Tennis Fashion: Die, Adidas.

How do you confuse your opponent on a tennis court? By dressing in the same frigging colour as the tennis ball of course!
Adidas’s S/S range, complete with manboobs.
 

 
Please don’t tell me Mandy’s gonna wear this colour.
And Nando in collars? Now I can totally relate to Andre’s pyromaniac tendencies.
 

 

 
By the way, Maria Sharapova’s Oz Open dress [...]

Pahree: Life hates me.

I’m not one to complain about my lot in life. For every stretch of tough luck, you get moments like the Wimbledon fifth set, 15-14, when Lady Luck does her most extraordinary work. I try to remember that, and remember that the one thing you can’t grasp in life is luck. 
BUT THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT.
Tennis [...]

Asian Finale: SO PROUD. SO PROUD!

Under Sam Stosur’s cool shades, there’s a slightly shy girl with a sweet smile. Love it. 
 

 
For Sam, Osaka presented a chance for her to not only qualify for Bali, but cap off what’s been a breakthrough comeback for her in 2009 with her first singles title. But coming into the final with a title win/loss [...]

Picspam: Things we love about tennis in China

1) Safin-worship.
 

 
2) MCs who just won’t take a hint. 
 

 
Mentioning MCs, is the Shanghai MC from last year back?
Because life wouldn’t be complete without his OTT “Logeeeerrrr Feduhlahhhhh!” intro. 
Not that Loger Feduhlah is even playing.
 
3) Tennis cheerleaders. 
 

 
4) Well-staged photo-ops to show off domestic infrastructure to the foreign media. 
 

 
Tsonga and Nando demonstrated their tennis skills [...]

ATP Beijing: Dear trophy, let’s switch places.

 
Not to be deterred by his loss in Thailand last week, Jo-Willy Tsonga managed to get his serve and forehand sorted out in Tokyo this week, winning his semifinal and final matches without being broken once. 
I only saw the first set, but that was all I needed to see. Jo powered his way around the [...]

Beijing: Woodshed Beatings.

My ears are still ringing. What the hell just happened?
 
I’ll tell you what: Marin Cilic just put on the lights-out performance of the year to defeat Rafael Nadal in two sets 6-1 6-3.  
And the craziest thing is – the scoreline is actually a lot closer than the match. At 5-0 in the first set, Rafa [...]

Beijing/Tokyo: WHY?!

It is said that for every match Marat Safin plays to his potential, one case of cancer is miraculously cured in the world.
Pity he doesn’t do that more often. 
 

 
I just watched in shock as the Hippo serve out his match against Gonzo for a place in the Beijing quarterfinals.
Why?!
The dude served up 12 aces and [...]

Picspam: Ichi. Ni. San. Shi. SAKE BOMB!

Here I was thinking that just because Del Poop lost early, he wouldn’t be shoved in my face anymore. Clearly I was wrong.
No, it would have been too un-Japanese not to take advantage of a corporate photo-op with token black and white people learning about the local culture.
 

 
I’m all for it, if they provide me [...]

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 [...]

Withdrawal Symptoms? A Fedophile’s guide to surviving the next month.

As you no doubt know by now, Roger Federer has pulled out of both Tokyo and Shanghai to give his body a well-deserved break.
While Federer fans may be comforting themselves with the thought that it’s all for the best, there is an inevitable sense of headlessness, seeing that the next month of tennis has just [...]