Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray led an all-star cast of ATP World Tour players who played exhibition matches at the Rome Masters on last weekend to raise funds for FedeLux.
Fedelux is a leukemia foundation established in the memory of former player Federico Luzzi, who died of the disease last year aged 28 last year.
Tommy Robredo, Marat Safin, Potito Starace, Andreas Seppi, Simone Bolelli and Filippo Volandri also took part in the exhibition, which was attended by Luzzi’s parents Maurizio and Paola.
Most of the players wore shirts with an image of Luzzi.
Federer said, “It was a nice match for me to play, knowing that Federico is up above watching us, having his parents here.”
Djokovic said, “We played in his honour and for the foundation that his family has created to fight against leukemia. It was very emotional for all of us who knew him. He was a very positive guy and I always remember him with a smile on his face.”
Slovak Republic pair of Dominik Hrbaty and Dominika Cibulkova pulled off a major upset to win the $1-million ITF Hyundai Hopman Cup tennis championship in Perth’s Burswood Dome.
It was the Slovak nation’s 3rd Cup win in eight appearances at the international mixed teams championship.
The victory was clinched by Hrbaty in a thrilling singles battle, beating Russia’s Marat Safin, a former world No. 1, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/3). Earlier, Cibulkova had beaten world no. 3 Dinara Safina 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 6-4.
In a power-packed six hours of tennis, the Slovaks survived against higher-ranked opponents after both teams had gone into the final undefeated from their three round robin matches.
The 19-year-old Cibulkova, ranked 19 in the world, converted five of her 10 break point opportunities in her singles win and completed the week unbeaten in four matches, plus two mixed doubles.
Her partner, who celebrated his 31st birthday earlier in Cup week, survived numerous crisis moments as the powerful Safin blasted 22 aces past him.
The victory belied Hrbaty’s singles ranking of 252 after a career high of 14. Safin, ranked at 29 after a year of injury, has announced that this could well be his last year on Tour.
The Slovaks shared a winner’s prize of A$250,000, plus two diamond-encrusted tennis balls.
P.S. If you do not know the relationship between Cibulkova and Jurgen Melzer, click here.
(Via Hopman Cup official website; Images by Tony Ashby/AFP/Getty Images))
How could Chinese Taipei possibly miss the golden chance to beat the Russian team?
Russia's bro & sis team of Marat Safin and Dinara Safina has survived a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei to win 2-1 and remain unbeaten at the Hyundai Hopman Cup.
I'm devastated and I just can't accept the fact that Hsieh Su-wei and Rendy Lu Yen-hsun wasted such opportunities to win the singles matches.
Here are the final results:
Russia 2 defeated Chinese Taipei 1
Dinara Safina d Hsieh Su-Wei 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
Marat Safin d Yen-Hsun Lu 7-6 (8/6), 7-5
Safina/Safin lost to Hsieh/Lu 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8/10)
Safin, who has announced that 2009 is his final year on Tour, didn’t find things easy against Rendy, but is delighted to begin his Australian summer with two wins.
"He's a very complete player, is very smart, fast and good from all the sides. He seems to read the game well, his anticipation is incredible and it's quite tough to break him," Safin said.
The Russian team will face the highly-rated French team of Alize Cornet and Gilles Simon on Thursday night to guarantee qualification.
A French victory will mean that France, Russia and Italy could all be on two victories by the end of the Round-Robin series and the finalist from Group A will be decided by the calculator.
I'm actually looking forward to this tournament because of the great line up of players.
It's pretty sad that Serena Williams will not be teaming up with James Blake to play against the brother and sister team Marat Safin and Dinara Safina.
Williams announced that she has to withdraw from next month's Hopman Cup mixed teams event after suffering from a hamstring injury. The US Open winner injured her hamstring in the year-ending WTA Championships and has not been able to recover in time to prepare for the Perth tournament, although she still intends to play the Australian Open later in January.
World No.10 Blake will now be partnered by Meghann Shaughnessy.
When Blake was in Malaysia last month, I had the opportunity to ask him a question regarding the Hopman Cup.
Teams who will be playing are: US (Meghann Shaughnessy/James Blake x1), Russia (Marat Safin/Dinara Safina x2), France (Alize Cornet/Gilles Simon x3), Australia (Casey Dellacqua/Lleyton Hewitt x4), Italy (Simone Bolelli/Flavia Pennetta x5), Germany (Sabine Lisicki/Nicolas Kiefer x6), Slovak Republic (Dominika Cibulkova/Dominik Hrbaty x7), Taiwan (Su-Wei Hsieh/Lu Yen-Hsun x8).
Here are some updates of the world no. 1 player Rafael Nadal.
On November 26, Nadal joined the rest of his Spanish team mates in meeting the Prime Minister of Spain Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at the Moncloa Palace, in Madrid after the country's victory at the Davis Cup final.
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On the following day, Iker Casillas and Nadal met to discuss the charity event called 'Friends of Iker vs Friends of Rafa'.
This is the second year of their charity event with the main objective to free the world of malaria. The event will involve both tennis and football, and as an extra treat, a bit of karting action.
All the players have not yet been confirmed but F1 driver Fernando Alonso will definitely be taking part and Casillas and Nadal could not resist taking pops at the other today.
"Rafa has a good pair of feet but he does not have the vision," quipped the Real Madrid goalkeeper before Nadal responded with: "Iker could do with some tennis lessons, I would even give them for free if he wanted.
The event will take place three days after the clash in the Camp Nou on the December 16.
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On Friday, Nadal was a celebrity representative of a vendor at the Moscow Millionaire Fair, an annual event that attracts some of the wealthiest people on the planet.
"Moscow's not like Ibiza, it's a lot colder," Nadal, who traveled to the Russian capital to promote the luxury houses of Ibiza-based Vitaeibiza Homes.
A throng of journalists met Nadal upon his arrival at the Crocus Expo fair complex, where more than 200 Russian and foreign companies have been exhibiting their luxury goods - everything from cars to yachts to helicopters - amid tight security measures.
Nadal was pictured here with Marat Safin in Moscow.
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A biography called Rafael Nadal: The Biography written by Tom Oldfield and published by John Blake Publishing Ltd will be released in early April 2009.
Found a hilarious post on Bleacher Report called "If Tennis Players Were Rock Stars: Who Would They Be?"
Top professional tennis players are no difference from celebrities. They get 5-star treatment wherever they go. And whether it's on-court or off-court, their move are being watched constantly.
According to contributor Vinny Do, "Tennis players are a lot like rock stars. They all have a certain voice."
Here are what he thought the tennis players would be if they were rock stars.
Roger Federer: John Lennon. Just greatness all round, from songwriting to singing to leadership.
Rafael Nadal: Carlos Santana. Virtuoso skill and grit; enough vibrato to make you go wow! Lleyton Hewitt: Bon Scott from AC/DC. Both Aussies, and wear school uniforms.
Serena Williams: Tina Turner. Simply the best, and those hmm...thunder thighs.
Marat Safin: Bon Jovi. The looks and the women.
Andy Murray: The guy from "The Darkness." Looks like him, scruffy. Slim.
Andy Roddick: Any boy band member. But he thought it's Brian from the Backstreet boys, can hit the notes, but rarely anything special (Ouch!)
John McEnroe: Bob Dylan. They are both magicians, but couldn't give a hoot what anyone else thinks.
Thanks to TennisPunk for inspiring the title of this blog.
I've lost count of how many times I've stressed in my blog that the cancellation of Kings of Tennis is based on reliable source: media at Kings of Tennis Sweden, player's statement and also endless investigation from tennis fans including SK Boey and I. And in the latest email I received from the webmaster at Marat Safin OFFICIAL website, denisem the webmaster confirmed that Marat Safin is NOT COMING to Malaysia for King of Tennis!
From his official website, it seems that Safin is in Miami beach building his tan to match his girlfriend Nastya Osipova! And for one last time before tomorrow comes, please read the latest update from SK Boey's blog.
It was pizza all-around for ballboys and girls after Roger Federer claimed the title at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Tournament last weekend.
However, it's a different story with two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin who is now considering retirement after a 6-0, 7-6 (4) loss to Juan Monaco in the first round of the Paris Masters yesterday.
Safin, a former top-ranked player and a three-time champion at the Paris tournament, wants a long break before making a decision.
“I don’t know what happened. Just couldn’t find my rhythm and couldn’t find the game,” the 28-year-old Russian said.
“I need to think everything through. I have no pressure and I have nothing to prove or show. I just want to be comfortable with my decision, whatever I will take.”
“I need to sit down and relax and just enjoy my life without any tennis (for) a couple of months and then I will see,” Safin said. “If I feel like I want to continue to play, I will. If not, it will be over.”
Safin won the U.S. Open in 2000 and the Australian Open in 2005. He hasn’t won a tour title since the victory in Australia.
“I’ve been struggling throughout my career with injuries left and right,” said Safin, who is ranked 31st.
“It’s a little bit uncomfortable to find yourself in the top 10 for many years and to find yourself ranked 70 and 30 and 50 … It’s not really a comfortable position.”
Igor Kunitsin, right, still appear to be shocked after his win against Marat Safin.
World no. 71, Igor Kunitsyn who played his first ATP final, upset former world number one Marat Safin 7-6 6-7 6-3 in an all-Russian Kremlin Cup final to clinch his maiden title on Sunday.
Earlier, world number one Jelena Jankovic overpowered Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-4 in the women’s final to win her third title in a row.
“This is beyond my wildest dreams,” Kunitsyn told reporters.
“I’d never have expected to beat Marat in the final in Moscow,” added the 27-year-old from Vladivostok, who took home $171,000 in winnings to more than double his earnings for the year.
Safin, seeded 7th and bidding to claim his first title in almost four years, reached the final without hitting a ball when his semi-final opponent, German Mischa Zverev, withdrew with illness on Saturday.
The big Russian has not tasted success since winning the Australian Open in January 2005.
“I have only myself to blame,” said Safin, who also lost to compatriot Nikolay Davydenko in the 2006 final in Moscow.
“If I had won the first set, it would have been a different story but he gained confidence as the match went on, played well in the end and deserved his victory.”
Love strucked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, left, and Vera Zvonareva of Russia pose with their trophies after a final match.
In the women's singles, Jankovic, making her debut in Moscow, broke Zvonareva twice to take the first set in just over half an hour.
“I’ve played her twice in the last two weeks so I really knew what to expect and was focused right from the start,” said Jankovic, who pocketed $196,900 for her efforts.
“I dominated in the first set but in the second my concentration slipped a little bit but I was able to get myself together in the end.”
The 23-year-old has been playing almost non-stop in the last couple of months and must keep going for another week before taking a well-deserved rest.
“I’ve worked really hard in the last three weeks, winning three titles in a row. It’s not easy,” she told reporters.
“But I still have my commitments to play next week in Zurich. Then I’ll take a two-week rest before playing (next month’s season-ending WTA Championships) in Doha.
“I’ve had a tough season, overcoming a number of injuries but I’m quite close to finishing the year ranked number one and I’m really proud of it,” she added.
Zvonareva, who reached her first Kremlin Cup final on her eighth appearance in Moscow, said she could do little to stop Jankovic.
“It seems she had an answer for everything I tried,” the 24-year-old Muscovite told a news conference.
Ross Hutchins, left, and Stephen Huss, middle, pose with their runner-up trophies beside Sergiy Stakhovsky, right, with his winners trophy (without his partner Potito Starace), after the doubles final.
In the men's doubles final, first-time pairing of Sergiy Stakhovsky and Potito Starace captured their first ATP doubles title with a 7-6(4), 2-6, 10-6 victory over Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins.
The 22-year-old Stakhovsky, currently no. 167 in the Stanford ATP Doubles Rankings, was appearing in his first ATP doubles final. Earlier in the season he captured his maiden ATP singles title in his first final at Zagreb.
The 27-year-old Starace has now won three titles in four finals. He captured two titles in 2007 at Kitzbuhel and Acapulco and was runner-up at Acapulco in 2006.
“We played unbelievable doubles. We only signed up at the last moment and we can play maybe the next tournament then we’ll see," said Starace.
Nadia Petrova, left, and Katerina Srebotnik, 2nd left, pose with their trophies after winning the doubles against Cara Black, 2nd right, and Liezel Huber, right.
In the women's doubles final, top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber took on no.4 seeds Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik.
Petrova and Srebotnik pulled off the upset in straight sets, 6-4 6-4, for their first title as a team.
It was Petrova's 15th career Tour doubles title and Srebotnik's 19th.
Lana from Great Tennis Photos reported that Marat Safin was spotted in Moscow with his new girlfriend Nastya Osipova, a 24-year-old, Russian pop singer.
Well, I don't know if she can sing or dance well, but I definitely know that she needs some real serious makeover.
The tan, the dress and the make-up are just not right! (Screaming on top of my lungs!)
With his good looks, Safin could have just picked one of the girls performed at the Players Party at the Kremlin Cup recently. Or one of the hot Russian women players on this table!
Here are some great photos at the Kremlin Cup players party at the Europe Club, Moscow, Russia last night. Enjoy!
There are a few performances from boy bands and all-girl bands including this group called "Blondies". I thought I saw Maria Sharapova in this picture.
Jamie Murray (with the lame 'peace' sign) and Ross Hutchins.
Anastasia Myskina and the cute looking Dinara Safina.
Starace Potito and Flavia Pennetta.
The forever-hot-looking Marat Safin.
Victor Hanescu
Gosh, Robby Ginepri, you seriously need to get a haircut!
The adorable Elena Vesnina.
Elena 'hot-looking blond in leather' Dementieva.
Nicole Vaidisova in a 'Wilma Flintstone' dress.
Vera Dushevina, Anna Chakvetadze , Elena Dementieva, Elena Vesnina
Dinara Safina's pretty good in PR.
Don't you think Svetlana Kuznetsova's getting slimmer and prettier these days?
(Images via zimbio.com, kremlin cup official site)
And Safin didn't even made it through the first round.
Philipp Petzschner sprang the first upset of the Thailand Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) defeating Russian Marat Safin yesterday.
The world-ranked 131 German reached the second round at the ATP level for the fourth time this season as he caught a frustrated Safin flat-footed to deny the former number 1 his 400th career match win.
"I didn't feel comfortable on the court, it's just the way I was today," said a deflated Safin, a semi-finalist in his previous two appearances.
"I didn't play well, nothing happened for me out there. It's my job to play tennis and I didn't do it well today."
Perhaps Safin was rather tired, judging from the pictures during his arrival at the Bangkok International Airport.
(Via AFP, Images by Yahoo! Sport, Zimbio and Ms Unpredictable @ Menstennisforums)
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray led an all-star cast of ATP World Tour players who played exhibition matches at the Rome Masters on last weekend to raise funds for FedeLux.
Most of the players wore shirts with an image of Luzzi.
