US Open: Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams serve up double bagel each

We are already in Day 10 at the US Open. The men's quarterfinalists and women's semifinalists are on line-up, battling for the weekend's finals.

Earlier today, World no.1s Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams both powered through the next round by serving double bagel each. If you think that's a heavy meal to take on, you might need some weight loss tips.

Djokovic eliminated Spaniard Marcel Granollers 63 60 60 in just 79 minutes while Williams shut another Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 60 60 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Meanwhile Wimbledon and US Open defending champion Andy Murray dropped the first set but eventually came back to beat Denis Istomin in the first New York night session of his US Open title defence. He will face Stanislas Wawrinka on Thursday's quarterfinal match.

Djokovic is set to play against Mikhail Youzhny next, Richard Gasquet to meet Ferrer and Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal will battle it out in an all Spanish showdown.

In the women's category, Williams will play against Li Na in the first semifinal after the Chinese player defeated Ekaterina Makarova in three sets.

Roberta Vinci will play against Flavia Pennetta while Daniella Hantuchova will compete with Victoria Azarenka for places in the semifinals.

(Images via zimbio.com)

Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli announces retirement from tennis

Marion ‪‎Bartoli‬ shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the sport at the age of 28. She just won a Wimbledon title weeks ago and has tweeted her anticipation for the US Open 15 hours before she made that tearful announcement!

After a second round loss to Romanian Simona Halep at the Western and Southern Open, Bartoli walked into the media room and said she just can't do it anymore.

"My body was really starting to fall apart and I was able to keep it together, go through the pain - with a lot of pain - throughout this Wimbledon and make it happen. That was probably the last little bit of something that was left inside me."

"I've been playing for a long, long, long time, and it's time for me now. It is."

The French player has won eight WTA titles in her career.

"Everyone will remember my Wimbledon title. No one will remember the last match I played here."

We wish her all the best. She'll be missed!

(Image via Quqster)

Top line-up confirmed for Thailand Open 2013; three former champs in the field

PRESS RELEASE

The Thailand Open 2013 will be a hotly-contested tournament with a packed line-up of tennis stars revealed for the prestigious event.

Four of the world’s top 11 players lead the field: World #2 and Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, #6 Tomas Berdych, #10 Milos Raonic and defending champion world #11 Richard Gasquet head a list of potential winners.

“I’m really looking forward to returning to the Thailand Open this year,” said Murray. “I’ve enjoyed some really good results in Bangkok in the past including my first ever final back in 2005 and winning the event in 2011.

The Thailand Open field will include three former champions of the event with popular Frenchman World #17 Gilles Simon joining Murray and Gasquet as former winners hoping to repeat their success.

To lift the King’s Cup trophy in 2013 the marquee names will need to battle past some stiff competition, however. Other players confirming their participation in the tournament include #25 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, Bangkok favourite and Thailand Open 2010 runner up Jarkko Nieminen of Finland currently ranked #39, plus Australian prodigy #42 Bernard Tomic.

The tournament will also feature a mini “Spanish Armada” led by world #23 Tommy Robredo and #27 Feliciano Lopez, with #58 Daniel Gimeno-Traver and #66 Roberto Bautista Agut. Robredo, a former World #5 has enjoyed an amazing comeback from injury in 2013. His ranking dropped as low as #471 last year but he is enjoying a banner year including titles in Umag and Casablanca. The Spaniard has won a total of 12 ATP World Tour singles titles and will be making his first ever appearance at the Thailand Open. The popular Lopez last played in Bangkok in 2007 and is enjoying a successful year including winning the Eastbourne title and a finals appearance in Memphis.

The newest member of the world’s Top 10 Raonic is looking forward to returning to Bangkok. “Last year was my first visit to Thailand and it was fantastic. Before the tournament I spent a week training on Koh Samui and the island was so beautiful and the people so friendly. The Thailand Open was well-organised and a lot of fun,” said Raonic ahead of his return.

Adding further strength to the field are #43 Czech Lukas Rosol who famously dumped Nadal out of Wimbledon last year, world #35 Ivan Dodig of Croatia, Marinko Matosevic of Australia ranked #56, Dutchman Robin Haase ranked #62, and #60 Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu who paired with Danai Udomchoke to lift the doubles trophy last year.

Thailand Open Executive Committee chairman Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop said that while the top seeds were amongst the very best in the world – four of the top 11 – no match would be easy.“Men’s tennis is so keenly contested; the top players cannot afford to let their concentration lapse in the early rounds. There are many extremely talented players competing this year,” he said. “There will be no easy matches.”

“There will be lots of top players competing so it will be exciting and I expect some tough matches,” said Youzhny, echoing Suwat’s comments.

In total, 13 countries are represented by players in the main draw of the tournament. Completing the international flavour of the event are world #63 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and #67 Lukasz Kubot of Poland, both making their first appearance at the tournament.

The Thailand Open singles main draw will feature 28 players – three wildcards will be announced before the event and an additional four players will enter the main draw via the tournament’s qualifying rounds.

The Thailand Open will be held from at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani. A number of brand new ticket promotions offer ticket buyers more value and options than ever before.

For all the details contact any Thaiticketmajor outlet, log on to www.thaiticketmajor.com or call 02 262 3838.

Can Murray Handle the Pressure of Wimbledon?

A British man has not won Wimbledon since tennis icon, Fred Perry, in 1936.

While this statistic is bandied about rather a lot, and has been since the British public’s hopes were heartlessly raised and then dashed each time Tim Henman exited the tournament in spectacular semi-final style, take a moment if you will, to imagine the magnitude of this sentence for Andy Murray.

He is the UK’s only hope, everything rests on him, and the time has come to prove himself. That’s a lot of pressure for the world No. 2 to handle, especially as last year, everything ended in disaster!

So will Murray be able to handle the pressure this year? He has made a winning start to his latest Wimbledon campaign, beating his opponents without too much trouble, bar dropping serve  in a fairly inconsistent performance against Mikhail Youzhny, who put Murrray under some real pressure in the fourth round of the tournament. Check out the BBC report on that match here.

Perhaps the pressure is getting to him; his performance in the coming match will surely tell all. To help Murray out, as well as all those who’ve been inspired by the summer’s tennis tournaments to play a few sets of their own, I’ve put together some tips on keeping a clear head when it comes to tennis.

Releasing the tennis-ion 

Keep Comfortable: Maybe Andy Murray’s sweatbands are a bit tight, or he forgot to cut the label out of his shirt when he was playing 20th seed Youzhny... In all seriousness, being uncomfortable can seriously affect your game. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned professional, it’s important to wear the right clothing, especially a great pair of shoes or trainers.

Don’t just buy the first pair you see, shop around a little bit for the perfect pair – there’s a large selection of tennis equipment including tennis shoes, and equally important, an extensive range of racquets available at UK based Millet Sports, so you can have a good browse before you buy.

Think Positive: It’s important to stay positive, even in a tennis game you  seem to be losing. Lose your temper or despair, and there’s no way you’ll come back from it. Think of previous triumphs and how you achieved them; last summer Murray beat tennis legend Roger Federer to win the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics and would do well to cast his mind back to his past achievement before and during his next Wimbledon match!

Murray insists he can indeed handle the pressure, commenting in an interview with the Radio Times:

"There's a lot riding on Wimbledon, but I'm better equipped to deal with the pressures and understand how I need to play matches when I get to the latter stages of the big events."

But only time will tell if this is finally Murray’s year.

(Image via Yahoo! Sports)