Fed Cup: Serbia bites!

Looks like Jelena Jankovic of Serbia is sending out a strong message to Spain when they meet in Fed Cup playoff this weekend.

The other 6 countries who will battle it for places in the 2010 World Group are France, Slovak Republic, Germany, China, Argentina and Ukraine.

The four losers will start in World Group II in 2010.

The matches will be played in the next two days on April 25 and 26.

(Image via tennisforum.com)

The Spanish Armada troops turn sunny beach boys

The Spanish Armada (Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro) has invaded and conquered our hearts again!

The shirtless, chest-baring poses...

In plain white, see through shirts

But one man is missing!

How can they pose for Elle without Captain Rafael Nadal?

(Via Forty Deuce, Images via abc.es)

Kei Nishikori trains hard but minus the racquet

Kei Nishikori recently blogged in his official website about training, getting treatment and rehabilitation, and his parents.

The Japanese tennis star said he has been training hard for a month now... but without a tennis racquet!

"Because it's been a considerable amount of time since I haven't played tennis at all, it feels pretty strange to me."

"I feel a bit uneasy that I won't be able to play like I used to before, because I have never experienced not holding a racket for such a long time."

Despite his elbow injury, Kei said his training is tough.

"My schedule is kind of tough. I train for one hour in the morning, get treatment and rehabilitation, and then train again for two more hours in the afternoon."

"Sometimes I focus on mental conditioning, depending on the day."

Then Kei joked about his parents who had stayed with him for about 5 weeks in Florida.

"Maybe they stayed for too long? Haha, I'm just kidding. We have a good time together."

"My mom's cooking made me gain a little weight. I wish I could gain muscle instead!"

Will he be able to recover on time for Roland Garros?

Chances seem to be very low.

(Images by IMG via Kei's official blog)

When two Spanish greats meet...

Former tennis great Manolo Santana and Rafael Nadal exchanged racquets during a promotional event for Nadal's Fundación Rafa Nadal.

Santana gave the foundation his heavy wooden Dunlop racquet used in the year when he won the Wimbledon Championships.

In exchange, Nadal gave Santana his modern Babolat racquet which helped him won the 5th consecutive Monte Carlo Open last week.

Nadal apologized to Santana and said, "This is not so much history (referring to his Babolat tennis racquet)."

Nadal who is a four-time defending champion here at the ATP 500 World Tour Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell tennis tournament will debut tomorrow against Frederico Gil in the second round.

(Image via elmundo.es)