Rafael Nadal receives Spanish flag at handover ceremony in Madrid

Rafael Nadal is officially the Spanish flag bearer at the London Olympics. He attended the handover ceremony in Madrid earlier today.

The event will kick off in two weeks time.

(Images via Yahoo! Eurosport UK)

Maria Sharapova hits red carpet at ESPY Awards 2012

If Roger Federer is a Greek god, then Maria Sharapova must be a Greek goddess.

The beautiful Russian tennis star hits the red carpet at the 2012 ESPY Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Dressed in a blue J. Mendel Grecian gown, Sharapova was nominated for Best Female Athlete. The award eventually went to basketballer Brittney Griner.

“I love attending the ESPYs – such a night of glamour! It’s a rare occasion to have so many talented athletes in one spot,” Maria exclusively told JustJared.com. 

“For the same reasons, I can’t wait for my first Olympics in two weeks, I know that will be a career experience I will cherish for a long time.”

Sharapova will be her country's flag bearer at the Olympics.

(Via Just Jared, news.com.au)

List of singles and doubles participants for Olympics 2012

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced the full list of entries for the London 2012 Olympic Tennis Event at The All England Club, Wimbledon from 28 July until 5 August yesterday. A total of forty-five (45) countries will compete in this year’s event.

Men's singles entry list
- Argentina: Juan Martin del Potro, Juan Monaco, Carlos Berlocq, David Nalbandian
- Australia: Bernard Tomic, Lleyton Hewitt (*)
- Austria: Jurgen Melzer
- Belgium: Olivier Rochus, David Goffin, Steve Darcis
- Brazil: Thomaz Bellucci (*)
- Bulgaria: Grigor Dimitrov
- Canada: Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil (*)
- Chinese Taipei: Lu Yen-Hsun
- Colombia: Santiago Giraldo, Alejandro Falla
- Croatia: Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, Ivan Dodig
- Cyprus: Marcos Baghdatis
- Czech Republic: Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek
- Finland: Jarkko Nieminen
- France: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet
- Germany: Philipp Kohlschreiber
- Great Britain: Andy Murray
- India: Somdev Devvarman (*)
- Italy: Andreas Seppi, Fabio Fognini
- Japan: Kei Nishikori, Go Soeda, Tatsuma Ito
- Kazakhstan: Mikhail Kukushkin
- Luxembourg: Gilles Muller
- Netherlands: Robin Haase
- Poland: Lukasz Kubot
- Romania: Adrian Ungur (*)
- Russia: Mikhail Youzhny, Alex Bogomolov Jr, Nikolay Davydenko, Dmitry Tursunov
- Serbia: Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki
- Slovak Republic: Lukas Lacko, Martin Klizan
- Slovenia: Blaz Kavcic (*)
- Spain: Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, Fernando Verdasco
- Switzerland: Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka
- Tunisia: Malek Jaziri (*)
- Ukraine: Sergiy Stakhovsky (*)
- USA: John Isner, Andy Roddick, Donald Young, Ryan Harrison
- Uzbekistan: Denis Istomin
(*)  ITF Place

Women's singles entry list
- Australia: Samantha Stosur
- Austria: Tamira Paszek
- Belarus: Victoria Azarenka
- Belgium: Yanina Wickmayer, Kim Clijsters
- Bulgaria: Tsvetana Pironkova
- Canada: Aleksandra Wozniak
- China, P.R.: Li Na, Peng Shuai, Zheng Jie
- Chinese Taipei: Hsieh Su-Wei
- Croatia: Petra Martic
- Czech Republic: Petra Kvitova, Lucie Safarova, Petra Cetkovska, Klara Zakopalova
- Denmark: Caroline Wozniacki
- Estonia: Kaia Kanepi
- France: Alize Cornet (*)
- Georgia: Anna Tatishvili (*)
- Germany: Angelique Kerber, Sabine Lisicki, Andrea Petkovic, Julia Goerges
- Great Britain: Anne Keothavong (*), Elena Baltacha (*)
- Hungary: Agnes Szavay
- Israel: Shahar Peer
- Italy: Sara Errani, Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci, Francesca Schiavone
- Kazakhstan: Galina Voskoboeva, Yaroslava Shvedova
- Liechtenstein: Stephanie Vogt (#)
- New Zealand: Marina Erakovic
- Paraguay: Veronica Cepede Royg (#)
- Poland: Agnieszka Radwanska, Urszula Radwanska
- Romania: Monica Niculescu, Simona Halep, Sorana Cirstea, Irina-Camelia Begu
- Russia: Maria Sharapova, Vera Zvonareva, Maria Kirilenko, Nadia Petrova
- Serbia: Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic
- Slovak Republic: Dominika Cibulkova, Daniela Hantuchova
- Slovenia: Polona Hercog
- Spain: Anabel Medina Garrigues, Carla Suarez Navarro, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Silvia Soler-Espinosa
- Sweden: Sofia Arvidsson
- Switzerland: Timea Bacsinszky
- Tunisia: Ons Jabeur (*)
- Ukraine: Alona Bondarenko, Kateryna Bondarenko (*)
- USA: Serena Williams, Christina McHale, Venus Williams, Varvara Lepchenko
(*)  ITF Place
(#) Tripartite Commission Invitation Place

Men's doubles entry list 
- Argentina: David Nalbandian/Eduardo Schwank (*)
- Austria: Jurgen Melzer/Alexander Peya
- Belarus: Alexander Bury/Max Mirnyi
- Brazil: Marcelo Melo/Bruno Soares, Thomaz Bellucci/Andre Sa (*)
- Canada: Daniel Nestor/Vasek Pospisil
- Colombia: Juan Sebastian Cabal/Santiago Giraldo (*)
- Croatia: Marin Cilic/Ivan Dodig
- Czech Republic: Tomas Berdych/Radek Stepanek
- France: Michael Llodra/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Julien Benneteau/Richard Gasquet
- Germany: Christopher Kas/Philipp Petzschner
- Great Britain: Andy Murray/Jamie Murray, Colin Fleming/Ross Hutchins
- India: Leander Paes/Vishnu Vardhan, Mahesh Bhupathi/Rohan Bopanna
- Israel: Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (*)
- Italy: Daniele Bracciali/Andreas Seppi
- Japan: Kei Nishikori/Go Soeda (*)
- Netherlands: Robin Haase/Jean-Julien Rojer
- Poland: Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski
- Romania: Horia Tecau/Adrian Ungur (*)
- Russia: Nikolay Davydenko/Mikhail Youzhny (*)
- Serbia: Janko Tipsarevic/Nenad Zimonjic, Novak Djokovic/Victor Troicki
- Slovak Republic: Martin Klizan/Lukas Lacko (*)
- Spain: Marcel Granollers/Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer/Feliciano Lopez
- Sweden: Johan Brunstrom/Robert Lindstedt
- Switzerland: Roger Federer/Stanislas Wawrinka
- USA: Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan, John Isner/Andy Roddick
(*)  ITF Place

Women's doubles entry list 
- Argentina: Gisela Dulko/Paola Suarez
- Australia: Jarmila Gajdosova/Anastasia Rodionova, Casey Dellacqua/Samantha Stosur
- Canada: Stephanie Dubois/Aleksandra Wozniak (*)
- China, P.R.: Peng Shuai/Zheng Jie, Li Na/Zhang Shuai
- Chinese Taipei: Chuang Chia-Jung/Hsieh Su-Wei (*)
- Czech Republic: Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, Petra Cetkovska/Lucie Safarova
- France: Alize Cornet/Kristina Mladenovic (*)
- Georgia: Margalita Chakhnashvili/Anna Tatishvili (*)
- Germany: Angelique Kerber/Sabine Lisicki, Julia Goerges/Andrea Petkovic
- Great Britain: Laura Robson/Heather Watson (*)
- Hungary: Timea Babos/Agnes Szavay (*)
- India: Rushmi Chakravarthi/Sania Mirza (*)
- Italy: Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, Flavia Pennetta/Francesca Schiavone
- Kazakhstan: Yaroslava Shvedova/Galina Voskoboeva
- Poland: Agnieszka Radwanska/Urszula Radwanska, Klaudia Jans-Ignacik/Alicja Rosolska
- Romania: Irina-Camelia Begu/Monica Niculescu, Sorana Cirstea/Simona Halep
- Russia: Maria Kirilenko/Nadia Petrova, Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina
- Slovak Republic: Dominika Cibulkova/Daniela Hantuchova
- Slovenia: Andreja Klepac/Katarina Srebotnik
- Spain: Nuria Llagostera Vives/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Anabel Medina Garrigues/Arantxa Parra Santonja
- Ukraine: Alona Bondarenko/Kateryna Bondarenko (*)
- USA: Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, Serena Williams/Venus Williams
(*)  ITF Place

Li Na's photo shoot for China's Olympic team

Recently Li Na did a photo shoot for the Chinese Olympic team. Others who took part were China's hero hurdler Liu Xiang and Dallas Mavericks' Yi Jianlian. 

Li Na has been very busy with life outside of the tennis court after her triumph at the French Open last year receiving many invitations to events and of course sponsorship deals. Speaking of sponsorship, I wonder if the many online poker rooms sponsoring football clubs will also move into tennis. After all, poker and sports are quite synonym to each other. 

Coming back to Li Na, time is running out for her as this could be her last chance to win an Olympic medal.

(Images via Sina Sports)

Mixed doubles tennis for London 2012

Finally the IOC has approved adding mixed doubles event to the Olympics.

This new category will be part of the lineup for the 2012 London Games, where the tournament will be played on grass at Wimbledon.

Rendy and Hsieh

Asia has some very good mixed double pairs like India's Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi (2009 Australian Open champs) as well as Taiwan's Rendy Lu Yen-hsun and Hsieh Su-wei (Asian Hopman Cup winners).