Serena Williams the Queen of Bling

Serena Williams took some time out from practice at the Medibank International Sydney. She visited award winning celebrated jeweller Nic Cerrone at his beautiful store and workshop.

Check out Serena's facial expression when she was presented a special made necklace by the King of Bling himself, Nic!


(Via Medibank Sydney website)

Somdev Devvarman to meet Marin Cilic in Chennai Open final

Somdev Devvarman got a walkover into the final of the Chennai Open after his semi-final opponent Rainer Schuettler withdrew from the tournament due to a wrist injury.

Somdev will face Marin Cilic who has beaten Marcel Granollers in another semifinal match 6-4, 6-3.

After withdrawing from the tournament, a dejected Rainer Schuettler said, "During yesterday's doubles match I started feeling pain in my left wrist. As I warmed up for the semifinal I wasn't able to hit a double handed backhanded, I felt a strong pain. I would only be able to slice and I'm also afraid that the injury would get worse. I had the same a few years ago but it wasn't as bad as now."

"I also have to pull out of Sydney. I will now fly to Melbourne and see if I can be ready in time for the Australian Open."

"I feel sorry for the crowd and the tournament. It is a very disappointing moment for me", added Schuettler.

Somdev now becomes the first Indian to make it to the Chennai Open final and also the second Indian after Leander Paes to reach the semifinals of the 14-year old prestigious event.

He had a great run in front of his home crowd after beating former world no.1 and two-time champion Carlos Moya on Thursday and continued his giant killing act and upped his game by several notches to beat fourth seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6(4), 6-4 and storm into the semifinals.

I'm crossing my fingers and hope Somdev will get his first ATP title here tomorrow.

(Via NDTV.com)

Elena Dementieva takes the ASB Classic title

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva eased to a 6-4 6-1 victory over fellow Russian Elena Vesnina to capture the Auckland Classic title today.

Dementieva, 27, wrapped up the victory in just 88 minutes and completed the tournament without dropping a set. What a great start for the long tennis season.

“I played some good tennis, especially in the semi-final and final. It’s been a great beginning of the year,” she told a news conference.

The win was world number four Dementieva’s 12th title of her career and fourth in the last 12 months, highlighted by winning the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in August.

The unseeded Vesnina, 22, was playing in her first WTA final after teaming up with Dementieva in the doubles.

“Maybe I was bit tired,” she said.

“It was long week for me, a lot of long matches. Maybe I was a bit nervous today.”

(Via Reuter; Images via sports.sina.com)

Rafael Nadal makes amends with doubles title in Doha

Seems like Rafael's Nadal obsession with Roger Federer continues.

Despite the emergence of players like Andy Murray and Gilles Simon, Nadal is still focusing on Roger. In the latest development, Nadal started his new year by capturing a surprising doubles title in Doha. Roger had a great year last year partnering with Stanislas Wawrinka in the men's doubles. I guess Nadal wants to emulate his idol's success in the men's doubles.

In the final match last night, Nadal and fellow Spaniard Marc Lopez shared the same gear with the same matching knee straps. Lopez even bites his trophy, a Nadal's signature gesture. I thought they made a cute and fun combination!

They teamed up to win the doubles crown, upsetting the no. 1 team in the world of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 in one hour and 27 minutes.

"It was disappointing to lose in the singles yesterday so I feel a bit better having won the doubles," Nadal said.

"Daniel and Nenad are the best team in the world and they were tough to beat today."

Lopez who was holding a piece of crumpled paper said, "I would like to thank Rafa for giving me the opportunity to play with him and win my first ATP title."

Oh yeah, something bizarre happened during the match; a cat suddenly ran out to the court :D

I'm not a doubles fan but I swear this is one of the most entertaining doubles match I've ever seen!

(Via tennistalk.com; Images by Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images)