Kids' Day at Roland Garros

It's Roland Garros Kids' Day today. As usual there are quite a lot of events happening on the eve of the French Open.

Here are some pictures to summarize the events.

Novak Djokovic becomes an umbrella boy during his exhibition match with Ryan Harrison.

 Caroline Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki, Na Li and French Pauline Parmentier play an exhibition match on the Philippe Chatrier-central court.

  Juan Martín del Potro becomes the umpire for an exhibition match where Roger Federer and Sebastien Grosjean against French Nicolas Escude and Fabrice Santoro.

Serena Williams joins DJ Big Ali and DJ Bob Sinclar at the turntables on the Philippe Chatrier-central court.

Retirees Grosjean and Santoro make a special appearance at the Kids' Day.

Local hero Jo-Wilfried Tsonga meets the fans.

Xavier Malisse enjoys beach tennis at Roland Garros.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports and French Open official website)

All's Well That Ends Well

Richie accepted a TV appearance on the Canal + Le Grand Journal talk show.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) gave Richard Gasquet an early X'mas present by clearing him of drug charges.

The CAS dismissed appeals by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Tennis Federation (ITF), which wanted Gasquet banned for up to two years.

In his defense, Gasquet said he went to the nightclub with friends to see a French DJ perform after pulling out of the Miami Masters in Key Biscayne with a shoulder injury. He met a woman named Pamela there and kissed her several times.

The court said experts “agreed that the minute amount of cocaine could have been transferred in this manner.”

The verdict however was greeted with dismay by WADA and the ITF.

Earlier this week, Belgians Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse also have their suspension lifted.

They were banned in November for breaking WADA regulations by failing to report their whereabouts for drug testing.

Neither of them failed a doping test.

Wickmayer claims she was not properly informed of the online reporting requirements for drug-testing that led to her ban.

Wickmayer and Malisse are cleared to play in tournaments by ITF while Gasquet is legally allowed to compete in tournaments.

(Via AP)

TENNIS WATCH: Ana Ivanovic's out, Rafael Nadal's in

Modeling - Ana Ivanovic's back up plan? During a photo shoot in Beijing

• Ana Ivanovic has withdrawn from the China Open with an upper respiratory infection. She said in a statement on Saturday that it has been a very disappointing season.The 21-year-old Serbian said her body was “quite fragile” following a combination of too much training and not enough recuperation.

• Rafael Nadal has recovered from an abdominal injury and made himself available for Spain’s Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic in December. He plans to resume playing at next week’s China Open, before traveling to the Shanghai Masters, the Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour finals in London.

• Austria's postal services announced they will issue a 65-centime stamp honouring Roger Federer as the world's best tennis player. Some 400,000 stamps which show Federer winning the French Open last June will go on sale next February.

• Just 15 months after they were married, golf star Greg Norman and tennis great Chris Evert (the original Ana Ivanovic-Adam Scott) announced they have separated. They did not elaborate on the split or on whether a divorce was impending.

• Belgians Yanina Wickmayer, US Open semifinalist, and Xavier Malisse have been called before the nti-doping tribunal for not fulfilling their anti-doping responsibilities. Wickmayer has missed filling out her whereabouts requirements three times, while Malisse has not filled his whereabouts information twice and has also missed a test.

• Hong Kong’s highest-profile women’s tennis tournament JB Group Classic has asked the government for a $700,000 bailout after its main sponsor withdrew backing for the early season exhibition event. Tourney director Terry Catton added that the tournament would still go ahead “whatever happens”.

(Via AP, tennis.com)