A tea party with Dmitry Tursunov at St. Petersburg

Dmitry Tursunov and St. Petersburg Open organizers visited Children`s Crisis Center - a charitable public organization that supports children at risk and children from crisis families.

The meeting with the children from the centre went on in a very joyful and relaxed atmosphere.

Dmitry told the children about his childhood, his school years, and about the long time he spent in the USA away from his family.

The children had opportunity to ask him questions that concern them most at the moment - how to achieve success in life, how to choose the right profession.

They were interested in many other things as well, for instance, the attitude of the famous tennis player to bad habits.

Tursunov answered that the only thing he tried was smoking.

"Though I did not like smoking and I quit not even having started", Dmitry added.

It turned out that the kid`s main hobby is table tennis, and Dmitry played with the children with great pleasure.

Though, no one could beat Dmitry in the mini-table tennis tournament that they held after tea - his tennis skills showed up.

After the tournament Dmitry gave the children prizes with St. Petersburg Open logo, and invited them to the tournament and the master class for young players held by Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn.

Besides, the children will have an opportunity to take part in different competitions and games organized in the arena of the St. Petersburg Sports and Concert Hall within the framework of the Family Day.

Updates:
The bad news is veteran Dominik Hrbaty upset Dmitry Tursunov 6-1, 6-1 in the first round at St. Petersburg Open.

(Via St Petersburg official website)

Andy Murray celebrates Madrid success with an ice bath

After a successful run at the Madrid Masters, Andy Murray made a short trip back to UK before heading off to another tournament at St Petersburg.

There was no glamourous celebration awaited him unless you think an ice bath is one.

Murray warned that the ice bath is not for the faint of heart.

He said with Neoprene boots or not, nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you have to put your body - up to your waist - into the water. Brrrrrrr..........

Here are some tips from Murray:

There's a few clearly identifiable phases in the ice bath. Somewhere after getting in (phase 1) and screaming things like "will someone please say something funny to take my mind off this (phase 2), comes phase 3, which can be best described as trying to look like it's not really a big deal.

So what do you get from an ice bath? Murray explained:

The science of it all is that the cold forces the blood vessels to constrict, draining away the blood. Likewise, when they get out, their legs fill up with 'fresh' blood, helping to invigorate the muscles.

The next thing you know, Murray's ready for his next tournament and is now at St Petersburg.

(Via andymurray.com)

Stanislas Wawrinka blogs about losing his driver's licence and his match in Basel

These are what Stanislas Wawrinka wrote in his blog recently in Basel.

Saturday (Oct 18, 2008)

• Drive his coach from his home town just 15 minutes north of Lausanne to Basel for the Davidoff Swiss Indoors.
• Recently lost his driver's licence for a month for driving a 'little' fast.
• Learned his lesson. There are lots of speed cameras and you'll get caught easily!
• Pheww! The tournament provides Mercedes-Benz transportation service.
• Go to the physio to do some massage.
• Go home and ask girlfriend to do the massage.
• Touristy talk about Lausanne.
• What is a blog without the Olympics gold medal topic!
• Still hoping to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup.
• Match against Benjamin Becker. Post again tomorrow.

Sunday (Oct 19, 2008)

• Lost to Benny Becker 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5).
• Losing before a home crowd that loves him when he won the gold medal.
• Need to stay positive and need a BIG result at Paris next week.
• Got a text message from a good friend. Friends are great whether you win or lose.
• Driving home midnight. Careful with the speed. 4 or 5 days at home before heading to Paris.
• No post tomorrow.

(Via ATP website)

Is Serena Williams ass-et the hottest?

In response to the photos of Serena and boyfriend Common surfing in Hawaii, she wrote in her blog:

Can u guys believe?!!! I'm back!!!

I've been so busy! But I wanted to write something real quick.

I'm in Hawaii surfing, and practicing and having fun!

What do u think of my technique?

Will I come back tonight! I promise to keep u updated!

Why do people always take pictures of my A$$??? Ughhh!

Until next time.

Well, c'mon Serena, people are not only interested in your ass, but also your sis Venus' and Rafael Nadal's.

Only I haven't found a great photo of someone staring on Nadal's nice ass yet :D (Updates: What am I talking about? We already have the most controversial photos here.)

(Via Serena William's website)