Australian Open 2011: Crown's Tennis Players' Party

Every year, tennis players will show up at the luxurious Crown Casino for its annual players' party prior to the Australian Open.

Among the players who turned up this year were Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Robin Soderling with girlfriend Jenni Moström and David Nalbandian.

Rafael Nadal in his Emporio Armani wear and Richard Mille watch.

Marion Bartoli seriously need a haircut.

That transparent top with inner black tube on Maria Sharapova is just so wrong...

The usual laidback David Nalbandian...

Sweet sweet Sorana Cirstea...

I admit Robin Soderling and girlfriend Jenni Moström do look lovely together.

(Images by Graham Denholm/Getty Images AsiaPac via zimbio.com)

2010 Malaysian Open Tennis Tournament

We're just 1.5 months away from the 2010 Malaysian Open Tennis Tournament!


I was at the press conference recently to witness the launching and players announcement.



So far Robin Soderling, Nikolay Davydenko, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Mikhail Youzhny, Nicolas Almagro, Marcos Baghdatis, Lleyton Hewitt and Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun are the confirmed line-up who will headline the USD947,750 prize money tournament.

I've uploaded the players message video which features Baghdatis, Youzhny, Soderling and Ferrer.

The ATP 250 tournament is scheduled to take place from September 25 to October 3, at Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil.

Tournament director Nick Freyer makes a brief intro of Rendy.

I'm looking forward to meeting Rendy Lu again.


Together with some fans, we're planning to make a banner to welcome him when he arrives in Malaysia and of course to support him throughout this tournament.


The line-up are strong but who knows he will grab his first ATP 250 title here ;-) Drop me an email if you're interested to join us!

With Lina Teoh the emcee of the Malaysian Open. She's a reason not to miss the tournament.

Giant sized buntings at the presser.

To purchase your tickets soon you can get it from Ticketpro's website:
http://www.ticketpro.com.my/jnp/sports/tennis/435460-atp-2010.html


Here's the official website of the tournament: http://www.malaysianopentennis.com/2010/



(Photos credit to HSFoo of hcfoo.com)

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Rafael Nadal regains French Open title, world no.1 ranking

It's a sweet revenge for Rafael Nadal and his fans!

After struggling to get back into form since his lost to Robin Soderling at Roland Garros last year, Nadal finally found his way back to the top as the King of Clay again.

Celebrity power couple spotted at RG: Jay-Z and Beyonce

Also spotted at RG: Michelle Yeoh and Jean Todt

Not only that he wins his fifth French Open title and 7th Grand Slam, we also reclaims the top ATP rank from Roger Federer again on Monday.

“I lost last year because I was not well-prepared, and I had very low morale last year, as well,” said Nadal who covered his face with a towel and cried after the match ended.

“But this time, I’m back. I’m back—and I win.”Nadal is 38-1 over his career at Roland Garros.

Now he is only one French Open title shy of Bjorn Borg’s record of 6.This is the second time in three years that Nadal won the tournament without losing a set.

There's no time to celebrate or relax as Nadal plans to fly to London today and start practicing on grass. Of course I hope he'll clinch the second Wimbledon title this year.

Meanwhile, in the women's singles, Francesca Schiavone defeated Samantha Stosur in Saturday’s final, 6-4, 7-6 (2), and celebrated by kissing the clay.

Yikess!

At 29, Schiavone became the oldest woman to win her first Grand Slam title in 41 years.

In the men's doubles final, Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beat Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday to clinch their third grand-slam title together.

The William sisters earned their 12th Grand Slam title by beating Katarina Srebotnik and Kveta Peschke 6-2, 6-3 in the women's doubles.

Now the clay season has officially ended. Let's look forward to the grass surface.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports, Sina Sports)

Does Roger Federer still have the drive to win?

I thought Roger Federer would easily beat Robin Soderling after the first set victory.

I was wrong.

It's like a deja vu all over again. Remember Rafael Nadal's fourth round lost last year to Soderling at Roland Garros? But honestly, the pain for Nadal and his fans were so much greater compared to Federer's lost last night.

So, the Swede sensation defeated Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the semifinals and end the Swiss maestro’s run of 23 consecutive semifinal appearances in Grand Slam tourneys.

Federer seems cool and even joked about it.

"They all come to an end at some stage. You hope they don't happen, but they do. It was a great run," Federer said.

"Now I've got the quarterfinal streak going, I guess."

LOL! Now seriously, for someone who used to set the bar high, do you think he would settle for less now? Are we ever going to see him in any Grand Slam final again or is he contented with the current 16 GS titles and a happy family of 4?

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Rewind: Unseen before footage from the Malaysian Open '09

I had too much free time last weekend so I decided to put some of the unused footage clips from the Malaysian Open back in September into some sort of a music video.

As usual, I appreciate off court a lot, so you'll only find off court footage in this MV.

Robin Soderling, Yanina Wickmayer kung fu fighting in Beijing

Robin Soderling and Yanina Wickmayer were said to receive some kung fu lessons at the China Open promotional event yesterday evening.

Using my research skill, I managed to find this picture of Soderling. His pose looked quite convincing, right? No?

Earlier, a teacher and his students from the Shaolin Temple put up a display before the players arrived, showing off different skills in kung fu, with some of them even breaking small metal rods over their heads.

(Via China Open official website)

Fernando Verdasco makes Malaysian Batik shirt look Spanish

The title isn't from me... I took it from @candelifera :D

Richard Gasquet, Robin Soderling, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco attended the player party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel wearing traditional Malaysian Batik shirts for the evening function.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, his wife First Lady Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and Sports Minister Datu Ahmed Shabery Cheek also attended the event.

(Image by IMG/Proton Malaysian Open)

Davydenko, Verdasco, Gonzalez, Soderling at KLCC

Kuala Lumpur has some very identifiable landmarks but none compare to the iconic Petronas Towers in the heart of the city.

Top seeds Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez and Robin Soderling paid a visit to the KLCC this morning.

“It’s incredible looking building. Very nice. Incredible how they make this bridge across two building like this," Davydenko said.

Verdasco said: “It’s incredible, these two buildings. You can see it from all over. It is amazing to see the buildings from my room at the hotel which is next door.”

After the photo shoot, the guys went back to Mandarin Oriental Hotel for round table interview. You can watch my exclusive interview with Verdasco here.

Here are some of the pictures at the events.

(Photo credit to HSFoo/hcfoo.com)

Tweet moment at Robin Soderling's practice?

Together with my sis, we headed to the Putra Stadium to pick up press kit yesterday.

The security was very tight and the IMG staff, contractors and volunteers were as busy as bees getting ready for the biggest tennis tournament in this country.

I didn't expect to see any players at the centre court, so I wasn't prepared (not equipped with camera).

I managed to Tweet a bit before my phone battery went flat.

• http://twitpic.com/j1uva - I can't believe @RSoderling's the first player i met here. He said 'hi' to me...

• fuck. Low batt. Didn't expect to watch practice.
• Magnus hitting with Soderling.. I think Magnus is better looking on tv
• http://twitpic.com/j1wd9 - Here's Magnus Norman warming up

• i don't know why i'm feeling guilty watching Soderling practice for almost an hour
• @tennislust @RD_Tennistalk I hate to admit this but I think I'll forgive @RSoderling for beating Rafa at FO
• @RD_Tennistalk it was his smile and 'hi'... he gave me a good impression I almost forgot he's the evil one

If you're interested to follow my experience at the Malaysian Open, you can follow my tweet at http://twitter.com/hcfoo

US Open Day 10 Wrap-up: Oudin runs out of magic, Federer reaches 22nd Grand Slam semis

It's curtain call for Melanie Oudin at the US Open but as she stepped out of the Arthur Ashe stadium last night, her life will change forever - as the media said, she'll step into "a world of jostling paparazzi, autograph signing and an endorsement-filled future".

Caroline Wozniacki who ended Oudin's dream run with a 6-2, 6-2 victory, will go into her first Grand Slam semifinals for the first time.

In an earlier quarterfinal match, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, who never before past a Grand Slam second round, beat Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 6-4.

Both Wozniacki and Wickmayer will meet in a Friday semifinal to determine the winner to play for a US Open title on Saturday against either Serena Williams or Kim Clijsters.

In the men's singles, Roger Federer defeated Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 to extend his winning streak to 39 at the US Open.

Federer will play Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, after the Serbian pulled off a 7-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over the unfit Fernando Verdasco.

Here's Thursday’s order of play on day 11 at the U.S. Open (prefix denotes seeding):

(Not before 1100EDT)
6-Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) v 16-Marin Cilic (Croatia)

(Not before 1900EDT)
11-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) v 3-Rafael Nadal (Spain)

(Via AP; Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Malaysian Open: One-way ticket to see shirtless players under the equatorial sun

Eight players already announced their commitment to join the Malaysian Open scheduled this September - (pictures in sequence) Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, David Ferrer, Fernando Gonzalez, Nikolay Davydenko, Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco.

Malaysia is located near to the equator, so it's extremely hot and humid throughout the year.

Although the tournament is going to be held indoor, there's still high possibility that you'll see the players shirtless on and off court especially during practice, jogging and changovers.

Here's a preview of what you'll most likely see (I mean hot bods!) between September 26 to October 4, 2009.

If you like what you see, book your tickets now. Go to: http://malaysianopentennis.com/tickets.html

Be fast!