Rafael Nadal: A Tennis & Fashion Icon

Back in March this year, the crews at Vogue went behind the scenes in Miami with Bruce Weber, a world-renowned photographer to capture the world no.1 for a series of images that appear in June issue of US Vogue magazine.

Here are the photos and behind-the-scene video.

You can also read the featured story titled "Waiting For Rafa" written by Gaby Wood online.

(Images by Bruce Weber)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will wear anything but G-string if he wins Roland Garros

Can you spot the tie?

To celebrate his first match win at the French Open, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came to his press conference wearing a tie.

"This is my first victory here. I celebrate this victory like this," he said, adding, "I told myself that in other sports when you come to a press conference, there is a dress code."

"For tennis, it's good also to show we have a certain ethic. I believe it's important. We have beautiful tournaments, and we should show respect."

Tsonga said that if he won the tournament, "No problem, I'll wear whatever you want -- but not a G-string."

I'm pretty sure there will be alternative to G-string.

(Via tennis.com)

2009 French Open Day 3: Slightly boring...

It was boring, rain-interrupted day at Roland Garros. Seriously.

I went to bed early and didn't bother to blog about until the next day.

Perhaps I didn't get enough sleep for the past couple of days.

So, Serena Williams needed 9 match points to win her first round match at the French Open? No kidding.

Serena who called her performance “horrendous" finally overcame 100th-ranked Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4.

Jelena Jankovic had an easy win, defeating Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-3.

Nice nails to match your lovely dress, Jelena!

One of my favourite, Svetlana Kuznetsova also had an easy win. She beat Claire Feuerstein 6-1, 6-4.

Gael Monfils had seriously debated not playing at Roland Garros at all this year because of the chronic tendinitis in his left knee.

It had been also more than a month since he had played a match on tour.

However, in his first round match yesterday, Monfils showed he was not rusty on court as he rolled past Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, in just 1 hour and 28 minutes.

Monfils fellow countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also picked up win against Julien Benneteau 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-French affair.

Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro had little trouble in his first match at Roland Garros, beating another Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

According to James Blake, being an American his main goal of the year are Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

And because of that he was eliminated 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 by Leonardo Mayer, a qualifier from Argentina.

Leonardo who was making his Grand Slam debut is currently ranked 93rd in the world.

Another American, Mardy Fish also failed to move to the second round.

He was defeated by Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

For more results, please click here.

(Images via Yahoo! Sport)

2009 French Open Day 2: What else but Pink?

Rafael Nadal beat Marcos Daniel 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 for his 29th straight win on the red clay at Roland Garros, breaking the French Open men’s record for consecutive wins.

The win surpassed the mark held by Bjorn Borg, who won 28 straight from 1978-81.

Nadal also equaled the overall tournament record, matching the 29 straight that Chris Evert won between 1974-75 and 1979-81.

Opening his first match at the tournament with a striking fashion statement, people however are more interested to talk about his pink Nike gear rather than his record wins.

Now seriously, if only Maria Sharapova wear the same colour as Nadal, then it would be great.

Instead Sharapova's opponent Anastasiya Yakimova was the one in pink.

Although Sharapova had a shaky start, she eventually won 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Earlier of the day, poor Anne Keothavong was bageled twice by the world no.1. Dinara Safina.

Venus Williams also advanced into the second round after defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

Asia enjoyed a successful day at the expense of French hopes.

World no.15 and Asian hope, Zheng Jie of China had an easy win over Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1, 6-3.

Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn also made it through when she overcame Camille Pin 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

Another Frenchwoman who was sent packing was Stephanie Foretz.

She lost to Kirsten Flipkens 1-6, 6-4, 4-6. I guess those cool looking shades didn't help.

Roger Federer cruises into the second round after beating Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Here's an interesting read on CNN. It's fresh from the oven.

I bet Federer can't wait to meet Nadal to prove how 'human' his rival is on clay.

Let's wrap up the day with a shirtless Nikolay Davydenko.

Davydenko admitted that he was not in the best shape.

But still he won his first round match 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 against Stefan Koubek.

Since we already have shirtless photo, let's add another one: Nadal's sexy shoulder.

For more results, you go check it out here.

I'm off to bed now.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)