Rafael Nadal, Juan Monaco: Winners for best bromance and in doubles match

Rafael Nadal and Juan Monaco are best friends. Last night, they were not only the winners for best bromance on the ATP but also on clay court.

Their mutual understanding for each other gave them the first doubles match win at the VTR Open. They won easily in just over an hour defeating the Czech pair of Frantisek Cermak and Lukas Dlouhy 6-3 6-2.

This is Nadal's first win and appearance in a tournament since June 28 when he was upset in the second round of Wimbledon by qualifier Lukas Rosol.

Nadal will kick off his singles campaign on Thursday against Argentine Federico Delbonis.

(Images via Juan Monaco's Facebook page, Sina Sports)

US Open Day 14 Wrap-up: Heartbroken... It Must Be Love

As always, it's demotivating to blog each time Rafael Nadal got defeated.

In a match that looks like his worst-ever defeat in a Grand Slam tournament, the Mallorcan Matador lost 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 to Juan Martin del Potro, who had beat him twice this year (Indian Wells and Montreal).

Del Potro played flawless tennis and Nadal said the Argentine fully deserved his win, while admitting that he was way below his best and was not in prime physical condition.

In another semifinal match, Roger Federer topped Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 with the help of what he called the "greatest shot of his life", a between-the-legs, back-to-the-net, crosscourt winner from the baseline.



In the men's doubles final, Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes celebrated another major victory by beating the no. 3 seeds, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Lots of love from Paes and Dlouhy

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Leander Paes, Lukas Dlouhy win French Open men's doubles

Leander Paes celebrated his ninth Grand Slam doubles! Seems like this guy never slow down!

Paes teamed with Lukas Dlouhy to capture the French Open title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman.

It was 35-year-old Paes's fifth men's doubles Grand Slam. He has also won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, including the 2003 Wimbledon and Australian Open trophies with Martina Navratilova.

Navratilova was spotted at the stand sitting next to Bill Gates.

"Martina has been a soulmate for many years. We've been through a lot in life, especially me in the last eight years. She's been along with me, supporting me, guiding me at times," said Paes.

"When I was diagnosed with cancer and I couldn't play, she basically stayed away from the game and didn't play mixed doubles until I came back."

"Whenever I look at a person like Navratilova, she gives me a lot of inspiration. It was strange that just at the end of the second set when we were getting a bit nervous and a bit edgy, she came out there and was just making eye contact."

"Lukas served three doubles faults early in the third set. I told him at one point, Martina is out there. Come on. Have a look at her. She's inspiring us."

Paes and Dlouhy first teamed up at Roland Garros last year, losing in the last 16 to eventual champions Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna.

They then finished runners-up to Mike and Bob Bryan in the 2008 US Open final.

"We started playing together at Roland Garros last year. We lost then to the champions so we made it a point that we would come back and try and win it this year," added Paes.

Judging from the way they celebrated their win by hugging and hoisting each other into the air, they'll probably stick around for more Grand Slam moments like this.

In the women's doubles, Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual won their second consecutive French Open women's doubles title by beating Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-1 on Friday.


(Via AP; Images by Patrick Kovarik/Matthew Stockman/AFP/Getty Images)

Chennai Open: From the catwalk to the court

Prakash Amritraj, Horia Tecau, Nikolay Davydenko and Mahesh Bhupathi

In keeping with tradition, Kingfisher Chennai Open Good Times Opening Party kicked off with a fashion show featuring the spring/summer collection of Manoviraj Khosla and Vivek Karunakaran’s uber-chic collection.

Players who did the catwalk were Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Prakash Amritraj, Nikolay Davydenko, Yves Allegaro and Horia Tecau.

Leander Paes

Mahesh Bhupathi

Here are more off court photos.

Leander Paes and dubs partner Lukas Dlouhy pose on elephant sculptures.

Alberto Martin and Pablo Andujar show us Spain's other favourite sport.

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the second round of the Chennai Open after beating Daniel Koellerer 6-2, 6-3.

A favourite to win at this tournament, Davydenko will next face Lukas Dlouhy, who needed three sets to beat Go Soeda of Japan.

Third-seed, Marin Cilic had little difficulty in making the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alberto Martin in 91 minutes, while Bjorn Phau did not exert much in getting past Santiago Ventura of Spain 6-2, 7-5.

Indian player Prakash Amirtraj suffered a disappointing defeat to Rainer Schuettler 2-6, 6-4, 1-6 in 85 minutes, becoming the topic of criticism on continuing to falter despite getting the wild cards in succession in the event.

Rohan Bopanna who qualified for the event after beating Michael Berrer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 however lost in the first round to Denis Isomin 6-4, 7-6(3).

For more info and results, click here.

(Via chennaiopen.org, ptinews.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com; Images viaatpworldtour.com)

Tomas Berdych, Caroline Wozniacki win Japan Open titles

Ninth seed Tomas Berdych powered past Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets to win the Japan Open, his first ATP title of the season.

In the women's competition, top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark battled to a 6-2 3-6 6-1 win over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia to claim her third WTA title of the year.

Berdych, who shocked American second seed Andy Roddick and third seed Fernando Gonzalez on his way to the final, surprisingly had a one-sided 6-1, 6-4 victory over the fifth-seeded Del Potro.

"In this condition and at this level of tennis, I think the most important thing is to... just be 100 percent on the court - then the results can come," said the 23-year-old Czech.

"I think it happened to me this week and I'm very happy for that. I'm really happy to win here, especially here in Tokyo, I hope I will be here next year."

Berdych, currently ranked 27th in the world, said his goal was to finish 2008 in or near the top 10.

Del Potro - ranked 12th after a blistering summer during which he won four titles - appeared to be off form, taking an injury time out during the first set and another before the start of the second set.

Del Potro said he had taken some medication, but did not blame the loss on his illness, saying:

"He played much better than me. I was feeling confused (by his play), but he did a great match."

"After the first set I started to play a little better, but it was too late."

It was Berdych's first title since winning at Halle in June last year, and his fourth overall, after victories at Palermo in 2004 and Paris in 2005.

On the women's side, the 18-year-old Wozniacki added to her 2008 success, after winning in Stockholm and New Haven in August.

"I feel amazing. I just won another tournament. It's been an incredible year. This is my first title here in Japan and I'm very happy," said a jubilant Wozniacki, ranked 16th against Kanepi's 33rd.

"I think I improved a lot last year."

Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy's bid for a second successive ATP title ended in disappointment after the top seeds were stunned by the Russian-German pair of Mikhail Youzhny and Mischa Zverev in the finals of AIG Japan Open in Tokyo today.

The unseeded Youzhny and Zverev beat the Indo-Czech pair 6-3, 6-4 to capture their second ATP title together.

It is the second time this year that Youzhny and Zverev have combined to deny Paes and Dlouhy a title win, having also done so when they claimed their maiden ATP title at Halle in June.

(Via news.theage.com.au, Images via Yahoo! Sport, zimbio.com)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beats Novak Djokovic to win Thailand Open title; Lukas Dlouhy & Leander Paes take men's dubs

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Novak Djokovic 7-6 (4), 6-4 to win the Thailand Open today, clinching his first career title and avenging his loss to the top-seeded Serbian in the Australian Open final.

The second-seeded Frenchman saved three break points in the last game before sealing his victory.

Playing in his second tour final after losing in Melbourne, Tsonga fired big forehands to outplay Djokovic at the baseline and at the net.

Djokovic, ranked No. 3 in the world, looked sluggish at times. He ended the match by lobbing Tsonga's serve long.

The $576,000 Bangkok tournament was only the Frenchman's second since returning from a three-month layoff following knee surgery.

In the men's doubles final, Top seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes combined to win their first team ATP title with a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over Americans Scott Lipsky and David Martin at the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Sunday.

The Czech-Indian duo fired five aces, won 74% of points on serve and converted two of four break points to secure the victory in 1 hr., 16 min.

"It’s a great feeling to win the whole thing and I think if we keep working like this we can win more tournaments," said Dlouhy.

"I think we played high-level tennis and when they came back in the second set we just stepped it up and we just focused on the basic things. I hope that we can keep it like this and we can enjoy the rest of the year and we are looking forward to playing the Masters Series events."

"It’s always special stepping on the court with Lukas because not only does he complement my style of playing but he’s also teaching me things," commented Paes.

"It’s interesting that, after playing for so many years, to have a partner who’s also teaching me a few things is really beautiful."

Individually, the 35-year-old Paes has now won 40 ATP doubles titles, while Dlouhy, 10 years his junior, has compiled five.

(Image via PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/Robert Cianflone/AFP/Getty Images)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga does a Thai version of Muhammad Ali

Finally we get to see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga doing something we all wanted to see! Yes it's boxing! Only that this is the Thai version. (Updates: Apparently Tsonga went into the boxing ring before back in May during the Hamburg Masters Series. Check out Lana's Great Tennis Photos.)

He was practicing during a Thai boxing demonstration to promote the ATP Thailand tennis Open 2008 in Bangkok.

Don't we all just love seeing the Muhammad Ali lookalike in shorts, half naked and delivering some punches here?

These photos are priceless!

Tsonga had a chance to learn some tips from Somluck Khamsing, a former Olympic boxing gold medalist. He even managed to land a left on the Olympian.

By the way Tsonga just defeated Lukas Dlouhy in the second round 7-6, 3-6, 7-6. Pretty nerve wreaking, huh?

(Images by PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Bryan brothers deny Leander Paes US Open doubles double

American twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won their seventh Grand Slam men's doubles crown defeating India's Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (12/10) to take the U.S. Open title.

The Bryans, who ran through the tournament without losing a set, previously won Slam crowns at Roland Garros in 2003, the US Open in 2005, Wimbledon in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2006 and 2007.

The defeat denied Paes a chance at a U.S. Open doubles double, having already claimed the mixed crown with Zimbabwe's Cara Black.

The victory enables the Bryans to move back into the world number one ranking from second.

(Image by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)