Shanghai: Last Men Standing.

You might’ve noticed a complete lack of Shanghai coverage this week: 1) the tennis has been mostly uninspiring given the number of retirements this week, 2) life away from tennis, it actually exists. And unfortunately for me, it exists solely to kick my ass. 
But I did manage to catch a few matches this week, and a [...]

ATP Notes: Fast and Furious.

I’ve completely neglected ATP tennis this week. Me bad. But really, men’s tennis without Federer, Nadal or Djokovic is a grim wasteland on which only the occasional wild flower is worth the pause to appreciate. 
Managed to catch two of Jo-Willy’s matches this week against Chiudinelli and Gulbis. And frankly, I got enough power tennis from [...]

USO Day 7: Tears and Fears.

REUTERS/Shaun Best
 
As bummed as I am about Venus getting booted out so early in the tournament, I must admit Kim got to me with her sincere reactions to the 6-0 0-6 6-4 victory. 
How can you not want to reserve your seat on the Comeback Train after this? 
 
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
 
Tennis-wise, it wasn’t fantastic until [...]

Practice makes perfect eye-candies.

Does the US Open really start next week? HELP! Can I have one more week of my frazzle-free world?
With the last slam of the season just around the corner, the top seeds all headed to New York to warm up for two weeks of mayhem. This means only one thing: EYE CANDIES for you all! 
 

 
Caramel [...]

Cincy Day 5: Don’t worry Rogi! We’ll eat some garlic and breathe on him.

I’ve heard it works wonders against fanged creatures. 
 
Roger out-toothed
 
Roger looked sharper with a 6-3 6-4 over Lleyton Hewitt. Some of it was due to Hewitt’s limited mobility, and some of it was the return of Roger’s footwork. Clearly Mirka didn’t need another pair of legs around the house.
The first serve was MIA until the last [...]

Cincy Day 4: Gone with the Wind

Boy, I’m so glad I didn’t watch the match between Ferrer and Federer live today. Just watching a recording of it made me want to stab myself in the eye with a pen.
 
MAJOR eye baggage: 
Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images 
 
For someone who likes to play  in the wind, Fed was having so much trouble adjusting to [...]

Pic Spam: dude that’s not even a proper Monkey Face

I don’t know what is it with Montreal and its pre-tournament fashion shows, but as always, they’ve managed to produce some epic fugs for our amusement. SUCCESS! 
 
Exhibit A:
 

 
Novak Djokovic continues to flaunt his aversion to clothes and his non-carpeted body.
I’m going to be a total prude about this – clearly I’m the only one in the tennis [...]

Practice Mosaics/Spotlight on Jojo: Eye Candies. Yum.

Jetting half way across the world can’t be that exhausting, as birthday boy Roger Federer took the courts looking fresh, happy and fit. 
 

 
As the Montreal Gazette’s Open Court blog reports, the Fed showed little sign of rust, getting back into the groove of things quite quickly out on the practice courts. Agent talk has it [...]

Weekly Mosaics: go thug yourself!

Mirror mirror on the wall,
Who’s the fugliest of them all? 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Yes folks, those are indeed the new mug shots the ATP put up on its website for their players’ profiles. Were the instructions “pretend the photographer’s Etienne de Villiers?”
Epic success.
 
Go-Thug-Yourself Honourable Mention: Fernando Gonzalez for his “big eye small eye” stare-down. 
Go-Thug-Yourself Third Place: Gilles Simon, for [...]

You say mono, I say duo.

No predictions from me, as promised. I dare say you’ll read enough of it in the next few days anyway. Some thoughts on the draw and just a little shoutout to a notable first round match - Roger Federer v Lu Yen-Hsun.
 
Of all the people Roger could’ve gotten for round 1, he gets “mono guy”. Yup [...]