2009 French Open draw

I'm happy that Novak Djokovic is on Roger Federer's half.

Tough road ahead for Rafael Nadal but I'm happy with the draw.

I'm not going to say much.

Click here for the complete men's draw and the women's draw.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports, French Open website)

Somdev Devvarman in French Open qualifying finals

Somdev Devvarman survived another three-setter to move into the final round of the French Open qualifiers after defeating Alex Bogdanovic 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4.

The world no. 138 is just one match away from making it to the main draw of the clay court Slam.

Standing in his way now is third seed Marcos Daniel, who beat Ivan Dodig on 7-5 6-4.

“I played well in patches, but hopefully I can raise my level of play in tomorrow’s match."

"Today I stayed tough right through and that’s what helped me,” Devvarman said.

Updates: Somdev couldn't materialise his dream of playing in the main draw of the French Open after suffering a straight sets defeat at the hands of Brazilian Marcos Daniel in the final round of qualifiers today.

Somdev lost 0-6, 1-6 in the one-sided affair that lasted just 58 minutes.

(Image via French Open official website)

Yuki Bhambri & Ryan Harrison to play with tennis legends in Macao

Looks like tennis exhibition match has becoming a tradition and yearly event for IMG in Asia.

For the third consecutive year, the people in Macao get to meet tennis stars of yesteryear as well as the current ones.

This time the Venetian® Macao Tennis Showdown will see the appearance of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras as well as rising stars Yuki Bhambri and Ryan Harrison.

I'm not kidding.

Yuki and Ryan will be making their way to Macao this October.

The fearsome and intense rivalry between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras will be renewed at the 15,000 seat CotaiArena in their first clash in seven years.

Returning to Macao for the second time, Pete commented, “I enjoyed my visit to The Venetian® Macao tremendously in 2007 so it was an easy decision to accept the invitation to return to The Venetian Macao and to renew the great rivalry with Andre.”

The popular Agassi said, “I have followed The Venetian® Macao events featuring Roger, Pete, John, and Bjorn so when the opportunity arose to be part of The Venetian® Macao Tennis Showdown 2009 that would include Pete as well as two of the top juniors in the world, I was excited to join such an illustrious roster of top tennis names.”

The highly anticipated match-up between Sampras and Agassi will be preceded by a 45-minute timed singles match between two of the finest juniors in world tennis.

Indian rising star and ITF Junior World no.1 Yuki Bhambri will face Ryan Harrison, an American prodigy and one of two brothers scaling the junior heights.

Both train at the famous IMG Bolletieri Sports Academy in Florida where Agassi trained as a junior.

The third match of The Venetian® Macao Tennis Showdown will feature Pete and either Bhambri or Harrison against Andre and Harrison or Bhambri, with the pairings decided by draw at the Meet-the-Players Press Conference on October 24th.

The one-day extravaganza will kick off at 2:00 p.m. on the long weekend of Sunday, October 25th.

Yuki commented, “To play with Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras is of course a dream for any aspiring tennis player. To play with both is simply amazing. To do it in front of 15,000 people is beyond description. To say I am excited, is an understatement.”

His opponent Ryan said, “To travel to Macao to participate in an event featuring two of the greatest American players of all time is a huge privilege and an honour, and extremely motivating to me to train and improve, in the hope that I may one day achieve a few of the things that they have achieved.”

Executive Match Director, Nick Freyer, Senior Vice President, IMG, Head of Tennis, Asia, concluded, “Continuing the fine tradition of world class tennis, with the confirmation that Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras will be coming to Macao in October is an enormous pleasure, and I would like to thank The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel for their continued support in allowing history to be made.”

“History, I hope, that will bring joy and smiles to the 15,000 people we think will attend, but also to the millions who will be able to watch on television.”

The Showdown will once again feature an online charity auction, which will offer prized personal items from both players and experiences such as the on-court coin toss, with proceeds being divided between the Andre Agassi Foundation, Sampras’ Aces for Charity Program and Make-A-Wish HK/Macau.

Tickets is available for sale today (Friday, May 22nd at 10 a.m) and can either be reserved online at www.cotaiticketing.com or by phone at +853 2882 8818 (Macao) and +852 6333 6660 (Hong Kong), or in person at Sands Macao Lobby and CotaiArena™ Box Office.

Ticket prices have been set at MOP/HKD $980, $780, $480 and $280. Corporate Boxes are also available.

Fans can visit the event’s website at www.venetiantennisshowdown.com for further details of the event.

Maria Sharapova loses to Bond girl in Warsaw

I'm not talking about the battle of sexiness between Maria Sharapova and Alona Bondarenko.

Sharapova who was playing her first singles tournament in nearly 10 months after her shoulder surgery, finally lost in the third round match at the Warsaw Open.

Maria Sharapova was defeated by Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Warsaw Open.

The 39th-ranked Bondarenko was leading 5-0 lead in the second set before she sent Sharapova packing.

Adam Nurkiewicz/AFP/Getty Images)