2008 US Open USTA/Heineken Premium Light Official Players Party

It's party all night long before the the U.S. Open! Some of the players who attended this event at the Empire Hotel Rooftop New York, are Feliciano Lopez (yummy!), Fernando Verdasco (double yummy!), Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, James Blake (photos in sequence).

2008 Arthur Ashe Kids' Day

The U.S. Open isn’t just for grown-ups.

At this annual pretournament celebration at the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, children can get into the swing of things with a festival of tennis clinics and athletic activities.

The highlights include Little Tennis, at which preschoolers can hit small balls, and Beat the Pro, a chance for older children to compete against players from the Open.

The day continues with a stadium show of tennis and entertainment, including live music by Demi Lovato, Colby O’Donis and Menudo.

Menudo and host, Susie Castillo, pose before the big performance at Arthur Ashe Kids' Day.

Many stars including Ugly Betty's Mark Indelicato are at the event.

Tennis superstars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and more were at the 13th annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day presented by Hess.

Lindsay Davenport, Rodger Federer, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal make an appearance at the event.

Nadal and Federer have a laugh as spectators with participants of Arthur Ashe Kids' Day.

James Blake looking good at the Arthur Ashe Kids' Day.

Ana Ivanovic with United States Olympic swimming gold medalist Cullen Jones before the start of Arthur Ashe Kids' Day.

(Images via U.S. Open website, Black Tennis Pro's)

Caroline Wozniacki, Marin Cilic win Pilot Pen titles

Unseeded Caroline Wozniacki won the women’s Pilot Pen title, her second career victory, beating top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

She won her first WTA Tour win in Stockholm, then reached the third round at the Olympics, where she lost to eventual gold-medalist Elena Dementieva.

“Stockholm was in Scandinavia, it was my first tournament and it was smaller than this,” she said. “Here, it’s the tournament before the U.S. Open, and it’s a really big tournament. You know, I have beaten some really great players on my way to win this tournament.”

Wozniacki has moved up from No. 64 in January to No. 22, and is expected to break into the top 20 for the first time.

The teenager still has a year of high school left, and said until recently, she considered her biggest tennis achievement beating her older brother.

In the men's singles, Marin Cilic, world ranked no. 31, won his first ATP Tour event in front of the American crowd, beating local Mardy Fish 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

The 19-year-old Croat, seeded sixth, made a tough stand all week to emerge as a possible threat at the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year, which starts next Monday in New York.

"I'm unbelievably excited," Cilic said. "I was a little bit nervous in the beginning of the third set. I got my rhythm back. I was really pumped up when I had to be. Really enjoyed the moment in the end."

The 6-foot-6 Croat has now compiled a 31-21 on the season (18-12 on hard courts). He is the second Croat after Ivo Karlovic to capture an ATP title this season.

(Images by Elsa/Getty Images)

2009 ATP World Tour Player Calendar revealed

Tennis players never shy to practice shirtless.

But when it comes to photo shoot, some of them find unbuttoning their shirts for the 2009 ATP World Tour Player Calendar almost proved too much.

French photographer Corrine Dubreuil revealed, "Marcos Baghdatis (Mr April) was very shy at the beginning. He was not comfortable, so he told me he would only take off his shirt if everybody left the studio.

"When I started to take the photos, Marcos started to dance to the music and take off the shirt very slowly in a very sexy way, like a belly dance. When everybody returned, he did an Andrew Ilie or Pat Rafter by tearing his shirt to pieces!"

Baghdatis joined 13 other players from each region of the world for the shoot, from the camera savvy Tommy Robredo and Fernando Verdasco – who have both appeared naked in Cosmopolitan Magazine in support of the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign – to Tomas Berdych, Bob and Mike Bryan, Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Haas, Ivan Ljubicic, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Juan Monaco, Paradorn Srichaphan, Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny.



Dubreuil shot the classic and striking monochrome photographs for the player calendar in Paris, during the ATP Masters Series event last year. Toutchai U-Bol was on hand to photograph Srichaphan in Bangkok.

"By far the most seductive player was Tursunov. He kept playing with my camera and flirting with the make-up artist Vinca! He was great and easy to shoot."

Check out Tursunov in the video! Sexy!

But Dubreuil's favourite is Verdasco. He said, "What a body! He got so involved in the shoot and knew exactly which photographs were the best."

Fans will be able to view the photographs at the W Hotel in Times Square, New York, during the US Open fortnight.

(Via ATP.com)