Serena Williams, Vera Zvonareva reach Wimbledon finals

Put Vera and Serena together and you'll create a ticking time bomb (or two).

'A more composed' (according to Lindsay Davenport) Vera Zvonareva has advanced to her first Grand Slam final after defeating unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of Wimbledon today.

Pironkova is down and out but made a name for herself in this tournament.

Pironkova’s defeat ended her bid to become the first unseeded woman to reach the final at the SW19.

In another semifinal match, Serena Williams defeated unseeded Petra Kvitova in straight sets to reach her 3rd straight Wimbledon final and 6th overall.

Petra Kvitova pissed off with her performance.

Serena overcame the world no. 62 Czech player to win 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Williams is now one win away from her 4th Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam championship!

Serena is expected to work her ass off in order to stop Vera in the final.

I suspect this is going to be a very intense women's final.

(Images via Sina Sports)

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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)

Australian Open Day 4 Wrap-up: Prince Williams meets the King and Queen of tennis

Roger Federer and Serena Williams, the king and queen of tennis welcomed Prince Williams at the Rod Laver Arena yesterday.

The Prince of Wales is visiting Australia this week and the trip wouldn't be complete without stopping by at the craziest Grand Slam tournament.

Judging from the lady's reaction in this picture, I think Prince Williams can beat Federer hands down anytime.

Here's the results from the Australian Open singles and doubles on Day 4 (prefix number denotes seeding):

Round 2 - Men's Singles
9-Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Ivan Sergeyev (UKR) 6-1 6-2 6-2
10-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) bt Taylor Dent (USA) 6-4 6-3 6-3
1-Roger Federer (SUI) bt Victor Hanescu (ROU) 6-2 6-3 6-2
31-Albert Montanes (ESP) bt Stephane Robert (FRA) 4-6 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3 6-2
18-Tommy Haas (GER) bt Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 4-6 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-3
22-Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) bt Donald Young (USA) 7-6(3) 6-4 6-1
Stefan Koubek (AUT) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO) 7-6(4) 6-1 6-2
Lukasz Kubot (POL) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL) 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-1
20-Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) bt Jan Hajek (CZE) 6-2 6-1 6-1
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) bt 17-David Ferrer (ESP) 4-6 3-6 7-6(4) 6-3 6-1
Alejandro Falla (COL) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-4 6-1 6-3
30-Juan Monaco (ARG) bt Michael Llodra (FRA) 3-6 3-6 7-6(5) 6-1 6-3
3-Novak Djokovic (SRB) bt Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 3-6 6-1 6-1 6-3
Denis Istomin (UZB) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 7-5 6-3 6-4
26-Nicolas Almagro (ESP) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-4 6-2 3-6 4-6 6-3
6-Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) bt Q-Illya Marchenko (UKR) 6-3 6-3 6-0


Round 2 - Women's SIngles
Casey Dellacqua (AUS) bt Karolina Sprem (CRO) 7-6(4) 7-6(6)
1-Serena Williams (USA) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6-2 6-1
6-Venus Williams (USA) bt Sybille Bammer (AUT) 6-2 7-5
Alberta Brianti (ITA) bt 21-Sabine Lisicki (GER) 2-6 6-4 6-4
22-Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) bt Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 6-4 6-1
13-Samantha Stosur (AUS) bt Kristina Barrois (GER) 7-5 6-3
17-Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Julie Coin (FRA) 6-3 6-4
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0
9-Vera Zvonareva (RUS) bt Iveta Benesova (CZE) 6-0 6-3
4-Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) bt Julia Gorges (GER) 6-3 6-1
29-Shahar Peer (ISR) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 6-1 6-4
7-Victoria Azarenka (BLR) bt Stefanie Vogele (SUI) 6-4 6-0
16-Li Na (CHN) bt Agnes Szavay (HUN) 3-6 7-5 6-2
32-Carla Suarez (ESP) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-1 6-4
Gisela Dulko (ARG) bt 20-Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 6-7(6) 7-5 6-4
10-Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 6-0 6-2


Round 1 - Men's Doubles
Carsten Ball/Stephen Huss (AUS) bt Benjamin Becker/Florian Mayer (GER) 7-6(6) 7-6(3)
Julien Benneteau (FRA)/Steve Darcis (BEL) bt 13-Michael Llodra (FRA)/Andy Ram (ISR) 7-5 3-6 7-5
Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)/Dudi Sela (ISR) bt Marco Chiudinelli (SUI)/Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-4 6-2
14-Martin Damm (CZE)/Filip Polasek (SVK) bt WC-Marinko Matosevic/Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-2 6-1
Michael Kohlmann (GER)/Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) bt 4-Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Max Mirnyi (BLR) 6-4 6-4
Simone Bolelli/Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Lukas Lacko (SVK)/Michael Russell (USA) 6-4 6-2
Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/Dusan Vemic (SRB) bt 9-Christopher Kas (GER)/Dick Norman (BEL) 6-4 3-6 6-4
Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)/Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) bt 6-Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK) 6-3 7-6(7)
Fabio Fognini/Potito Starace (ITA) bt Jeremy Chardy/Marc Gicquel (FRA) 5-1 ret.
John Isner/Sam Querrey (USA) bt Jeff Coetzee (RSA)/Rogier Wassen (NED) 6-4 6-1
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/Rainer Schuttler (GER) bt Frederico Gil (POR)/Kristof Vliegen (BEL) 6-3 6-2
11-Simon Aspelin (SWE)/Paul Hanley (AUS) bt Marcos Daniel (BRA)/Daniel Kollerer (AUT) 6-1 6-2.
3-Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/Leander Paes (IND) bt Leos Friedl/David Skoch (CZE) 6-3 6-1.
Igor Andreev/Evgeny Korolev (RUS) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)/Mischa Zverev (GER) 6-1 7-6(6).
Eric Butorac/Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Thomaz Bellucci/Andre Sa (BRA) 6-3 6-4.


Round 1 - Women's Doubles
7-Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Alberta Brianti (ITA)/Urszula Radwanska (POL) 4-6 7-5 7-6(3)
Shahar Peer (ISR)/Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)/Renata Voracova (CZE) 6-2 7-5
Raluca Olaru (ROU)/Olga Savchuk (UKR) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 4-6 6-1 6-2
12-Chuang Chia-Jung (TPE)/Kveta Peschke (CZE) bt Ipek Senoglu (TUR)/Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 6-0 7-5
Agnes Szavay (HUN)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) bt Olga Govortsova/Tatiana Poutchek (BLR) 7-5 6-4
Vera Dushevina (RUS)/Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) bt 5-Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Samantha Stosur (AUS) 3-6 6-4 6-1
Melinda Czink (HUN)/Natalie Grandin (RSA) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER)/Aravane Rezai (FRA) 6-3 6-2
15-Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) bt Sorana Cirstea (ROU)/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-0 6-7(4) 6-2
10-Sania Mirza (IND)/Virginia Ruano (ESP) bt WC-Yayuk Basuki (INA)/Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) 6-4 6-2
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)/Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) bt Kaia Kanepi (EST)/Jasmin Wohr (GER) 7-6(5) 6-4
13-Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA) bt Alona Bondarenko/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 6-4 2-6 6-3
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/Shenay Perry (USA) bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)/Michaella Krajicek (NED) 6-1 6-4
9-Elena Vesnina (RUS)/Zheng Jie (CHN) bt Alize Cornet (FRA)/Sharon Fichman (CAN) 7-5 6-3
16-Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) bt Sara Errani (ITA)/Carla Suarez (ESP) 6-2 6-1
Carly Gullickson (USA)/Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE) bt Alexandra Dulgheru/Edina Gallovits (ROU) 6-3 3-6 6-3
Sarah Borwell (GBR)/Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) bt Polona Hercog (SLO)/Petra Martic (CRO) 6-4 7-6(3)
14-Anna-Lena Gronefeld (GER)/Vania King (USA) bt WC-Shannon Golds/Marija Mirkovic (AUS) 6-0 6-1
Virginie Razzano (FRA)/Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) bt Maria Kondratieva (RUS)/Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 7-5 3-6 6-2
Elena Baltacha (GBR)/Liga Dekmeijere (LAT) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE)/Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 7-5 6-2
WC-Sally Peers (AUS)/Laura Robson (GBR) bt Jill Craybas/Abigail Spears (USA) 6-3 7-5

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Federer & Friends stage fundraiser for Haiti victims

Roger Federer is the one who initiated the fundraiser for the earthquake victims in Haiti last Sunday.

Dubbed "Hit For Haiti", the event raised more than $185k on the eve of the Australian Open.

In this event, Federer teamed up with Serena Williams, Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur.

Their opponents were Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters.

In the end, Federer’s so-called Red Team beat the rival Blue Team 7-6 in their one-set match that lasted an hour and a half.

The teams were named according to the colours of Haiti’s flag.

(Via AP; Image by William West/AFP/Getty Images)

Serena Williams is Glamorous

Serena Williams was named as one of Glamour magazine's 2009 Women of the Year.

At the star-studded event, Emmy award-winning talk show host, Tyra Banks, presented Serena Williams, with her award.

During her speech, she encouraged the women in the crowd, "You can do whatever you want to do. The most important belief is self-belief."

Among the women honoured were Rihanna, Maria Shriver, Stella McCartney, First Lady Michelle Obama, Serena Williams, Laura Ling, Euna Lee, Maya Angelou, Jane Aronson, Marissa Mayer, Amy Poehler and Susan Rice.

The Real Glam Slam in Doha

All top eight women's players attended the draw ceremony for the WTA Championships at the Museum of Islamic Art in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday.

Round robin groups for the Sony Ericsson year-end championships are:

WHITE GROUP
Dinara Safina
Caroline Wozniacki
Victoria Azarenka
Jelena Jankovic

MAROON GROUP
Serena Williams
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Elena Dementieva
Venus Williams

The top two finishers in each group advance to the semifinals, where each first-placed player will face the second-placed player from the other group.

The 1.55-million-dollar championship willl be held between October 27 and November 1.

World no.2 Serena Williams


World no. 7 Venus Williams


World no. 5 Elena Dementieva

Svetlana Kuznetsova (no. 3), Dinara Safina (no.1), Caroline Wozniacki (no.4)

Victoria Azarenka (no. 6), Jelena Jankovic (no.8)

(Images by Getty Images)

TENNIS WATCH: On coaches, nudity, money & power, retirement & comeback, etc.

Since I'll be away for a couple of days, here's a longer than usual brief tennis news for you to read. Have a good weekend!

• Finally James Blake has stopped working with long time coach Brian Barker after the US Open. He is now coached by Kelly Jones in Beijing. Although lost to Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 in the second round yesterday, Blake saved a match point to claw back to 5-5 and eventually won the second set.

• Ernests Gulbis seems to improve a lot after getting help from new coach Hernan Gumy. He has won back-to-back ATP matches for the first time this season and advanced to the quarterfinals of Tokyo when Juan Monaco retired at 6-3, 4-1 yesterday.

• Have we forgotten about Mario Ancic? I guess not. The Croatian has not retire from tennis to become a full time lawyer. He is expected to get medical clearance (from mononucleosis) to begin training again. Ancic hopes to return to the tour next January.

• No.1 again next week, Serena Williams, on posing nude for the cover of ESPN The Magazine, "ESPN had a body issue, and they told me I had a great body and wanted me to be on the cover. So I was super flattered, but I wanted to do it classy and not trampy, for lack of a better word. It's tasteful and super cool, and I love it."

• It's not a surprise when AskMen.com poll voted tennis stars Roger Federer (no. 8) and Andy Roddick (no. 35) as among the world's most influential men of the year.

• Andy Murray is the 8th highest-earning sportsman in Britain with an annual income of £7 million, according to The Daily Telegraph.
  

• Still on money, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, like many other sportsmen who resides in Switzerland for tax purposes, will be unable to play in Basel. Tsonga's tax agreement with local Swiss authorities would become invalid if he were to earn money inside Switzerland.

• Justine Henin will make her Grand Slam comeback at the Australian Open, tournament director Craig Tiley confirmed at the official event launch. Henin's first tournment back will probably be Brisbane Open.

• While veteran players are planning a strong comeback, Amelie Mauresmo is considering retiring from tennis. In her website, she said, “Since I came back from the U.S. Open, I’ve been trying to practice but I can’t find again the desire to come back to competition. I don’t want to rush or force things. (I will take) some time to think before making a decision regarding the remainder of my career.”

• Martina Hingis who is now given the green light to return to the tennis circuit after her two-year cocaine ban, chose to return to competition - but in horse riding. She is set to make an appearance in a show jumping contest in Switzerland this week.

• Jelena Dokic's dad, Damir is on a hunger strike to protest his jail sentence for making threats against the Australian ambassador.

• The Spanish tennis federation has narrowed its choice of venue for the Davis Cup final against Czech Republic to Valencia or Barcelona. The final decision to be announced this Saturday.

(Via AP, tennis.com)

Party like a rock star at China Open's dinner party

I love players party. It was a shame that HCFoo wasn't invited to the Batik party held at Mandarin Oriental Hotel last week. Hmmphh....

It looked like a MTV awards show at China Open's dinner party last night.

The players including Marat Safin, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic and James Blake dressed up like rockstars while Maria Sharapova, Maria Kirilenko, Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova glammed up for the evening party.

Serena Williams: I'm shy... 'cause y'all have seen me nude by now.

Short pants made of garbage bag and a see-through shirt? Bad taste.

Marat Safin can wear whatever he wants and still look pretty.

Poor Makiri. First it was Stella Mccartney... now it's Andy and Shrieky.

(Images via sports.sina.com.cn)

Serena Williams (almost) bare it all in ESPN 'The Body' Issue

A fully nude Serena Williams gets the cover on ESPN The Magazine's upcoming ‘The Body’ Issue.

Serena is one of six athletes who will debut on newsstand on October 18, 2009.

Nice try ESPN but Sport Illustrated’s popular swimsuit issue is still the winner.

(Image via tennisforum.com)

TENNIS WATCH: Richard Gasquet's lawsuit dismissed, Pamela to check into rehab

• A lawsuit filed by Richard Gasquet has been dismissed, with no finding on whether he took cocaine nor whether an outside source was responsible. Pamela, the woman who kissed him was part of the investigation was ordered to attend a drug rehabilition program after she was found to be a regular cocaine user.

• Serena Williams has pulled out of Tokyo with knee and toe injuries.

• Roger Federer has pulled out of Toyko and Shanghai. He did not mention any specific reason for the withdrawals. In his website, Federer said "After consultation with my team and doctors, I decided to take the difficult decision to withdraw from both tournaments so that I can give my body a chance to rest, rehabilitate and fully recover from a physically challenging year."

• Kim Clijsters will centre her 2010 schedule around young daughter Jada and around the four Grand Slams, planning a limited program that will put family first. Clijsters said she ultimately plans to play a total of about 16 tournaments, concentrating on the four Grand Slams. For the rest of this season, she will play in two exhibition matches.

• Jelena Dokic's dad, Damir was sentenced to a 15-month jail term for threatening the Australian ambassador in Belgrade. The threats were made in relation to comments by Jelena in an interview with an Australian Sports & Style magazine.

TENNIS WATCH: Belgian media reports say Justine Henin to return to tennis

• Justine Henin is set to announce her return to competitive tennis today, according to two top Belgian newspapers. La Derniere Heure and Le Soir reported the comeback on Monday.

• Serena Williams appears in Procter & Gamble Co.'s lighthearted new print ad campaign for its Tampax brand, just weeks after her U.S. Open outburst. With the theme “Outsmart Mother Nature”, we believe that's Serena's promise that we will not see the same incident happen again in the future.

• Taylor Dent won the Oklahoma challenger, defeating Wayne Odesnik in the final. With this win, Dent continues to climb in the rankings (started the year at 865) and will be ranked 122 in the world this week. IMG also announced that Dent has been offered a wildcard into the Malaysian Open next week and he will fly there early to prepare for yet another big step in his comeback.

• Martina Hingis became the first person eliminated on BBC's celebrity dancing show Strictly Come Dancing despite earning respectable debut scores from the judges for both her waltz and her rumba.

(Image via tampax.com)

TENNIS WATCH: Ernests Gulbis hires Marat Safin's coach

• Latvian press reported that Ernests Gulbis has hired Hernan Gumy as his coach. Looks like Gumy will not be out of job after Marat Safin retires at the end of the season.

• Roger Federer was slapped with a $1,500 fine for using profanity while arguing with a chair umpire during the US Open final. A total of $31,500 is being collected by the season ending grand slam for audible obscenity, including a large portion of $10,500 from Serena Williams.

• Anna Kournikova was reportedly two months pregnant with Enrique Iglesias’ baby after pulled out from the Malibu Triathlon last weekend.

• More endorsement deal for American Melanie Oudin. She has just signed a deal with Air-Tran Airways Limited, which is based in her home state of Georgia.

• Rumours have been circulating that the French Open may be considering a move to Disneyland Paris. However this have been downplayed but not dismissed by French Open tournament director Gilbert Ysern.

• Hot-looking player Nicolas Lapentti could put his retirement on hold if Ecuador wins its Davis Cup tie against Brazil this weekend and secures a place in next year's World Group.

• Kim Clijsters will begin next season at the WTA event in Brisbane a tune-up tournament before the Australian Open.

(Image via bbs.tennis.com.cn)

US Open Day 15 Wrap-up: Federer loses a grand slam final to somebody who isn't Nadal

I admit the title of this post isn't from me... I took it from ToniTennis via Menstennisforums.com.

It was an unexpected win by Juan Martin del Potro, no?

Even del Potro himself can't believe he had won, pouring cold water all over his head to ensure he wasn't dreaming.

The victory made him the first South American man to triumph in New York since Guillermo Vilas in 1977.

However, the match was spoiled by Federer's uncharacteristic display, after he launched a tirade at the American chair umpire during a changeover.

Federer complained that del Potro had been given too much time to challenge a line call.

"No, it's too late," an angry Federer said.

"I wasn't even able to challenge after two seconds and he takes 10 seconds every time. Do you have any rules in there?"

Federer then continued, "I don't give a shit what he said. Don't fucking tell me the rules."

Federer's nagging were picked up by CBS microphones and broadcasted live.

Earlier in the women's doubles final, Serena and Venus Williams won the US Open title, defeating top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-2, 6-2.

(Via AP; Images via Yahoo! Sports)

US Open Day 13 Wrap-up: Gonzalez eats bagel, Clijsters wins but Serena steals the show, Wozniacki stays in the shadow

Rafael Nadal beat Fernando Gonzalez pretty quickly to win 7-6, 7-6, 6-0 in a match that began Thursday evening.

Gonzalez who seemed not getting enough warm-up kept looking at the sky and scoreboard, perhaps was looking for a sign of rain.

It started to drizzle a bit and Gonzalez sought treatment from a trainer for his feet but that didn't help to delay his lost to Nadal for another day.

Light shower continued through the evening but I was glad that both women's singles semifinals finally took off.

Kim Clijsters reached the final by beating Serena Williams 6-4, 7-5.

Kimmie, I'm sorry I stole the limelight from you tonight.

However the match was marred by controversy after Serena was docked a point for yelling at an official who called a foot fault.

I may look very calm on the outside but guess what, I'm shit scared of Serena inside.

The line judge reported it to the chair umpire which led to the chair umpire awarding a point to Clijsters, ending the match.

Serena already had been given a code violation warning when she broke her racket after losing the first set.

At the press conference, Serena denied she threatened to 'kill the line judge' and it was unnecessary to apologize to the lady. You can read the full transcript here.

In another women's semifinal that took place at the same time, Caroline Wozniacki's victory was overshadowed by the controversy.

Wozniacki will play in her first Grand Slam final after defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3.

Here's Sunday's order of play on day 14 at the U.S. Open (prefix denotes seeding):

(Starts at 12:00 PM)
1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) v 4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
3-Rafael Nadal (Spain) v 6-Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina)
9-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) v Kim Clijsters (Belgium)

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

US Open Day 9 Wrap-up: Nadal gets the kiss, Murray gets the kick

More bizarre incident happened on Day 9.

Just when Rafael Nadal finished the match against Gael Monfils, a fan ran out of nowhere, approached the Spanish player and gave him a kiss before a woman security guard intervened.

Here's the video taken from Gototennisblog.

When asked about the incident, Nadal said, "For me, it wasn’t a problem. The guy was really nice. He said, ‘I love you,’ and he kissed me.” :D

By defeating Monfils 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to move on to the quarterfinals, Nadal will regain his no. 2 ranking from Andy Murray who was upset by Marin Cilic earlier.

Back to Nadal, he'll try to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the US Open.

He'll meet Fernando Gonzalez in the quarterfinal after the Chilean eliminated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

In another men's singles match, Juan Martin del Potro defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

In the women's singles, Kim Clijsters dispatched Li Na in straight sets with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

The opponent waiting for her next in the semifinals is none other than Serena Williams who sent off Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-3.

Here's Wednesday’s order of play on day 10 at the U.S. Open (prefix denotes seeding):

(Not before 1630GMT)
Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) v Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine)
4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v 10-Fernando Verdasco (Spain)

(Not before 2300GMT)
Melanie Oudin (U.S.) v 9-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) 12-Robin Soderling (Sweden)

(Via AP, US Open website)