Mr Congeniality goes to... Joachim Johansson

The ATP 250 PROTON Malaysian Open hasn't end but HCFoo's Tennis Blog has officially named Joachim "Pim Pim" Johansson, Mr Congeniality for the year 2009.

Not only that I've seen him practice with Rendy Lu Yen-hsun earlier this week, the Swede wild card recipient and former top 10 player also partnered with Malaysian wild card Si Yew Ming in the doubles event yesterday.

However, his bids in the singles and doubles events came to an end after he was defeated by Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-7, 2-6 and by Brazilians Marcelo Melo-Andre Sa 1-6, 7-5, 3-10.

I managed to chase Pim Pim down after his practice. I've got to say that he's the most humble (the other player is Rafael Nadal) and nicest guy I've met on tour.

(Photo credit to HSFoo/hcfoo.com)

Simon, Ginepri, Isner go barefoot & shirtless for Muay Thai fun

I've been neglecting other tournaments lately to provide exclusive coverage on the Malaysian Open.

So here's a little bit of updates regarding the PTT Thailand Open.

Gilles Simon, Robby Ginepri and John Isner attended a promotional/traditional event for the tournament yesterday.

They did a Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) demonstration guided by Thai Olympian Somjit Jongjorhor.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga did the same thing last year.

I hope the other guys take good care of Simon. He and his 'chicken legs' look too fragile for this sport :P

Here are more pictures at the event.

By the way, if you haven't know yet, Sam Querrey had a freak accident earlier this week while practicing for the Thailand Open.

Querrey was said to have sat on a glass table after practice on Monday and fell through, cutting his right forearm. The injury required immediate emergency surgery.

(Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

Proton Malaysian Open: Results and OOP for Day 4

Monfils said he wasn't comfortable with the new hairdo so he had to put the cap on. Hope that solves the mystery.

RESULTS - WEDNESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER, 2009

Singles - Second Round
[1] N Davydenko (RUS) d [WC] T Dent (USA) 63 76(4)
[3] R Soderling (SWE) d [Q] B Evans (USA) 61 61
M Youzhny (RUS) d [WC] M Baghdatis (CYP) 62 63

Singles - First Round
[5] G Monfils (FRA) d D Istomin (UZB) 76(3) 76(2)
S Greul (GER) d C Rochus (BEL) 64 36 62
R Gasquet (FRA) d V Crivoi (ROU) 61 62

Doubles - Quarter-finals
I Kunitsyn (RUS) / J Levinsky (CZE) d [WC] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) 26 76(4) 13-11

Doubles - First Round
M Elgin (RUS) / F Moser (GER) d [2] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 64 46 10-8
[3] M Damm (CZE) / R Lindstedt (SWE) d J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO) 76(6) 64
M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d [WC] J Johansson (SWE) / Y Si (MAS) 61 57 10-3


ORDER OF PLAY - THURSDAY, 1 OCTOBER, 2009

CENTER COURT start 11:30 am
[1] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) vs A Golubev (KAZ) / D Istomin (UZB)
S Greul (GER) vs [6] T Berdych (CZE)
M Vassallo Arguello (ARG) vs [5] G Monfils (FRA)
[WC] J Johansson (SWE) vs R Gasquet (FRA)

Not Before 5:45 PM
[Q] R Bopanna (IND) vs [4] F Gonzalez (CHI)
K Beck (SVK) vs [2] F Verdasco (ESP)

COURT 1 start 4:00 pm
S Huss (AUS) / S Lipsky (USA) vs M Elgin (RUS) / F Moser (GER)
[3] M Damm (CZE) / R Lindstedt (SWE) vs M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA)

(Image by Proton Malaysian Open)

You choose: Watch LIVE matches on Astro SuperSports or get tickets from HCFoo

A lot of tennis fans have been asking about this since Monday.

Finally the schedule for Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009 on Astro SuperSports Channel 816 is out!

01/10 (Thurs) - Men’s Singles Round 2 & Doubles Quarter Finals at 1130 Live
01/10 (Thurs) - Men’s Singles Round 2 & Doubles Quarter Finals at 1730 Live
02/10 (Thurs) - Men’s Singles & Doubles Quarter Finals at 1200 Live
02/10 (Thurs) - Men’s Singles Quarter Finals at 1700 Live
03/10 (Thurs) - Men’s Singles & Doubles Semi Finals at 1430 Live
03/10 (Thurs) - Men’s Singles & Doubles Semi Finals at 1900 Live
04/10 (Thurs) - Men’s Singles & Doubles Finals at 1430 Live

If you want to experience LIVE tennis, I have some Friday evening session tickets to giveaway.

I just need you to write down ANY comment and leave your email address so that I can contact you. Limited tickets available, so be fast. You could be walking away with a Proton Satria Neo that night too!

You need to collect the tickets from me at the stadium on Friday before the matches.

Thanks to the organiser of the Malaysian Open for reserving those tickets for us as tickets are almost sold out for Friday and weekend matches.

For those outside of Malaysia, you can watch live streaming at atdhe.net.