Serena Williams and Common hit the beach in Hawaii

What a way to nurse an ankle injury!

Serena Williams was seen getting some surf action with her rapper boyfriend Common in Hawaii.

Last week she was seen with former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland hitting the Miami Beach together.


(Via tennisforum.com)

Rafael Nadal 2 wins away of ending the year as No. 1

Ernests Gulbis did not survive the grueling match against Rafael Nadal.

I was too tired to wait for that 2 a.m. match last night. I'm glad I didn't because the pay TV Astro did not show Rafael Nadal vs Ernest Gulbis match!

Rafael Nadal is just two wins shy of clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking, defeating Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 last night to reach the third round of the Madrid Masters.

Nadal was forced to work his ass off to win in the second round.

Next up for Nadal, the 2005 Madrid champion, will be 15th-ranked Richard Gasquet.

Gasquet overcame 23 aces by Mardy Fish to win 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3.

Back in Wimbledon, Nadal was taken to four sets by Gulbis, and last night's match was similarly tricky for the Spaniard.

Nadal has never been a fan of the Spanish capital’s high altitude and the extra speed it brings to the hard court.

He had a difficult time keeping up with the Latvian before ended the match in 2 hours and 22 minutes.

The Hugo Boss ball girl dropped a ball during the Nadal vs Gulbis match.

In other second-round matches, U.S. Open finalist Andy Murray advanced while 11th-seeded James Blake and 13th-seeded Fernando Verdasco lost.

Murray moved on when Simone Bolelli of Italy retired with an apparent shoulder injury while trailing 6-0, 2-1.

Murray will next play Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who beat Verdasco 6-2, 6-3.

“I’ve been playing really, really well in practice the last few weeks, better than I was playing throughout the summer,” said Murray, who won his first Masters Series title in Cincinnati in August.

“I’m probably mentally fresher now than the U.S. Open.”

(Images via Yahoo! Sport)

James Blake out in Madrid; Ball girls & off-court photos

James Blake becomes the first seed to lost in Madrid after lost to Gilles Simon 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the $3 million Mutua Madrilena Masters (Madrid Masters).

Simon will face either 5th-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko or American qualifier Robby Ginepri in the third round.

Headlining today's five 2nd-round matches is top-seeded Rafael Nadal, who will clash with unseeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

This is the first single match for Nadal since claiming a pair of singles victories in Spain’s Davis Cup win over the U.S..

The world no.1 is now leading the ATP with eight titles and a 77-9 record this season.

The world No. 1 and 2005 champion of this hardcourt event, Nadal faced Gulbis for the first time at Wimbledon earlier this year, dropping the first set before taking the second-round encounter, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, en route to the championship.

Also slated for second-round play is U.S. Open runner-up Andy Murray, the 4th seed, and world no. 15 Richard Gasquet.

That pair will try to avoid the same fate as no. 13 Fernando Verdasco, who suffered a 6-2, 6-3 second-round loss to Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Phillip Kohlschreiber, Gael Monfils, Jarkko Nieminen and Marcel Granollers-Pujol claimed first-round victories Tuesday.

Photos:

Madrid Masters is probably famous for its hot Hugo Boss ball girls. These are the ball girl on the Andy Murray vs Simone Bolelli match. Murray was leading the match with 6-0, 2-1 when Bolelli retired due to an injury.


And here are more off-court photos.

Feliciano Lopez signing autograph for young fans.

Agustin Calleri signing autograph in Diadora's stand.

Marin Cilic was in Air Europa's stand.

Carlos Moya in front of a Mercedes.

(Images via Yahoo! Sport, Madrid Masters official website)

Photo updates at the Zurich Open 2008

The Zurich Open tennis tournament which started on October 11, has a 28-player draw that includes the four top seeds – Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams and Vera Zvonareva.

As usual, here are some of the photos to check out what the girls are doing.

World no. 1 Jelena Jankovic in Zurich.

Flavia Pennetta, Anna Chakvetadze, Rennae Stubbs and Stefania Boffa
taking part in the Pink Ribbon Charity Walk of Women.

Patty Schnyder and Venus Williams.

Ana Ivanovic at the Zurich Open Kids Day.

Swiss Timea Bacsinszky with the kids.

(Images via Zurich Open website, Jelena Jankovic official website)