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)

Australian Open 2013: The heat is on

Last year I had the opportunity to attend my first Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne. Everything was great except the crazy weather. Although I only spent one day at the Australian Open due to a packed schedule but I thought I had enough of the heatwave. I only managed to sit through a game where Stanislas Wawrinka was playing and that was it.

While I look to bet on march madness online, the same month Rafael Nadal is scheduled to be back on court in Indian Wells, I'll still be following up closely with the AO tournament despite the absence of Nadal. I believe the competition is going to be very tight this year (isn't that happen every year?).

Here are some training pictures from Melbourne before the tournament kicks off next week.

Ana Ivanovic (she looks too skinny these days)

Novak Djokovic

Andy Murray

Victoria Azarenka

Lleyton Hewitt

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Serena Williams

Roger Federer

(Images via Sina Sports)

Kids' Day at Roland Garros

It's Roland Garros Kids' Day today. As usual there are quite a lot of events happening on the eve of the French Open.

Here are some pictures to summarize the events.

Novak Djokovic becomes an umbrella boy during his exhibition match with Ryan Harrison.

 Caroline Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki, Na Li and French Pauline Parmentier play an exhibition match on the Philippe Chatrier-central court.

  Juan Martín del Potro becomes the umpire for an exhibition match where Roger Federer and Sebastien Grosjean against French Nicolas Escude and Fabrice Santoro.

Serena Williams joins DJ Big Ali and DJ Bob Sinclar at the turntables on the Philippe Chatrier-central court.

Retirees Grosjean and Santoro make a special appearance at the Kids' Day.

Local hero Jo-Wilfried Tsonga meets the fans.

Xavier Malisse enjoys beach tennis at Roland Garros.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports and French Open official website)

Race heats up at Roland Garros

We're less than an hour before the French Open LIVE draw.

Meanwhile, here are there selected photos of the players from the official website.

Too bad that Kim Clijsters is out of the tournament due to hip injury.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet

Jo with Roger Federer

Looks like Ana Ivanovic is pretty confident this time.

The two divas - Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova

(Images via French Open website)

Rafael Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kim Clijsters and Li Na test Babolat's new e-racquet

Babolat's technologically advanced "Play & Connect" racquet made its debut at the French Open yesterday.

It is said that the tennis racquet stuffed with electronic sensors is capable of tracking a player's every slice, spin and smash.

Babolat's players Rafael Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kim Clijsters and Li Na tested the product on the clay court in Roland Garros.

According to Reuters, Babolat's aim is to appeal also to non-professional players, who will be able to upload data to an online application and track their performance to improve their game.

However beware because the racquet could potentially burn a hole in your pocket as it costs about 250 euros. It will be available for sale in 2013.

(Image via Babolat and Rafael Nadal's Facebook pages)

TENNIS WATCH: Davis Cup Final, Federer's 100th, dope accusation & corruption

Rafael Nadal may be tired after an uncharacteristic season.

However he is still motivated to lead Spain in its attempt to win a 5th Davis Cup title against Argentina.

This time Nadal will lead a Spain team on the clay surface at Olympic Stadium which includes David Ferrer and probable doubles partners Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.

Argentina is seeking its first title in four attempts. Juan Martin del Potro and David Nalbandian could face Nadal and Ferrer in singles.

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On Sunday, Roger Federer overpowered Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win his 6th ATP finals title.

After a year that saw Federer , the Swiss star shrugged off a second-set letdown to beat Tsonga 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 for a record sixth title in the ATP World Tour Finals.

Playing in his 100th career final, Federer won 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 , sealing his 70th career title and took over the third place in the ATP rankings from Andy Murray.

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It seems like Yannick Noah refused to back down from his accusations of doping in Spanish sports.

Nadal said Noah should be banned from commenting in the media.

Until he can produce any proof, I think Noah should keep his mouth shut.

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Austrian tennis player Daniel Koellerer has appeared at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to challenge his lifetime ban for attempting to fix matches between October 2009 and July 2010.

Koellerer was the first tennis player banned for life for attempted corruption.

His ranking peaked at No. 55 in October 2009.

(Via Yahoo News, Images via Getty Images, Sina Sports)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: Love him or love him even more

This picture was taken from Sina Sports when they conducted an exclusive interview with the Frenchman recently.

This picture was taken from Caroline Wozniacki twitter.

Tell me you love them both (I mean the pictures).