Nadal-Federer rivalry and Nadal-Djokovic rivalry - Which is better?

Rafael Nadal saved three match points before beating Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9) in the longest three-set match in Masters Series history of 4 hours and 3 minutes yesterday to reach the Madrid Open final.

Nadal now reached an incredible seventh final this season after a 33rd straight win on clay!

This was his fifth straight win over Djokovic who had also lost to Nadal at the Olympics, the Davis Cup, and finals at Monte Carlo and Rome.

Nadal will now face his biggest rival Roger Federer for the championship.

Federer has lost his last five matches against Nadal, including the finals at the French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open earlier this year, when the former world no.1 was in tears after the defeat.

"What's important for me is to get past that semifinal hurdle that I haven't been able to get past in the last couple of months," Federer said ahead of their 16th meeting in a final.

"I feel like playing him anywhere is a challenge. The extra flair here is that it's in Spain."

Could Nadal and Federer pull off another epic here at the Magic Box after an awesome match between Nadal and Djokovic last nite?

Let's see who's the second best clay court player in the world.

For those who don't get to see the live coverage on TV, you can check out TennisTV.com or atdhe.

(Via AP; Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Stop whining and earn your respect

“I guess they’re jealous that I’m so young and no. 1."

~ Dinara Safina on being the most under-appreciated no. 1 in women’s tennis.

Frankly speaking, like it or not, people do measure a pro tennis player's success by the number of Grand Slams won especially if you're a no.1 player in the world.

Instead of taking those criticism in such a negative way, Safina should stop whining about it and start working towards her goal to prove everyone's wrong.

She has a chance to prove it at the Roland Garros.

But before that she has to beat rising star Caroline Wozniacki at the final match of the Madrid Open.

(Images by Pierre Philippe Marcou/Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)

Rain or shine, Maria Sharapova is determined to make a comeback

Maria Sharapova was seen practising under the rain in Warsaw, Poland yesterday.

The tennis star will play her first competitive singles match in nearly 10 months at this week's Warsaw Open, which begins tomorrow, since being sidelined by shoulder surgery.

Hopefully we'll see Sharapova on court on permanent basis.


(Images via WTA Women's Tennis)

Michael Chang joins the cast of Prince of Tennis 2

Michael Chang will make his television debut in a drama series called Prince of Tennis 2.

Guess who he'll be playing in this series?

Wrong! Michael is not going to play himself.

Instead he'll be playing a coach who'll lead his team to victory in this drama adaptation from a popular manga of the same name.

Together with his wife Amber Liu, they have been teaching the actors some basic moves including forehand, backhand, serve, etc. on the set.

Michael Chang with Kimi Qiao Renliang.

According to Michael, the reason why he's involved in this TV drama series is to better promote tennis which has become an increasingly popular sport in China.

In 2007 Shanghai-based Dragon TV bought the rights to turn Prince of Tennis into a TV series, with much support and enthusiasm from its writer, Takeshi Konomi who hoped this would help promote his manga in the Chinese market.

Konomi personally approved of the choice of Qin Junjie as the lead, Ryoma, or Long Ma in this adaption.

Qin Junjie will reprise his role as Long Ma.

New lead actress Wang Ziwen.

The actors of Fuji and Oishi.

The second season will pick up where the last season left off, as the team heads towards the national championships.

This season features a new lead actress and multiple guest stars. Purported additions to the cast include Wu Jianfei, Kimi Qiao Renliang and Bobo.

Mai Haisheng, Yu Siyuan of B.I.Z, Gao Xiaochen and Jacky Xue Zhiqian are confirmed and will be players on an opponent team.

Coming back to Michael, he'll be participating in the star-studded Chengdu Open in November, Asia's only event on the 12-leg ATP Champions Tour circuit.

(Via sports.sina.com.cn, cfensi, asianfanatics.net)