Davis Cup final to be held in Mar del Plata instead

Islas Malvinas Stadium in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Early this month, the Argentine tennis association nominated Cordoba's Estadio Orfeo as its first choice for the Davis Cup final.

And today, it is confirmed that the final between Argentina and Spain will be held at the Islas Malvinas Stadium in Mar del Plata.

“This was one of the most challenging decisions we have made during my more than a decade-long tenure on the Davis Cup Committee,” said Juan Margets, chairman of the International Tennis Federation panel.

The Argentine team hoped to play on a fast indoor court in Cordoba to bolster the strengths of David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro.

Both venues don’t meet the ITF’s requirement of 12,000 seats.

Margets said it was more feasible to increase the seating in Mar del Plata’s venue.

The Davis Cup final will be held in Nov. 21-23.

(Via AP, Image by AP Photo/Vicente Robles)

Showdown of Champions KL: Have you bought your tickets?

You are definitely not going to get any seats at the Venetian Macao Tennis Showdown by now.

The showdown in November will features Roger Federer, James Blake, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe going head-to-head in a one-night exhibition match in Macao and also another in Kuala Lumpur.

You might want to drop by in Kuala Lumpur instead as tickets are still available here but I doubt you'll get any good front seats either.

My tickets are on the L6 section (silver category) and 6th row from the front. To get your tickets, you can purchase online from the Axcess website.


For local fans, if possible, buy your tickets from the Axcess outlet instead (offline purchasing) so that you don't have to waste time queuing up for ticket collection on event day (Ticket collection for online purchase is at venue only on the event day, 2 hours before the show time).

Here's a bit of the itinerary on that day:

• Live musical entertainment (I hope not some stupid boy band performance like last year! We need some class in a tennis event)
  
• Bjorn Borg vs John McEnroe - 1 Set
• Roger Federer vs James Blake - Best-of-3 Sets (Yahooooo!)
• Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg vs John McEnroe and James Blake. - A Ten Point Doubles Tie Breaker

For a diehard fan like me, this event is way beyond my dream. Honestly, this is better than meeting Rafael Nadal in person! How often can you get to meet tennis legends like Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe?

Recently I have been reading Blake's autobigraphy, Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life. Blake who overcame a broken neck and shingles, which paralysed half his face, is one of the greatest comeback stories ever. If you are an Oprah fan, you'll probably catch the episode where Oprah interviewed Blake about what he had gone through. So for me, the urge to meet James Blake is huge!

I'll come up with more post on this event in the next few days providing info like places to stay and go in KL, how you can get there at the Putra Stadium, etc.

In the meanwhile, you might want to drop by Showdown KL official site and participate in the auction and do a bit of charity.

Have a good weekend!

Fernando Gonzalez Visits Vienna's Spanish Riding School

While Gael Monfils took a trip to the zoo, Fernando Gonzalez took time out from the Bank Austria-Tennis Trophy in Vienna yesterday to visit the Spanish Riding School, which is home to 73 Lipizzan stallions.

The 28-year-old visited the stables to meet a 15-year-old Lipizzan stallion called Conversano Tiberia. Afterwards he watched the morning practice show at Vienna's Imperial Hofburg Palace.

Gonzalez said: “It was very nice. The horses are really taken care of perfectly. I’ve never seen this many white horses at once!”

“My sister loves horses and has taught me a lot about them. I’ve been riding a few times and it’s really fun. I have to be careful though because it can be dangerous for my career but in the future I’m going to ride more for sure.”

“The buildings here are unbelievable. There is a lot of tradition here dating back to the 16th century.”

The Spanish Riding School is the only institution in the world that continues to cultivate classical equitation in the Renaissance tradition of the haute école.

The Lipizzans are Europe's oldest breed of horses, with their origins dating back to the 16th century.

Gonzalez is scheduled to meet Gael Monfils in the quarterfinals today.

Updates:
While Monfils and Gonzalez were doing something educational, Feliciano Lopez (look at those electrifying eyes!) and Juan Martin del Potro were partying at the players party at Passage that features DJ Manfredo & DJ Mosaken.


(Images via Bank Austria-Tennis Trophy official website)

Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun (盧彥勳) official website makeover

Finally Rendy Lu has given his website a face uplift.

However, the newly relaunched website is still experiencing bugs as I'm not able to click on a few links i.e. gallery.

Rendy's website however is only available in Chinese language. If you want to read, I suggest you to use Google Translator to do so.

The world no. 69, recently retired in the first round at the Kremlin Cup this week due to right ankle injury. However, he's expected to be back in tournament at the Tashkent Challenger.