Pre-US Open: Pretty practice photos

Now that the US Open draw is out, let's see who has been practicing hard on court over the week.

Here are some eye candies for your viewing pleasure...

Juicy Jo-Willy

Flawless Ferrer

Mikhail Youzhny and Andy Murray

Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic


Lleyton Hewitt and James Blake

Cuddly Cilic


Mighty Monfils

Rusty Roddick

(Images via US Open official website)

The US Open Draw is out! Easy path for Federer; rocky road ahead for Murray, Nadal

Hey guys, the US Open draw is out!

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been drawn on opposite sides.

Federer could be facing Andy Roddick or Novak Djokovic in the semifinals while Nadal could meet second seed Andy Murray or Juan Martin del Potro.

Now the interesting part of the draw is that Nadal will be playing against and old friend Richard Gasquet in the first round!

Nadal's section also features Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Tomas Berdych and Fernando Gonzalez.

Lurking in Federer's section are Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake, Robin Soderling, Sam Querrey, and Nikolay Davydenko.

Andy Murray's section has some big servers: Ivo Karlovic, Marin Cilic and first-round opponent Ernests Gulbis.

The men's US Open draw can be found here.

In the women's US Open draw, comeback queen, the unseeded Kim Clijsters has ended up in a tough third quarter, which is sandwiched by names like Victoria Azarenka and Venus Williams.

Clijsters' potential second-round opponent is Marion Bartoli, whom she defeated in the first WTA match of her comeback in Cincinnati.

The winner of that section could face defending champion Serena Williams in the semifinals. That means Venus Williams will not be meeting her baby sister in the final at the US Open, if everything goes smoothly.

Dinara Safina has a tough top quarter draw which also includes Alisa Kleybanova, Ana Ivanovic, Sabine Lisicki and Jelena Jankovic.

The second quarter is highlighted by a potential third-round clash between Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova, with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki also in that section.

The women's US Open draw can be found here.

(Via US Open official website, tennis.com)

TENNIS WATCH: Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, Querrey overtakes Murray, Venus accepts Americanism Award

Will Ferrell and Jordin Sparks will join Andy Roddick and other tennis stars for the 14th annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day this Saturday.

The festivities are set for August 29 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., from 9:30AM - 4PM.

The tennis and music festival kicks off the 2009 US Open, which runs from August 31 - September 13.

*******

By defeating Bjorn Phau and reaching the quarterfinals of New Haven, Sam Querrey has overtaken Andy Murray and won the men's US Open Series.

Querrey wins the title because he has 14 match wins in series events, compared to eight for Murray.

In the women's singles, Flavia Pennetta still has a shot at winning the women's US Open Series, but needs to win the title in order to overtake Elena Dementieva.

The Series winner gets double prize money at the US Open, with one and a half times the prize money for the second place finisher and one and a quarter times for the third place finisher.

*******

Earlier today, the Anti Defamation League (ADL) honoured tennis star Venus WIlliams with the Americanism Award for speaking out on behalf of Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer, who was denied a visa to play in the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championship back in February.

(Via US Open official website, tennis.com)

Maria Sharapova attends cocktail-cum-birthday party in NYC

Maria Sharapova attended a cocktail party hosted by InStyle and Tiffany & Co. at the Cooper Square Hotel in New York City on Tuesday.

Apparently it was Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively birthday, so the tennis star helped celebrate Blake’s 22nd birthday and served her with some cake.

(Images by Jemal Countess/Getty Images North America)