Shirtless ATP players at practice in Australia

China's Sun Tiantian reminded everyone in her blog that Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world.

So why are these players risk hitting under the hot sun shirtless???

Mario Ancic in Medibank International earlier this week.

Andy Murray during a practice at Melbourne Park.

Marat Safin at Melbourne Park.

Andy Roddick at Melbourne Park.

(Images via Zahirah's flickr page, Yahoo! Sports)

Is David Nalbandian eyeing a switch to motorsport?

Nah, not yet. The tennis player who would consider such a career change would be Paradorn Srichaphan.

David Nalbandian took time out from his practice for the Medibank International, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Sydney, by satisfying his need for speed.

The 27-year-old, whose hobbies include fishing and watching rally races, travelled to Eastern Creek - the home of Australian Motorsport - on Sydney’s outskirts to compete in a go-karting session.


(Via Medibank Sydney website)

Defending champion Dmitry Tursunov at the official draw of Medibank International Sydney

Dmitry Tursunov and Svetlana Kuznetsova were at the Myer Department Store in Sydney's city centre.

They were getting some help from fans in conducting the official draw. There was an also autograph session with the players including Mario Ancic and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Check out the draws and OOP here.

Dima will be defending his title here. He's definitely an interesting player to watch out for, whether it's on court or off court. If you have missed his 'off court adventurous ride' recently in MTF or DtL, check it out here. Click for a larger version.


(Images via Medibank Sydney website, downthelinetennis)

Serena Williams the Queen of Bling

Serena Williams took some time out from practice at the Medibank International Sydney. She visited award winning celebrated jeweller Nic Cerrone at his beautiful store and workshop.

Check out Serena's facial expression when she was presented a special made necklace by the King of Bling himself, Nic!


(Via Medibank Sydney website)

Mardy Fish met his match at the Sydney Aquarium

Mardy Fish and his wife Stacy Gardner were VIP guests at the Sydney Aquarium where they had a chance to get up close and personal with the city’s most popular animal... sharks!

Check out the video after these photos.



(Via Medibank Sydney official website)

Novak Djokovic's HEADache; could be HEADing to Sydney

Novak Djokovic’s preparations for the defence of his Australian Open title suffered an unexpected setback after being knocked out of the Brisbane International in the first round.

The world no. 3 who has made a switch over to Head from Wilson, lost his debut match at the brand new Pat Rafter Arena to Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-4 6-4.

“I am not panicking,” he told reporters.

“The Australian Open is my highest goal for this part of the year and I really want to play well there.

“It’s not the end of the world. It’s the first match, so I’m not going to be pessimistic.

“I have a lot of time now to prepare for the Aussie Open.”

From a chat with Zara, Nole could be getting/accepting wild card entry to play at the Medibank International Sydney Tennis Tournament starting this weekend.

He has to accept it (if offered) or else he will begin the Australian Open with only one competitive match under his belt this season.

(Image via Yahoo! Sport)