India's rising star Somdev Devvarman stunned Carlos Moya at Chennai Open

Indian wildcard Somdev Devvarman stunned two-time former champion Carlos Moya 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round of the Chennai Open today.

The 23-year-old Devvarman, who is based in the U.S., produced an inspired display to triumph in 2 hours and 14 minutes in hot conditions in the southern Indian city to move into his second ATP tour quarterfinals.

Sixth seed Moya won the first set comfortably but Devvarman, who spent his formative years in Chennai, delighted the home crowd when he grabbed the second set.

The highest-ranked Indian at 202, Devvarman broke the Spaniard in the third game of the final set as he wore down the former world no. 1 for the biggest victory of his career.

Moya said he was at a disadvantage with organizers scheduling matches in the heat of the Chennai afternoon to make up for matches that had been delayed by rain.

"The heat affected me more than it bothered him,'' Moya said.

"(Devvarman) plays much better than his rankings reflect,'' Moya added.

"I was not surprised, because I saw him play two days ago and knew he was very fast and was solid from the back of court.''

Devvarman became the first Indian player to reach the quarterfinals in Chennai since Leander Paes reached the semifinals in 1998

"I sent a message to him that I just wasn't going to go away," said Devvarman.

"When you see a player on the other side trying to do too much, you know he's under pressure."

"Hopefully, I'm not just quarters. I'm not one of those guys who gets content easily,'' he added.

(Via supersport.co.za, sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Maria Sharapova is not into Charlie Ebersol

Maria Sharapova was spotted at the Staples Centre recently watching the LA Lakers take on the New Orleans Hornets.

She was joined by her father Yuri and rumoured boyfriend Charlie Ebersol.

Looks like Sharapova and Ebersol are not having much fun together. Especially Sharapova.

Anyway, it doesn't matter whether they are together or not. I believe we are more concern whether Sharapova will be hopping on a plane to Australia soon.

(Images via sports.sina.com)

Feliciano Lopez in Spanish magazine Shangay

I'm speechless!
Read the article here in Spanish.

(Images via sports.sina.com)

Hyundai Hopman Cup: Oh, c'mon Chinese Taipei!

How could Chinese Taipei possibly miss the golden chance to beat the Russian team?

Russia's bro & sis team of Marat Safin and Dinara Safina has survived a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei to win 2-1 and remain unbeaten at the Hyundai Hopman Cup.

I'm devastated and I just can't accept the fact that Hsieh Su-wei and Rendy Lu Yen-hsun wasted such opportunities to win the singles matches.


Here are the final results:

Russia 2 defeated Chinese Taipei 1

• Dinara Safina d Hsieh Su-Wei 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
• Marat Safin d Yen-Hsun Lu 7-6 (8/6), 7-5
• Safina/Safin lost to Hsieh/Lu 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8/10)
  

Safin, who has announced that 2009 is his final year on Tour, didn’t find things easy against Rendy, but is delighted to begin his Australian summer with two wins.

"He's a very complete player, is very smart, fast and good from all the sides. He seems to read the game well, his anticipation is incredible and it's quite tough to break him," Safin said.

The Russian team will face the highly-rated French team of Alize Cornet and Gilles Simon on Thursday night to guarantee qualification.

A French victory will mean that France, Russia and Italy could all be on two victories by the end of the Round-Robin series and the finalist from Group A will be decided by the calculator.

(Via Hopman Cup official website)