to move to the second round.

He was defeated by Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

For more results, please click here.

(Images via Yahoo! Sport)