I'm not sure if it's only me. I thought Roger Federer look pale. Hope he's not sick or experiencing fatigue still.
Last night, Federer returned from a 5-week break to beat Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the second round of the Madrid Masters.“Happy to be back on tour,” Federer said.
“Happy with this first round. it was always going to be tough against Radek and he played a great second set.”
Federer, playing his first ATP event since winning the U.S. Open last month, will face Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. “I’m excited. He’s had a rocky season with injuries this year, so I feel for the guy,” Federer said of his French opponent.
“He’s probably one of the guys you wanna be playing out there.”
In an earlier match, Novak Djokovic advanced after Victor Hanescu retired because of an apparent groin injury while trailing 6-7 (8), 7-6 (8), 3-1. “It’s a big relief to win … this is a big boost up for upcoming matches,” Djokovic said.
“He used his biggest weapon which was his serve. I couldn’t find any rhythm in return, so he used that wisely.”
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal pulled out of doubles with Carlos Moya on Tuesday because of a slight upper leg injury. “Every match is important, including doubles, but I’ve got priorities,” said Nadal, who will face Richard Gasquet of France in singles tonight.
“You can’t win everything.”
American qualifier Robby Ginepri had the biggest upset of the day, beating fifth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Andy Roddick had little trouble getting past Spain’s Tommy Robredo, 6-3, 6-4.
The 8th-ranked American’s booming serve was never seriously challenged by Robredo and Roddick used breaks in each of the sets to pace out his win.
David Nalbandian won his sixth straight match by defeating Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
Updates:
6th seed Ferrer suffered a shock defeat to fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in straight sets, recording a 6-4 7-6 triumph.
There will be an all-Argentinean clash in the next round when Nalbandian will meet his Davis Cup team-mate Juan Martin del Potro, who was 6-4 6-2 ahead when his Finnish opponent, Jarrko Nieminen, retired.
(Via AP, Images via Yahoo! Sport)
Every tennis player wants a piece of that fame and fortune and their names to be remembered in the history book of Grand Slam. The championships do not just take the physical toll out of the players but also their emotions as well.
I'm not a fan of racquet abusers but I guess I understand how frustrated these players are especially when they are playing in such a prestigious tournament like the Wimbledon.
Jurgen Melzer throws his racquet onto ground, during the third round match against Arnaud Clement. Arnaud won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Janko Tipsarevic throws his racquet, during the third round match against Dmitry Tursunov but won 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Dinara Safina's defeat to Shahar Peer is another upset of the day. Peer won 5-7, 7-6, 8-6.
A chair is broken after Czech' Radek Stepanek smashed on it during the match against Mikhael Youzhny. Youzhny won 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
(Images by AP Photo/Sang Tan/CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)
Boy shows off his move.
Radek 'The Worm' Stepanek success is at Rome didn't last long. He might have beaten World No. 1 Roger Federer but he couldn't survived the match against Novak Djokovic due to wrist injury.
Girl in love.
But what the heck, he still got the girl. While playing against Roger Federer, girlfriend and tennis player Nicole Vaidisova was spotted supporting his match. Ah, isn't that sweet?
(Images from Getty Images)
Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka just got free tickets to enter the final at Rome Open.
What the heck is going on? There are two injuries in the semifinals where Radek Stepanek had to stop playing due to wrist injury and overheating while Andy Roddick had to pull out due to a back problem. And the day before, during one of the quarterfinal, Nicolas Almagro had to retire while playing against Djokovic due to wrist injury.
Stepanek complaining wrist injury and overheating.
Roddick experiencing back injury.
Perhaps it's a bad timing for the Italian Masters. These players are having physical injuries and there's nothing can be done to avoid it. These retirements are definitely not the same as Djokovic's pull from Monte Carlo recently. Hopefully Djokovic-virus won't spread and spoil the world of men's tennis.
(Images from (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
It seems that tennis is a favourite sports among the AS Roma football players. Besides Francesco Totti, other players from the same club, Alberto Aquilani (left) and Mancini of Brazil also taking time off to watch the men's quarter-final match between Roger Federer and Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek at the Rome Master tennis tournament, in Rome. Unbelievably, the match saw Federer lost 6-7, 6-7 to Stepanek.
(Images from (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Radek Stepanek, the world #36 tennis player in the ATP rankings, might not be popular or attractive in the tennis world. But he is certainly popular among the women tennis players.
Old flame
He used to date and engaged to former world #1, Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis (now banned from tennis for 2 years due to cocaine offense).
After splitting with Hingis last year, it seems that Stepanek is hooking up with another tennis player, Nicole Vaidisova, the world #15. Here's a spying job on the couple.
New flame
Source: Down The Line
I'm not sure if it's only me. I thought Roger Federer look pale. Hope he's not sick or experiencing fatigue still.
In an earlier match, Novak Djokovic advanced after Victor Hanescu retired because of an apparent groin injury while trailing 6-7 (8), 7-6 (8), 3-1. 
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal pulled out of doubles with Carlos Moya on Tuesday because of a slight upper leg injury. 
